United States (National)

A&O Shearman is the newly combined entity composed of US-based Shearman & Sterling and UK-headquartered Allen & Overy, both of which were individually global powerhouses even prior to the merger, giving the new arrangement a massive global footprint. Within the States, the firm is called upon most often for its experience and acumen with matters of the securities and white-collar and enforcement variety and is quickly developing a leading profile in the antitrust space as well. A&O Shearman’s domestic operations showcase litigation star power in its offices in New York, DC and increasingly Texas.
          New York’s Adam Hakki has long been a perennial peer favorite and remains one, with glowing reviews offered on a unanimous basis. Hakki’s practice is largely focused on, but not limited to, the securities, antitrust and governance fields, with experience in both the criminal and civil capacities. “Adam is very, very good, especially for the underwriters,” testifies a peer. Another contemporary remarks, “Adam just seems to be in everything, and is very involved all the time. He doesn’t just pop in and out on a surface level, he gets in the trenches.” Hakki secured a complete victory on behalf of Barclays in a class action litigation arising out of the mining operations of Brazilian mining giant Vale’s “Iron Quadrangle,” which has one of the largest concentrations of iron ore deposits in the world. The plaintiffs, Brazilian homeowners and municipalities, alleged that US banks, including Barclays were strictly liable for various environmental damage caused by Vale’s mining activity by providing over $17 billion in financing to Vale despite their alleged awareness of the environmental risks. The complaints exclusively brought claims arising pursuant to Brazilian law. In September 2024, the Southern District of New York granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss the complaint on forum non conveniens grounds, concluding that these cases must be litigated in Brazil. Hakki, along with Agnès Dunogué  and Lyle Roberts, obtained a significant victory on behalf of PayPal Holdings in a putative securities class action alleging that PayPal made material misstatements and omissions related to a metric the company uses to track net increases to the number of active PayPal accounts, which, through incentive campaigns, allegedly gave rise to fraud and led to the creation of illegitimate accounts, causing the company’s stock to trade at artificially inflated prices. In January 2025, the court dismissed all of the claims. “Agnes is terrific, I see her a lot,” confirms a peer. Hakki, along with Richard Schwed and DC-based star Todd Stenerson, also represented PayPal in an antitrust capacity in a case in which plaintiffs allege that PayPal uses illegally restrictive merchant contracts that insulate its high transaction fees from competition and inflate online retail prices for consumers. “Todd is a fantastic antitrust lawyer,” declares one peer of Stenerson’s. “He’s creative and he's a trial lawyer! You don’t always have trial lawyers in antitrust cases – so many of them settle!” White-collar-focused John Nathanson led a team that represented crypto exchange KuCoin in a DoJ criminal indictment and CFTC and NYAG civil enforcement matters, all of which claim that the client and its two China-based founders failed to implement anti-money laundering protocols and thus allowing suspicious transactions associated with substantial sums to flow through its trading platform. A team composed of Hakki, Dunogué and Thad Behrens obtained a significant victory representing the underwriters of seven note offerings for Norfolk Southern. The plaintiffs alleged that the offering materials for these note offerings failed to disclose alleged material facts and trends related to safety risks that eventually materialized with train derailments in February and March 2023, after which the prices of these dropped significantly. In July 2024, that defendants obtained a partial motion to dismiss. Behrens, based in Texas, is called “just a brilliant lawyer” by a peer, who testifies, “and he can try anything. He is building out that [A&O] office in Dallas.”

Initially headquartered in Seattle and still considered a dominant force in that city’s legal community, Perkins Coie is unique in its ambitious strategic expansion. Its West Coast origins have enabled to establish a considerable footprint in the western half of the US as well as in Asia, specifically China and Taiwan. Perkins Coie is also somewhat unique in its distribution of litigation talent; rather than clustered in one specific city or metropolis, the firm has stars in a variety of disciplines throughout its offices in more recently developed offices such as Madison, Wisconsin and Anchorage, Alaska. One peer notes, “Perkins Coie is still the big brand name in Seattle – they get all the Boeing work! – but some of their best litigators are actually spread throughout its other far-flung offices.”
     Perkins Coie scored a considerable coup, and immediately established a burgeoning New York presence, with the recent absorption of the entire litigation team of the former Richards Kibbe & Orbe firm when that firm decided to divest itself of its litigation practice in 2020. In doing so, Perkins Coie also received a significant augmentation to its securities and white-collar operations on the East Coast. Lee Richards, a seasoned star in this capacity, is revered by all peers in the white-collar and enforcement field who are familiar with him. Richards remains an active force in this field, with several high-level appointments to his credit in just the past year alone. He represented Liberty Health Sciences in a securities class action alleging that Liberty made materially false and misleading statements about certain of its policies. In March 2020, the court granted Liberty’s motion for leave to file a motion to dismiss the class-action complaint. Richards is also counsel for the former director of CBS, Charles Gifford, in a federal class action against CBS and various officers and directors alleging violations of the securities laws related to #MeToo allegations against former CBS CEO Les Moonves and other CBS employees. The motion to dismiss filed by Gifford and the other director defendants was granted in January 2020. Richards also represents ICAP in a settlement with US and UK regulators over its alleged role in Yen LIBOR rate manipulation. Another former Richards Kibbe partner, Shari Brandt, acts on this particular matter. Brandt, a consistently recognized nominee in Benchmark’s Top 250 Women in Litigation over the past several years, is also counsel to a (confidential) company as well as to former senior executives involved in a federal class action alleging antitrust violations arising out of a claimed conspiracy among bank defendants to stymie the growth of open access markets for interest rate swaps on swap execution facilities following implementation of the Dodd-Frank Act. Other former Richards Kibbe stars acquired include James Walker and Daniel Zinman.
     Beyond its recent buildout in securities and white-collar, Perkins Coie has also established itself as one of the leaders in insurance coverage cases, particularly through its DC office where Selena Linde is a noted standout. A peer observes, “Shadow insurance suits are becoming a real phenomenon, and Perkins Coie is really becoming a leader in this space, on the plaintiff side.” The firm is also a noted contender in the intellectual property arena. A peer in this space confirms, “We recently tried a really hard case against David Anstaett, who is kind of Mylan’s trusted counsel. It was a three-ring circus, all remote, with witnesses all over the world. We won, but Dave is a very skilled lawyer who managed the case very effectively.”

Bartlit Beck is celebrated among peers for forging a template of what many aspire to; the firm’s name is one of the most frequently referenced by maverick litigators who calve off of larger “Big Law” institutions and forge their own shops. One peer declares, “They set the standard for litigation boutiques in the US. Most people setting up litigation shops owe at least some debt to Bartlit Beck, whether they know it or not.” Ironically, the runaway success that the firm has experienced with its business model has caused it to outgrow its “boutique” status; the firm now has more than 40 partners practicing in its offices in Chicago and Denver. “Bartlit Beck has its offices in two great epicenters, but they’re barely doing any work that’s confined to either of these locales,” declares a peer. “They’re just an elite litigation shop that’s gone national, and their lawyers are on the road constantly. Wherever there are big trials, they will be there.” The firm continues its staggering run as being recognized as one of Benchmark’s Top 20 Trial Firms every year since 2015 with yet another appearance in 20215.
     Bartlit Beck also logs another candidate to Benchmark’s Top 100 Trial Lawyers with the addition of Sean Gallagher this year. Gallagher’s addition is considered long overdue by some, and is enhanced by a raft of peer and client commendations. One client sums Gallagher up as “a highly skilled first-chair trial lawyer, a great listener, a very clear communicator.  The best trial lawyer at a firm of great trial lawyers.  [He is] Among the best in America.” Another raves, “[Sean is the] dictionary definition of the perfect lawyer: incredibly smart, [a] tremendous leader of his team, [with a] deep understanding of all aspects (legal and commercial) of a circumstance, [and with] creative solutions. And a gem of a human being.” Based in the Chicago office, Gallagher is lead trial counsel for Pratt & Whitney in environmental tort cases involving more than $1 billion in alleged property damage and personal-injury claims arising out of the declaration of a "cancer cluster" by the Florida Department of Health in a neighborhood near Pratt & Whitney's West Palm Beach facility. Claims involve complex allegations of water and soil contamination with radionuclides and other contaminants. Several hundred property owners sued individually and on behalf of a putative class of many thousands of plaintiffs. Andrew McNally, another Chicago partner, acts with Gallagher on this case. McNally is another favorite of clients, with one addressing him as “one of the smartest and hardest working lawyers I've worked with, and he really grasps complex scientific and medical issues quickly and thoroughly.” Another client testifies, “Andrew has an uncanny ability not only to find the ‘devil in the details’ of the evidentiary record, but also to communicate those details in a way that is easy for the client (or the court) to understand. He has done an exceptional job managing his team.” Rebecca Weinstein Bacon, also based in Chicago, has also been a steady mention on the Top 100 Trial Lawyers and on the Top 250 Women Litigators in the US. “Rebecca is a pleasure to work with,” confirms a client. “She's responsive, thoughtful, brilliant, warm, and very client focused.” Bacon, along with Adam Hoeflich, is representing Walmart in putative class-action lawsuits claiming that Walmart is violating consumer protection statutes in various jurisdictions due alleged discrepancies between the prices posted on Walmart's shelves and the prices actually charged at the register. Plaintiffs claim these discrepancies add up to hundreds of millions of dollars (or more) each year.
     The Denver office boasts its own stacked deck of stars. Glen Summers and Karma Giulianellirepresent a class of California residents who used mobile devices with the Android operating system who allege that Google has designed the Android operating system to constantly take information from plaintiffs’ phones without regard to whether they are on WiFi or cellular connections. Unbeknownst to people who use Android devices, this constant surveillance, and the transmission of information to Google consumes plaintiffs’ cellular data – data that they purchased, and that Google has consumed without permission.  Trial is scheduled for June 2025 in Superior Court of California. Giulianelli, an “antitrust rockstar,” also works with Sundeep “Rob” Addy as counsel for a group of large corporations, including American Airlines, who have brought state and federal price-fixing claims against over 50 generic drug manufacturers for engaging in a wide-ranging conspiracy to fix the price of hundreds of generic medications since at least May 2009. These agreements are claimed to have led to staggering price increases for critical medications and forced consumers and their health plans to shoulder the cost.  Kat Hacker serves as lead national coordinating counsel on the fraudulent transfer claims for three DuPont entities in over 6,000 cases pending across the country related to per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). In these cases, plaintiffs allege that DuPont engaged in a series of corporate transactions to try to fraudulently transfer assets to avoid paying potential judgments. “She is an excellent oral advocate and can distill complex issues in a very simple way to appeal to a jury,” declares a client on Hacker’s behalf. “She has expertise in trial graphics that and has quite the depth of knowledge and experience in studying the best graphics for jury trials.” Andrew Baak represents UnitedHealth Group in a dispute under the False Claims Act brought by the US DoJ and a purported whistleblower to recover treble damages and civil penalties. Plaintiffs are seeking damages for amounts they claim were unlawfully retained from the federal Medicare program by UnitedHealth Group and its affiliates involved in the Medicare Advantage Program. Plaintiffs allege that UnitedHealth submitted invalid diagnostic data related to the health status of patients enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans. Joseph Doman, a Denver partner making his debut as a future star in this edition, is championed by a client as “a wonderful litigator that understands how to weave a story and [provides] great client service.”

Cahill Gordon & Reindel remains a favorite with its stable of loyal long-time clients, which include global cornerstones of the financial industry, as well as embattled individuals who turn to Cahill practitioners for counsel but probably hope to never see the firm (or any litigator) again. One of Cahill’s clients voices appreciation for the “comprehensive advice, with excellent strategic game plan” that the firm has become known for. Cahill is best known for its concentration in the commercial, securities, antitrust and white-collar crime capacities.
     Operating from both the firm’s New York flagship as well as its DC location, Brad Bondi has become known as a trusted advocate for white-collar and securities enforcement matters. Bondi leads a team that is representing five large hospital funds as plaintiffs in connection with potential claims against Allianz Global Investors arising from the catastrophic implosion of Allianz’s Structured Alpha investment products. The allegations concern violation of federal securities laws and state common law claims. Total losses claimed exceed $10 billion. Bondi also represents former a KPMG senior partner and executive who is charged, along with four others, in a high-profile case with wire fraud and other offenses relating to the misappropriation by the defendants of confidential inspection information from the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board. “Over the years I have some to know Brad well and have trusted him on several important projects,” testifies a peer. Bondi is not the only partner in this group earning acclaim; Nola Heller represents a former asset manager who is charged for her alleged role in a $63 million scheme to place fraudulent bonds in discretionary client accounts. In March 2020, Heller served as lead trial counsel in a four-day evidentiary hearing regarding the client’s motion to withdraw her guilty plea. The response is also strong for Anirudh Bansal, a younger partner who is making a swift ascent. “I think Anirudh is first-rate,” opines a peer. “He was a junior to [celebrated former Cahill partner] David Kelley so he got excellent training and then had big shoes to fill, which he did. He stepped up in a big way, and I expect you’ll see more of him.”
     In the commercial capacity, Tammy Roy is another younger partner making a rapid rise. A client addresses Roy as “a rock star” who “[has] command of facts without getting lost in details. [She has a] bright future.” Roy has taken the lead on several notable engagements as of late. She represents S&P Global in five related actions alleging that S&P made reckless misrepresentations in connection with the rating of a life settlement securitization. In March 2019, several claims were dismissed but others were allowed to proceed and are now in discovery. Roy also represented UBS in connection with a defamation claim filed by a former UBS employee-turned-whistleblower after UBS publicly refuted the plaintiff’s claims, which were published in a book, regarding the details of his role in a tax-evasion scheme allegedly implicitly endorsed by UBS. UBS also denounced the plaintiff and highlighted lapses of credibility in his story. The parties settled the matter in September 2020. Roy also represented UBS Financial Services in a putative class action filed in the Southern District of New York in October 2020.  The named plaintiff sought to represent an alleged class of US citizens living abroad who she claimed had their UBS investment accounts frozen, converted to cash or closed without timely notification. At a pre-motion conference that was filed for in January 2021 in anticipation of UBS’s motion to dismiss, the plaintiff conceded that the court lacked subject matter jurisdiction and subsequently filed a stipulation of voluntary dismissal of all claims.
     Cahill has long serviced Credit Suisse in cases straddling an intersection of securities and antitrust issues. Joel Kurtzberg, a recent addition to Benchmark’s litigation stars, has proven his mettle in having taken the lead on several of these matters. “Get Joel on your radar,” advises a peer. “He has earned it.” The team also includes long-time stars Herb Washer and Elai Katz, the latter known primarily for his antitrust acumen and the former frequently pivoting between securities, antitrust and commercial cases. “Elai is an antitrust secret weapon,” confides a peer. “He comes on like a bit of a street fighter, but you can tell by his writing – and he does a lot of it – that he is really studious and geeks out on this stuff.” Washer is said to be able to “do it all, while all the while being one of the more pleasant and well-spoken litigators you’ll encounter.” Others servicing Credit Suisse in various capacities include Sheila Ramesh and future star Jason Hall, as well as David Januszewski, a seasoned partner who receives near-universal acclaim from peers in the market. “David is fantastic, he should get national recognition,” insists a peer. Beyond his work for Credit Suisse, Januszewski also acts for Deutsche Bank. On behalf of this institution, Januszewski led a team (including Ramesh) that litigated a six-day bench trial in Connecticut seeking to enforce a judgment, secured by the bank in a UK court in 2013, against Alexander Vik and his offshore investment entity Sebastian Holdings, seeking to hold Vik liable personally as the Sebastian Holdings’ alter ego in Connecticut. Januszewski also prevailed on behalf of Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas, securing a July 2020 dismissal in the Northern District of Illinois for a suit filed in March of that year in which plaintiffs filed their complaint against the bank, asserting claims for negligence, conversion, and contribution in connection with the transfer of securities alleged to have been funneled among various entities as part of a third-party’s long-running Ponzi scheme.

Cohen Milstein covers the Eastern seaboard with offices in Washington, DC, Philadelphia, New York, Palm Beach Gardens and Raleigh, and services the Midwest through a Chicago office. Peers on both the defense and plaintiff sides of the “V” have voiced appreciation for the firm’s zealous approach. “I have always regarded them highly,” declares one plaintiff peer. “They have been mainly regarded as an antitrust firm, but they also so some work in securities and appear to be doing more of this. We happen to have a case where we are co-lead with them. They are smart lawyers.” The firm also has a noted employment, civil rights and ERISA practice. The firm made news in 2019 when a federal judge in Illinois to co-lead shareholder litigation against money transfer entity MoneyGram International, who, in November 2018,  agreed to pay $125 million to resolve allegations that it failed to crack down on fraudulent money transfers.
     The majority of Cohen Milstein’s star power is concentrated in its DC home base. Managing partner Steven Toll is a celebrated figure among the plaintiffs bar and a “feared but respected adversary” of defense lawyers. Toll has been at the helm of several recent milestone wins, including securing a ruling from the DC Circuit Court of Appeals that reinstated a suit against electronics maker Harman International Industries. A $28.25 million settlement was achieved in this action in 2017. Toll was also co-lead counsel in the BP Securities class action securities fraud lawsuit that arose from the Deepwater oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the certification of the class of investors alleged to have been injured by BP’s misrepresenting the amount of oil spilling into the Gulf of Mexico, and thus minimizing the extent of the cost and financial impact to BP of the cleanup and resulting damages. In February 2017, the court granted final approval to a $175 million settlement reached between BP and lead plaintiffs for the “post-explosion” class. Julie Reiser attends to a practice that straddles antitrust, securities and ERISA matters. Reiser has led litigation teams in several major class actions and has secured landmark settlements, including a $500 million settlement related to Countrywide’s issuance of mortgage-backed securities and a shareholder derivative suit against Wynn Resorts, with a net settlement value of $90 million. More recently, Reiser made news in September 2020 as co-lead counsel in negotiating a settlement with Google parent company Alphabet regarding credible claims of a culture of sexual harassment and discrimination within the company. Reiser's efforts precipitated a $310 million settlement that Alphabet pledged to commit to diversity efforts.
     While the DC partners are some of the firm’s most established, partners in other offices, particularly on the younger end of the spectrum, are also moving to the fore and garnering peer attention. Lauren Posner in the New York office is tipped by peers as a future star. “I’m sure she’ll be put in charge of many of their high-end cases,” forecasts a peer.

Cravath Swaine & Moore continues to set the standard for other major business law firms. Its elite status as one of the “white-shoe” firms is acknowledged by contemporaries on a coast-to-coast basis and always with tones of reverence. “The Cravath style” has been used as a descriptor for firms aspiring to the same level of pedigree. The firm also draws acclaim from several of its blue-ribbon roster of clients. “They provide excellent strategic advice and written work product. They also prepare for trial/hearing in a very thorough manner,” confirms one such client.
     For decades, Cravath managed to elicit this remarkable level of national prestige from its one office in Manhattan in New York. That changed last year. While Cravath’s reputation remains as unassailable as ever, it has finally expanded its operations to a DC office, a bold gambit that immediately caused a buzz in the nation’s capital and beyond. “Like everything Cravath does, this was not just some kind of desperate expansion for expansion’s sake,” declares one peer. “They saw an opportunity and exploited it quickly, netting themselves some great recruits in that office.” These strategic hires include Jennifer Leete, a former associate director in the SEC’s enforcement division who handles regulatory and investigations work, and Noah Phillips, an antitrust practitioner and former FTC commissioner. “They are still getting established here,” surmises one DC-based peer, “but between the talent they attract and the allure of the Cravath brand, I’ve no doubts they’ll do well in no time.”
     While the firm’s inroads into DC are not going unnoticed, the hub of Cravath’s major litigation activity remains its New York office, which has been a lodestar for generalist trial lawyers. While longtime icon Evan Chesler has officially retired, Dan Slifkin upholds Cravath’s trial pedigree at the senior level. Slifkin is representing certain directors designated by companies within the TotalEnergies group, a set of global multi-energy companies, to SunPower Corporation’s board of directors in a stockholder-derivative action filed in the Delaware Court of Chancery alleging defendants breached their fiduciary duties in connection with the sale of SunPower’s commercial and industrial business to a subsidiary of TotalEnergies. Helam Gebremariam, a younger star who juggles antitrust, securities and commercial work is acting with Slifkin on this matter. “I got to see Helam cross-examining witnesses and it was really a tour de force,” testifies a peer. Kevin Orsini continues to hold firm to his growing reputation as another all-purpose trial powerhouse. “Kevin can do it all – antitrust, ‘event-driven litigation’ – and he never stays in one place,” commends a peer.“He’s doing antitrust one day and wildfire cases the next!” David Marriott’s profile continues to elevate on the strength of his prodigious trial aplomb. Marriott, the recipient of Benchmark’s coveted “Trial Lawyer of the Year” award for 2024, demonstrates courtroom acuity across a number of areas; most recently, his antitrust actions have generated widespread acclaim. He led a team (which also included Timothy Cameron, Rachel Skaistis and Margaret Segall) that represented biopharma entity Amgen in successfully defending an FTC challenge to Amgen’s $27.8 billion acquisition of Horizon Therapeutics—securing a consent order in September 2023 that ended all litigation and cleared the path for the transaction to close. This win comes hot on the heels of similar triumphs in the previous year for Illumina, again against the FTC, and Louis Dreyfus/Imperial Sugar against the DoJ. The managing partner of the firm’s litigation group, Karen DeMasi, is championed by a peer as “the ultimate consummate professional.” DeMasi is yet another partner known for her diverse practice portfolio. DeMasi, along with future star Lauren Rosenberg, scored big for First Solar, winning back-to-back dismissals in January and June 2023 to defeat putative class action securities litigation filed against the company and certain of its senior executives in Arizona federal court.  Plaintiffs, two pension funds that purchased First Solar stock, alleged defendants made false and misleading statements regarding the company’s solar module and its project development business. 
     While Cravath’s dedication to breeding versatile trial lawyers is proven, the firm does also boast a roster of specialists, with the aforementioned antitrust being the most prominent. “Antitrust is kind of the beating heart of Cravath,” notes a peer. Cravath has led Epic Games – the creator of the wildly popular Fortnite game, to multiple victories in its high-profile antitrust actions against Google and Apple challenging core aspects of the companies’ app store policies. As lead trial counsel, a Cravath team led by Gary Bornsteinand also including Yonatan Even and Lauren Moskowitz, won a unanimous jury verdict against Google on all counts in December 2023.
    Omid Nasab led West Coast utility entity PG&E in its successful defense against a massive putative class action seeking $2.5 billion in damages for emergency power shutoffs conducted by PG&E in 2019—first securing dismissal of the action in the bankruptcy court, then affirmance in the district court and, ultimately, winning a decision from the California Supreme Court shielding PG&E from liability. “I want to shout out Omid,” testifies a DC-based peer. “He stepped in and played a big role in an insider trading case we had for [dating app] Bumble! He’s on the younger side but already getting some more first-chair roles.” A white-collar/enforcement team composed of Benjamin Gruenstein, John Buretta and Evan Norris represented British American Tobacco (BAT) in reaching a global settlement, announced in April 2023, with the DoJ and OFAC to resolve sanctions breaches arising from historical business activities in North Korea between 2007 and 2017 in violation of the bank fraud statute and the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. In a matter straddling the intersection of fraud and intellectual property, Gruenstein acts with IP specialist Keith Hummel in representing cardiovascular-focused medical device entity Abiomed as the plaintiff in a trade-secret and breach-of-contract action against a German medical device company, and its founder, alleging that the defendants entered into consulting agreements concerning Abiomed’s compressible heart pump. In September 2023, the Cravath duo defeated defendants’ motion to dismiss, which had sought dismissal on jurisdictional grounds. 

Davis Polk & Wardwell is a consistent leader in litigation, earning its place as one of the top-tier firms in antitrust, securities, and white-collar crime especially. The firm’s growth over recent years has strategically established its presence in the New York, Washington DC and California markets. The accomplishments of its bench across practice areas have further driven the firm’s acclaim in high-profile litigation. A peer addresses Davis Polk partners as “outstanding financial litigators, very sharp across the board." Another insists, "They deserve their reputations for being really good lawyers."
     Davis Polk New York office continues to be revered as one of New York’s elite firms and is equipped with numerous respected lawyers. Greg Andres serves as the firm’s co-chair of the white-collar crime and investigation group and is one of the leading lawyers in the practice area, enjoying a spot on the Top 100 Trial Lawyers list since its inception. Andres led JPMorgan Chase to a March 2024 triumph when the DoJ moved to dismiss with prejudice a two-count criminal information filed against the financial institution in 2020 in connection with a 2020 deferred prosecution agreement, which arose out of spoofing activity in the precious metals and treasuries futures markets by traders on the bank’s precious metals and US.Treasuries desks between 2008 and 2016. This agreement compelled the bank to cooperate with numerous detailed conditions of the DoJ’s prosecutions. The court granted the government’s motion on the same day, holding that the bank “fully complied with all of [its] obligations under the agreement.” Andres also, along with Dana Seshens and lead partner James Rouhandeh, led Morgan Stanley to victory in a matter, stemming from 2012, common law fraud claims brought by a German bank arising from the sale of residential mortgage-backed securities between 2005 and 2007. The Davis Polk team obtained partial summary judgment in 2023, but the court still permitted the plaintiff bank to proceed to trial on two other purported misrepresentations alleged in the complaint. The court heard oral argument in August 2024. Seshens and Martine Beamon scored for Attorney General Letitia James in February 2025, securing dismissal of harassment claims filed by a plaintiff alleging that James’s former Chief of Staff (who is separately represented in the action) sexually assaulted her at an event in November 2021 and that James and her Office were liable for his alleged conduct.

     Andrew Ditchfield has emerged as another one of the firm’s most prominent players. “Andrew is a complete rockstar and we’re seeing him more and more,” confirms a peer. “He’s suddenly everywhere, and it’s kind of out of nowhere!” Ditchfield  obtained a May 2024 victory for Exxon Mobil in a breach-of-contract action brought in New York State Supreme Court. The plaintiffs were former shareholders of InterOil Corporation, a Canadian oil-and-gas company that was acquired by ExxonMobil in 2017. The plaintiffs sued ExxonMobil four years after the transaction closed, alleging that it breached its contractual obligations by failing to pay the full amount of post-closing contingent consideration due to them under a Contingent Resource Payment agreement that was executed in connection with the acquisition. In April 2022, Ditchfield moved to dismiss the complaint, arguing that plaintiffs lacked standing to pursue their claims because the agreement barred individual shareholders or small ad hoc groups (like plaintiffs) from instituting any action to enforce the agreement. The court agreed and dismissed the complaint. The plaintiffs appealed to the Appellate Division, First Department, which affirmed the dismissal in a 3-2 decision in March 2023. The plaintiffs then appealed to the Court of Appeals, which unanimously affirmed the dismissal of the complaint. Ditchfield also represents Novo Nordisk in connection with three lawsuits filed in Delaware Chancery Court relating to its acquisition of Emisphere Technologies. Bankruptcy star Elliott Moskowitz won an appellate victory in the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department in December 2024 for a group of lenders that participated in an October 2022 financing transaction undertaken by a major Canadian telecommunications provider. Following the 2022 transaction, the participating lenders were sued, in the Commercial Division of the Supreme Court of New York, by other lenders that did not participate in the 2022 financing. In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs challenged liens securing more than $850 million in debt owed to the participating lenders and sought money damages on the basis that the restructuring transaction allegedly violated the terms of preexisting credit agreements, the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, among other claims. Paul Spagnoletti has carved out a premier spot in the professional liability capacity, generating particular acclaim for his defense of law firms. One peer testifies, “I witnessed Paul do a terrific job. He was effectively in the lead of a very complicated dispute with multiple law firms and billions at stake.”

Goodwin has steadily expanded from its Boston roots, arriving at its current status as a national player in several key markets and industries, most notably the finance and life sciences sectors. It now houses litigation stars in nearly every one of its offices on the East and West Coasts. The firm receives resounding applause from clients, as well as peers, some of whom have worked alongside the firm on matters. “I was co-counsel with Goodwin on pro bono federal immigration litigation,” testifies one such peer. “The team of Goodwin attorneys who worked on the case were phenomenal. [They brought] great analytical, research, writing and oral advocacy skills.”

     Boston’s Christopher Holding is the co-head of the firm’s antitrust practice and manages a practice largely devoted to the pharmaceutical and life sciences industry. In a case illustrative of the link between antitrust issues regarding patents, Holding represents Actavis in a challenge to the settlement of patent litigation between Shire and Actavis about the drug Intuniv. The plaintiffs assert that the agreement contained an implicit reverse payment that delayed generic entry. Holding also represents Teva in a pharmaceutical antitrust case raising reverse-payment allegations. The litigation was mostly settled after years of litigation, but a number of indirect purchasers who opted out of the settlement challenged the opt-out procedures set by the district court, and that challenged was briefed and argued in the Second Circuit in 2019. Anthony Fiotto, the Boston-based co-chair of the firm’s securities and white-collar capacity, recently achieved significant New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division and Court of Appeals victories on behalf of The Pyramid Companies, a developer of shopping malls with 16 properties that are separately owned by partnerships, with Pyramid being the majority partner in each. The dispute began when a minority partner sought to dissolve and force the liquidation of one of the partnerships on numerous grounds.
     The securities practice is also exemplified by Richard Strassberg in the New York office, whose practice also crosses over into more of a white-collar crime element, an area in which is revered by many other leaders in this practice. “Rich Strassberg is very smart and great with clients,” enthuses one peer. Another confirms, “We worked side-by-side with Richard on a large securities class action -- we represented the company and he represented an individual -- securing dismissal of all counts.” Other New York-based securities partners include Marshall Fishman, who represents Citibank and multiple affiliates in connection with a number of lawsuits that have been brought by the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management and Economic Board Special Claims Committee, and Brian Pastuszenski, who is called out as “fantastic,” with one peer testifying, “I see him in a ton of work. He should be on your national securities list for sure.”

     In the firm’s DC office, Thomas Hefferon is nationwide litigation and trial counsel to Think Finance, a provider of technology, analytics, and marketing services to financial businesses in the consumer lending industry. Hefferon has coordinated the simultaneous defense of three major litigation matters: a lawsuit by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a lawsuit by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and a substantial number of coordinated consumer putative class actions—all in separate federal courts across the country.  All three controversies concern the alleged improper issuance of consumer loans, allegedly in violation of state usury and licensing laws. Also in DC, Willy Jay is a unanimously revered appellate practitioner. One peer, also one of DC’s leading appellate lawyers, raves, “I’m a HUGE fan of Willy. Clients love him, he’s like a walking encyclopedia of the law. He’s just awesome, very charming.” Jay is equally celebrated for his demeanor as well as his acumen; one peer testifies, “We co-wrote briefs with Goodwin, and we have a great relationship with them. Willy Jay in particular is just personally a very good guy and is a team player and not about trying to take all the credit for anything. He was very gracious in recognizing the contribution that we made to the briefs in a way that frankly you don’t always see.” In one recent matter, Jay represented the Town of Aquinnah, Massachusetts, in successfully reinstating its injunction against a Native American tribe seeking to build a casino in the Town without obtaining local permits. Jay was retained after the Town (and other parties) lost an appeal on the issue. 
     Goodwin has become a notably strong player in the intellectual property capacity as well, a status recognized by both peers and clients. One such client testifies, “Goodwin handled a patent infringement suit against Apple in the Eastern District of Texas on encryption/decryption technology. Their handling of the matter was outstanding and resulted in a $308 million verdict.” One celebrated practitioner in this area, New York’s Elizabeth Holland represents plaintiff Novartis in a patent infringement action filed in June 2020 against Regeneron Pharmaceuticals in the District Court for the Northern District of New York. Novartis seeks damages and an injunction for Regeneron’s sales of its newly-launched EYLEA Pre-Filled Syringe (PFS) product. Holland also represents this client as co-counsel as a defendant in an antitrust-oriented action filed by Regeneron in the Southern District of New York. Regeneron’s suit is based on the allegation that Novartis sought to hamper Regeneron’s ability to bring its EYLEA PFS to market through assertion of a patent that Regeneron argues is unenforceable. In addition, Regeneron argues that Novartis worked together with another company to impair Regeneron’s ability to market this product. The IP capacity is also bookended on the West Coast by Neel Chatterjee, a Silicon Valley-based star who not surprisingly attends to a largely tech-based practice. Chatterjee represented the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, a public higher education and research institution in India. After 11 years of litigation, the Northern District of California definitively rejected the plaintiff's claims that the client breached an oral joint venture agreement, breached a nondisclosure agreement, and misappropriated the plaintiff's trade secrets. Chatterjee also represents Facebook, recently obtaining dismissal of a multi-patent case brought against the social media behemoth.

Greenberg Traurig is an expansive full-service law firm with a global presence in a variety of practice areas. The firm hosts more than 2,000 attorneys in 41 offices across the world, which positions them to effectively serve both domestic and international clients. One of these clients appreciates the firm’s “quality of team; knowledge of law but also practical approach to the development of the defense” and addresses the team as “thorough in preparation, with good relationship management of the client.”
     The firm is highly regarded for its product liability capabilities, largely attributed to the efforts of Lori Cohen, who chairs the pharmaceutical, medical device and health care litigation practice, in addition to serving as co-chair of the global litigation practice group. Cohen has the distinct honor of consistently ranking as a litigation star who also enjoys a multi-year run as one of Benchmark’s Top 250 Women in Litigation as well as one of the Top 100 Trial Lawyers in the US. Domiciled in the firm’s Atlanta office but recognized on a coast-to-coast basis for her appearance in matters of national magnitude, Cohen has wowed both peers and clients from a diverse range of industries and jurisdictions. An all-purpose trial lawyer by training and temperament, Cohen’s aptitude and gravitas has been particularly evident in the product liability capacity, where, often appearing as lead trial counsel, she has displayed an enviable streak of wins on behalf of clients in the pharmaceutical and medical device field concerning products ranging from pelvic mesh to contact lenses. Cohen is national trial counsel, national coordinating counsel, and national settlement counsel for all claims concerning pelvic mesh against C. R. Bard. Over the last year, she has solidified two significant victories as well as other additional dismissals in what has been described as one of the largest and most complex mass torts in history. Cohen is also a member of Novartis’ PF3.0 panel counsel program, which includes representation of subsidiaries Sandoz, Eon Labs, and Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation. Cohen is national counsel for Sandoz and its subsidiary Eon in the national amiodarone litigation. She also represents Bausch Health subsidiary Bausch + Lomb in product liability litigation relating to the Trulign Toric intraocular lens, a Class III medical device approved by FDA pursuant to the Premarket Approval process. In March 2020, she secured the complete dismissal of all of plaintiffs’ claims in a closely watched case in the District of Connecticut.
     Based in the firm’s Dallas office, Karl Dial was sole defense counsel for a group of foreign defendants that were sued in a mass action by 44 plaintiffs alleging securities fraud and breach of fiduciary duties related to securities sold in Canada to invest in real estate in the US. This cross-border dispute was the first case filed by more than 200 investors who have threatened suit against the Canadian issuer. This case has ramifications as to under what circumstances a foreign issuer may be hauled into court in the US on claims made by investors outside the country.

     Operating out of both the San Francisco and Los Angeles offices, Robert Herrington focuses his practice on class actions, with this practice touching on a wide spectrum of industries. Herrington is a new star addition to this year’s edition of Benchmark, propelled on the strength of vibrant peer and client review. One client asserts, “In the consumer protection context--both in class actions and mass consumer arbitrations--Greenberg does an absolutely fantastic job. Rob Herrington, in particular, is an exceptional advocate. Day or night, he and his team respond in a timely fashion, providing top-drawer work. In addition to the quality of their work and exceptional client service, they are very price-competitive. Robert is a great communicator, innovative and strategic thinker.  He's my favorite class-action lawyer.” Herrington and New York’s Richard Edlin won significant motions to defeat a class action alleging that Samsung’s Galaxy S7 series phones are falsely advertised as “water resistant.” The case began in 2016 in the Central District of California, asserting claims for common law fraud, violations of California’s Unfair Competition Law and False Advertising Law, and unjust enrichment. The Greenberg pair obtained a multi-year stay of proceedings pending appeal of a motion to compel arbitration under California law, resulting in the sole named plaintiff losing interest in the lawsuit. Another class-action authority, New Jersey’s Philip Sellinger represents Marriott and Ritz-Carlton entities in a putative class action brought on behalf of approximately 1,000 owners of fractional interests in The Ritz-Carlton Club, St. Thomas who are alleged to have paid an average price of $150,000 for their respective fractional interests.
     Miami’s Elliot Scherker represents the Government of the Virgin Islands in an appellate matter concerning the alleged 20 years’ worth of unpaid employer contributions into the Government Employees Retirement System, totaling more than $63 million. Another Miami-based star, David Coulson currently defends Champion Petfoods USA in a suit filed in the Federal Court in the Eastern District of Wisconsin alleging the client's dog food was tainted with dangerous levels of heavy metals, including arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury which in turn rendered some of the statements on Champion's packaging misleading. The plaintiff asserted claims for breach of express and implied warranties, unjust enrichment, and alleged violations of state consumer protection and unfair competition statutes. In February 2019, the District Judge granted summary judgement and dismissed plaintiff's complaint with prejudice on the basis that the small amounts found in Champion's dog food were naturally occurring, safe, and did not render any of Champion's statements on its packaging misleading or deceptive. Shortly after, consumers in 15 additional states, including another in Wisconsin, filed suits against Champion making similar allegations – for a total of 17 matters now being litigated state-by-state, rather than in a multi-district litigation proceeding. In October 2019, the Greenberg Traurig team won the denial of class certification in the Central District of California.

Hausfeld has emerged as a plaintiff-side firm to be reckoned with in several categories. Unlike many other companies of its ilk, however, the firm has not opted for taking the “boutique” route and has instead embedded itself globally, with litigators practicing in 11 offices throughout the US and in Europe. Primarily in the antitrust capacity, Hausfeld is an undisputed trailblazer, identified as a ubiquitous presence by peers on both the plaintiff and defense sides of the “V.” One major defense peer confirms, “Hausfeld is who we almost always see on the plaintiff side if there is antitrust class action. Even if it’s not exclusively them, they are always somewhere in the mix.” Another frequent opponent notes, “They have a wide scope regarding antitrust actions, and they are also huge in sports. I do a great deal of this work, and it’s nearly always against Hausfeld, at least in the biggest and best cases.” Still another sums up the firm’s stature by saying, “Many firms try to do what they do, but Hausfeld is one of the few that gets it right and one of the ones we take the most seriously.” Over the past several years alone, the firm has landed national headlines for its dogged pursuit of antitrust and sports claims. The firm was chosen by the DC Attorney General’s office in May 2021 to spearhead its efforts in a massive antitrust case against online retail juggernaut Amazon. More recently, Hausfeld scored big as co-lead counsel in a major case alleging that more than 30 Blue Cross/Blue Shield entities across the country have entered into agreements not to compete with each other for customers of health insurance. The litigation sought damages on behalf of a proposed class of more than 100 million subscribers, along with injunctive relief that would increase competition in the market for health insurance. After eight years in litigation, the plaintiffs scored a $2.67 billion settlement in October 2020. In addition to monetary relief, the settlement proposes systemic injunctive relief that will change the landscape for competition in healthcare. This settlement was approved in August 2022 – Judge Proctor approved the $2.67 billion settlement on behalf of employers and individuals.

While the DC office – where firm founder and former name partner Michael Hausfeld is based – has long been viewed as the firm’s center of gravity, with his transition to a “chairman emeritus” position, several California-based partners are taking bigger roles. “It’s more about the team now,” observes one peer. Megan Jones in the San Francisco office has been identified by several peers as “a leader at Hausfeld now,” with one peer testifying, “I have been very impressed with her, she has been leading quite a few cases.”

Melinda Coolidge, based in the DC office, serves as managing partner for the firm as well as attending to her own litigation matters that have earned her a debut as a future star in this edition. In July 2022, Coolidge led a team that reached a $90 million settlement in a ground-breaking case on behalf of app developers nationwide challenging Google’s 30% revenue share imposed on apps and in-app products sold on the Google Play Store. Coolidge is also part of a team is at the forefront of antitrust litigation over allegations that the nation’s four largest freight railroads – Union Pacific, BNSF, CSX, and Norfolk Southern – colluded on fuel surcharges and overcharged customers by billions of dollars collectively.

Celebrated boutique Hecker Fink has earned itself a pride of place in the crowded New York litigation market. Peers and clients stand united in their reverence for the firm and appreciation for its structure and operations. “They’re a firm that’s at the tips of our tongues if there’s a trial that it wouldn’t make sense for us to do,” testifies a peer. “If they can handle it, it goes to them. I know a lot of people who are coming out of the government are excited about the prospect of working there.” The firm is also noted for keeping its eye on cultivating the future levels of talent. Perhaps nowhere is this more evident than in the momentum behind David Gopstein, who made his debut as a future star in the last edition of Benchmark and has already made a swift ascent to litigation star only a year later on the strength of plaudits from various corners of the market. One peer insists, “David is definitely someone you need to look into!” A client raves, “David is an elite writer, a gifted oralist, and a better person. He is especially skilled at trials and in oral arguments before US Courts of Appeals.” Another extols, “David is smart, creative and responsive. His approach is client centered, and he seeks to provide the best results for the situation.” Shawn Crowley makes her debut in this edition on the strength of client praise. “Shawn is exceptionally intelligent and great with clients. She also has a great way with people generally.” The firm also benefited from the addition of Damaris Hernández, a young star formerly with Cravath.
     Michael Ferarra and Sean Hecker are two stars of the white-collar bar. “Mike Ferrara and Sean Hecker are two people that I would call if I was in the crosshairs,” declares a peer, going on to quip, “Who doesn’t love Sean Hecker?” A client calls Hecker “a smart, responsive, creative lawyer,” and addresses Ferrara as “a strategic thinker with excellent legal and advocacy skills.” One peer also insist, “Everyone knows Sean but you have to give more notice to Jenna Dabbs – she’s also terrific.”  Dabbs, along with debut future star Kate Doniger, represents Amentum, formerly known as AECOM Government Services, in a False Claims Act lawsuit, alleging false labor billing on a contract AECOM and related entities performed for the US Government in Afghanistan. Following a 2020 motion to dismiss and appeal, the Second Circuit subsequently affirmed the dismissal of most of the  claims, and the parties engaged in fact and expert discovery on the remaining claim. In the fall of 2024, the Court converted the motion to dismiss to one for summary judgment and, after motion practice, granted summary judgment in AECOM’s favor. Dabbs also acted with DC-based Joshua Matz representing a plaintiff in his suit against the President and other Administration officials challenging as unlawful his purported removal from office as the Special Counsel of the US Office of the Special Counsel. While the plaintiff ultimately lost this case, the firm was able to secure him a month in office after the President purported to fire him. During that month, the obtained reinstatement for nearly 6000 unlawfully terminated federal employees. Dellinger’s restoration to office after the President purported to remove him was groundbreaking, and the case was the first against the Administration to reach the Supreme Court in the President’s second term. Matz is cheered by a client as “outstanding, brilliant, hard working and compassionate.”

While Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel has been a mainstay of the New York legal community since its inception, it has, in recent years, expanded in a modest and measured fashion, starting with an office in Silicon Valley, and moving full steam in to the DC market by storm with its auspicious acquisition of prized local shop Robbins Russell, incorporating a deep team of celebrated practitioners across several practice areas. “That’s a big deal,” sums up one local peer, voicing the general consensus. “Robbins Russell was a classic DC firm and now the platform has given both sides many new opportunities.” Key among these new recruits is appellate “dynamo” Roy Englert, a frequent visitor to the Supreme Court and an authority in the practice. Englert is “all appeals, all the time,” and respected by a vocal percentage of the leading figures in the DC appellate community. “Roy is fantastic,” testifies one peer. “He brought an amicus in a case we are working on, and we were very impressed.” Gary Orseck is another recruit with fluency in appeals, as well as a broad-based commercial, securities and white-collar practitioner. “Gary is a tremendous lawyer,” extols a peer. “He has a really good sense of judgment and is a great writer.” Orseck’s achievements exemplify these ringing endorsements; he defended United Health Services’ officers and directors in a derivative suit alleging securities fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, and other claims, relating to alleged improper patient-admission practices at the client’s affiliated behavioral-health facilities throughout the country. The claims were dismissed in 2019 but went to appeal In December 2021, at which point the parties resolved the matter, originally valued at more than $1.5 billion, on the basis of non-monetary reforms regarding corporate compliance. In a similar matter, Orseck leads a team defending Community Health Systems and certain of its affiliates and former officers against fraudulent transfer, breach of contract, illegal dividend, and related claims brought by the Litigation Trustee for the QHC Litigation Trust. The Litigation Trustee seeks to avoid, among other things, a $1.2 billion transfer from QHC to CHS in connection with a 2016 spinoff transaction. The DC group comes with some youth factor to balance out the senior talent; future star William Trunk is part of Orseck’s team on the aforementioned Community Health matter, and Ariel Lavinbuk comes equipped with a practice that encompasses commercial litigation as well as a bankruptcy element, an area for which Kramer Levin, through its New York office, has historically been seen as Tier 1. 

     The bankruptcy practice has earned plaudits from fellow leaders in the area. “It is run by Ken Eckstein and Tom Mayer, who are great in court, great at deals, and just great at bankruptcy everywhere,” declares one peer, who further attests, “I see them all the time and they give me and anyone else a run for the money.” Eckstein leads a team that, for the past three years, has served as lead bankruptcy counsel to represent the Ad Hoc Committee (AHC) of 10 state attorneys general, six municipalities, and the Plaintiffs Executive Committee in the multidistrict litigation and a federally recognized Native American Tribe in the ongoing bankruptcy saga of embattled opioid manufacturer Purdue Pharma. White-collar crime is another field in which Kramer Levin boasts an unanimously lauded roster. “The Kramer Levin team actually does trials! That’s rare in the white-collar world, and these are actually for some very high-profile individuals,” marvels one peer. Barry Berke is an undisputed leading presence. He was recently thrust into the limelight when he was called into service as special counsel to the Judiciary Committee of the US House of Representatives in connection with its investigation and impeachment proceedings of Donald Trump, and as of February 2020, Berke returned to Kramer Levin with newly burnished credentials. Not that he needed them; even before this engagement, Berke has been routinely identified by peers as “absolutely one of the best,” with one elaborating, “Especially at his age point, he has some of the best experience you could ask for and credibility beyond question.” Clients agree; one calls Berke “a counselor, a litigator, and a strategist,” and goes on to assert, “No one is better.” While Berke’s profile in the community is undisputed, others in this group are making their mark. Dani James acted with Berke in representing Theodore Huber, a partner and analyst at Deerfield Management, in parallel actions brought by the US Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York and the Securities and Exchange Commission arising from Huber’s trading based on purportedly confidential government information relating to Medicare reimbursement for healthcare services. Both celebrated white-collar stars Berke and James represented biotech giant Amgen in a commercial litigation capacity in the client’s dispute with Novartis over the latter’s alleged breach of contract and tortious conduct arising out of the parties’ collaboration agreement to commercialize a migraine drug. On a counterclaim, Amgen alleged that Novartis breached the contract when it allowed its subsidiary to manufacture a competing migraine drug, and then actively concealed this from Amgen. The Kramer Levin team on this matter also included Norman Simon, who typically deals with cases involving the Lanham Act and false-advertising claims, niche areas in which Kramer Levin has been noted as being one of the few major players.
     The firm has recently developed a more “hard IP” practice, spearheaded by Dr. Irena Royzman, who is noted by peers to “occupy a definite presence in the pharma patent space.” Royzman has historically represented Janssen, and on behalf of this client sued several generic manufacturers under the Hatch-Waxman Act for infringement of patents protecting Symtuza, a treatment for HIV/AIDS. The action is in active fact discovery and claim-construction proceedings, and a bench trial is scheduled for October 2023. The IP area is bookended on the West Coast by Lisa Kobialka in the Silicon Valley office (opened in 2011). Kobialka, whose practice is primarily devoted to the tech space, brought patent infringement actions against Xerox and Ricoh relating to systems and methods covering various aspects of printers and/or copiers as well as their processes, performance and maintenance, and workflow management. 

     The firm upholds its dedication to labor and employment litigation, regularly representing high-profile clients in a variety of respects, particularly emphasizing – though not limiting itself to – highly sensitive and complex single-plaintiff employment disputes. No stranger to the public eye, employment law chair Kevin Leblang of New York is regularly active at the forefront of the most highly exposed disputes in employment litigation. Leblang currently defends Stifel in a sexual harassment lawsuit that has gained significant market attention. In 2022, the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act (EFAA) passed, leading the court to reverse its initial order to compel arbitration. Leblang has since appealed the decision to the Second Circuit. Leblang is routinely prepraing for trial. He is also active in discovery and pre-trial practice, defending Société Général in a sexual orientation and harassment lawsuit. Eliza Kaiser, also of the firm’s New York office, represents leaders across a variety of industries in disputes and investigations. Kaiser represented Facebook against a Department of Justice action that alleged that the company engaged in discriminatory hiring practices in the US in relation to its immigration policies. She negotiated a settlement with the DOJ as well as a parallel matter with the Department of Labor. Leblang and Kaiser’s fellow partner Robert Holtzman was recently engaged in three separate arbitrations on behalf of Natixis, all of which were successfully resolved.

Hoguet Newman Regal & Kenney continues to distinguish itself as a formidable force in its native New York as well as nationally. “They have some ‘Big Law’ credentials while having that kind of personal touch you can only get from boutiques,” declares a peer. Indeed, the firm’s founding partners do come equipped with experience from global juggernaut firm White & Case and have since forged ahead on building out this boutique with a high-touch approach. While the firm has some particularly strong niche areas – insurance and labor and employment, most notably – founding partners Dorothea Regal and Fredric Newman have instilled a culture that welcomes work that one partner quips is “pike law – anything that comes down the pike.” Whereas Regal represents international and domestic clients at trial and on appeal in complex commercial and insurance coverage litigation, Newman dedicates his practice to commercial trial representation.
     While Regal and Newman remain active in these matters, the torch is being passed to younger generations of talent at the firm. Most notably, Joshua Blosveren has proven an especially visible and active member of the group. “Josh is a very good litigator who offers very good insurance analysis.” Blosveren leads a team that represents Syngenta Crop Protection in an insurance coverage litigation filed by its primary and umbrella insurance companies in Delaware Superior Court seeking a declaratory judgment of no coverage for long-tail personal injury exposure claims made against Syngenta arising out of the manufacture and sale of Paraquat pesticide products by Syngenta and its predecessor companies. The basis for the insurers’ denial of coverage is that Syngenta’s notice of the claim was allegedly late and should have been noticed before the claim was filed against Syngenta. In August 2020, the Hoguet team secured Syngenta summary judgment on the threshold issue of the timing of the claim, which secured Syngenta $24 million in coverage. At the same time, the firm team defeated the insurance company’s pre-discovery motion for summary judgment, alleging that Syngenta made a misrepresentation in its application for insurance. A bench trial was held in October 2022 and in March 2023 – the court issued a post-trial decision that handed Syngenta a complete victory. Zurich appealed the court’s two summary judgment decisions in the Delaware Supreme Court which, in February 2024, affirmed the two summary judgment rulings. The firm team behind this matter also included John Curley and Miriam Manber. This same team, along with Bradley Nash, also acted on a case, led by Regal, for this same client in an insurance coverage litigation filed by Syngenta in Delaware Superior Court against various insurance companies that issued primary and excess insurance policies to Syngenta’s corporate predecessors in the years 1971-1986—providing over $800 million in coverage—for losses arising from long-tail personal injury exposure claims made against Syngenta arising out of the manufacture and sale of Paraquat pesticide products by Syngenta and its predecessor companies. The firm’s labor and employment capacity is largely run by Damian Cavaleri, who has an active docket of matters for a novel and varied roster of clients. Cavaleri led a case for Cosmax USA and Nu-World against plaintiffs, who are a contract manufacturer specializing in beauty products, who brought an action upon the client’s breach of a contract in an attempt to recover approximately $2 million owed pursuant to the contracts. The client asserted counterclaims related to several alleged agreements that it claims were breached and resulted in lost profits as well as other damages, including fines from major retailers. Manber also works with fellow future star Helene Hechtkopf on a labor and employment matter for the New York MTA, a longtime mainstay client for the firm.

Holwell Shuster & Goldberg is widely and duly revered as among the preeminent litigation boutiques both in New York City’s congested market and nationally. Peers and clients stand united as admirers of the firm’s approach and litigation acumen. The firm elicits a remarkable level of accolades from former and current co-counsel as well as referring lawyers. “I am working with them a lot, [on] some very big-ticket litigation of other kinds besides Chancery work,” testifies one co-counsel “I worked with them on [a case regarding] Rite-Aid concerning coverage for liabilities for opioids.” Another declares, “We brought them in for a significant matter that wound up not being litigated but would have been a big deal if it had, and I had the utmost confidence them.” Still another confirms, “I tried this implied-covenant trial with them, which virtually never happens in bankruptcy world, and the lead trial lawyer on this case was from Holwell Shuster.” Another peer insists, “You need to recognize Holwell Shuster in the insurance category more! They are getting a ton of that Chubb work now.”
     By way of example, a firm team composed of Michael Shuster, Matthew Gurgel and Avi Israeli recently added to a series of victories that it has earned for Chubb as nationwide lead trial and appellate counsel in the insurer’s docket of over 20 insurance-coverage cases related to the opioid crisis, in the past year alone securing summary judgment victories in litigation against CVS, Publix, and a Mallinckrodt trust—building on prior summary judgment victories against Rite Aid, Zogenix and McKesson. The cases place at issue Chubb’s insurance contracts with some of the largest players in the industry, including distributors AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health, and McKesson; manufacturers like Mallinckrodt, Endo, Amneal, and Zogenix; and pharmacies like CVS, Kroger, Costco, Rite Aid, Walgreens, Albertson’s, Giant Eagle, Publix, UNFI, and Walmart. Continuing to serve at the forefront of the firm’s team, founding partner year after year further cements his position as a complex commercial authority, including landing himself a coveted position among Benchmark’s Top 100 Trial Lawyers in America. Among the most active of Holwell’s litigators, Shuster continues to offer representation to regular client Visa in numerous complex and long-running antitrust matters, both in the class-action and opt-out capacities. In the opt-out cases, the country’s leading merchants are challenging credit and debit card rules that go to the heart of the industry and seeking billions of dollars in damages, pre-trebling. Shuster also acts with Vincent Levy and Neil Lieberman for LCM XXII and other issuers of collateralized loan obligations in a dispute with Serta Simmons Bedding over its COVID-related refinancing. In 2020, Serta entered into a transaction where it received $200 million of new-money financing from a group of lenders—which did not include plaintiffs in this case—who also agreed to redeem their first- and second-lien loans for a new category of super-priority debt with payment rights ahead of the first-lien loans. Levy, along with Scott Danner, also secured a significant jury verdict against Boeing in litigation alleging the aerospace behemoth stole substantial trade secrets from aircraft startup Zunum Aero related to the development of electric and hybrid-electric aircrafts. The jury awarded Zunum damages of $81.3 million for trade secret misappropriation, $67.08 million for breach of contract, and another $11.56 million for tortious interference. “Vince Levy is an exceptional lawyer,” declares a peer. “[He is] Very good and thorough.”

Since its genesis in 2015, Los Angeles litigation boutique Hueston Hennigan has seen an ascent that can only be described as astonishing. Formed by a group of commercial litigators who peeled off of California institution Irell & Manella to launch this venture, Hueston Hennigan has forged itself a coveted position as a local litigation shop that has achieved state-wide and even national prominence. The firm is noted for its mission of putting a premium on trial work, a mission that has been fulfilled with rapid momentum on several high-level appointments. “They have just been massively successful,” sums up one East Coast litigator, stating a consensus shared by many. The firm’s client base is remarkably diverse, ranging from individuals to a variety of entities encompassing tech giants, Native American tribes, the Boy Scouts and the California State Bar (to name but a few), with very little repeat business and virtually no “routine” cases. “Hueston Hennigan doesn’t do the ‘cookie-cutter.’ They do really cool, cutting-edge work,” declares a peer, who goes on to confide, “I admit it makes me jealous, and I’m sure I’m not alone!” Seemingly not content with dominating the Los Angeles area, the firm has discreetly planted a flag in the New York market as well, with a further buildout expected.
      Firm founder and name partner John Hueston is a trial trailblazer who has carved himself an enviable position even among others in the elite trial lawyer circuit. “I’ve seen trial lawyers rise and fade but John is young and vibrant enough to be in this for the long haul,” opines one peer. A client testifies on Hueston’s behalf. “John is incredibly smart and strategic. He is a true trial lawyer – he relishes the fight and is unafraid of a courtroom.” Hueston’s proven activity as lead counsel on a number of high-level appointments more than supports this near-unanimous acclaim. Hueston is not alone in his trial prowess and activity, however. Moez Kaba has staked himself a position as another of the firm’s lead trial counsel, acting in tandem with Hueston or on his own on some of the firm’s most high-stakes disputes. Kaba made his debut as one of the Benchmark Top 100 Trial Lawyers in 2019, a coveted status made all the more impressive by the fact that he is the youngest appointee to this prestigious list by some distance. More impressive still, his position on that list remains secure again this year, as does that of Hueston, who has appeared every year since the list’s inception. This duo secured a complete defense victory for Boeing when the court overturned the $72 million jury verdict in favor of [now defunct] aerospace startup Zunum (in which Boeing invested) in a high-profile trade-secrets case alleging Boeing’s actions caused Zunum to go out of business. Zunum sought nearly $500 million from Boeing. Acting as replacement trial counsel, Hueston and Kaba handed Boeing a win, defeating Zunum’s claims as well as securing $12 million from Zunum on Boeing’s cross claim. A team composed of Hueston, Kaba and Alison Libeu (who argued the matter before the panel) prevailed at the Ninth Circuit in April 2025, persuading the judges to uphold the firm’s $311 million false-advertising trial judgment and permanent injunction against Vital Pharmaceuticals and its former owner and CEO Jack Owoc. This victory built upon a $293 million jury verdict the firm obtained in 2022 for energy drink entity Monster in a high-profile lawsuit involving claims of false advertising, tortious interference and trade secrets theft against VPX. The jury found VPX and Owoc falsely advertised the alleged “Super Creatine” ingredient in VPX’s billion-dollar Bang energy drink. The jury awarded $272 million against both VPX and Owoc for false advertising and another $21 million against VPX itself for tortious interference and trade secrets theft. In its post-trial judgment, the court added over $43 million in attorneys’ fees, expenses and prejudgment interest to the jury’s award, with over $39 million of that tacked onto the false-advertising claim. Kaba also acted with Robbie Klieger, whose practice has a dedicated entertainment industry niche, in securing a March 2025 triumph when a federal jury awarded client Disney a complete defense verdict in a high-profile suit brought by an animator who alleged Disney infringed his copyrights to develop the blockbuster film, “Moana.”  The plaintiff alleged he had passed his materials to a family member who worked on a Disney lot, but the jury decided that the creators of “Moana” never had access to the plaintiff’s outlines and script.

Since its genesis in 2015, Los Angeles litigation boutique Hueston Hennigan has seen an ascent that can only be described as astonishing. Formed by a group of commercial litigators who peeled off of California institution Irell & Manella to launch this venture, Hueston Hennigan has forged itself a coveted position as a local litigation shop that has achieved state-wide and even national prominence. The firm is noted for its mission of putting a premium on trial work, a mission that has been fulfilled with rapid momentum on several high-level appointments. “They have just been massively successful,” sums up one East Coast litigator, stating a consensus shared by many. The firm’s client base is remarkably diverse, ranging from individuals to a variety of entities encompassing tech giants, Native American tribes, the Boy Scouts and the California State Bar (to name but a few), with very little repeat business and virtually no “routine” cases. “Hueston Hennigan doesn’t do the ‘cookie-cutter.’ They do really cool, cutting-edge work,” declares a peer, who goes on to confide, “I admit it makes me jealous, and I’m sure I’m not alone!” Seemingly not content with dominating the Los Angeles area, the firm has discreetly planted a flag in the New York market as well, with a further buildout expected.
      Firm founder and name partner John Hueston is a trial trailblazer who has carved himself an enviable position even among others in the elite trial lawyer circuit. “I’ve seen trial lawyers rise and fade but John is young and vibrant enough to be in this for the long haul,” opines one peer. A client testifies on Hueston’s behalf. “John is incredibly smart and strategic. He is a true trial lawyer – he relishes the fight and is unafraid of a courtroom.” Hueston’s proven activity as lead counsel on a number of high-level appointments more than supports this near-unanimous acclaim. Hueston is not alone in his trial prowess and activity, however. Moez Kaba has staked himself a position as another of the firm’s lead trial counsel, acting in tandem with Hueston or on his own on some of the firm’s most high-stakes disputes. Kaba made his debut as one of the Benchmark Top 100 Trial Lawyers before his fortieth birthday, and his position on that list remains secure again this year, as does that of Hueston, who has appeared every year since the list’s inception. This duo secured a complete defense victory for Boeing when the court overturned the $72 million jury verdict in favor of [now defunct] aerospace startup Zunum (in which Boeing invested) in a high-profile trade-secrets case alleging Boeing’s actions caused Zunum to go out of business. Zunum sought nearly $500 million from Boeing. Acting as replacement trial counsel, Hueston and Kaba handed Boeing a win, defeating Zunum’s claims as well as securing $12 million from Zunum on Boeing’s cross claim. A team composed of Hueston, Kaba and Alison Libeu (who argued the matter before the panel) prevailed at the Ninth Circuit in April 2025, persuading the judges to uphold the firm’s $311 million false-advertising trial judgment and permanent injunction against Vital Pharmaceuticals and its former owner and CEO Jack Owoc. This victory built upon a $293 million jury verdict the firm obtained in 2022 for energy drink entity Monster in a high-profile lawsuit involving claims of false advertising, tortious interference and trade secrets theft against VPX. The jury found VPX and Owoc falsely advertised the alleged “Super Creatine” ingredient in VPX’s billion-dollar Bang energy drink. The jury awarded $272 million against both VPX and Owoc for false advertising and another $21 million against VPX itself for tortious interference and trade secrets theft. In its post-trial judgment, the court added over $43 million in attorneys’ fees, expenses and prejudgment interest to the jury’s award, with over $39 million of that tacked onto the false-advertising claim. Kaba also acted with Robbie Klieger, whose practice has a dedicated entertainment industry niche, in securing a March 2025 triumph when a federal jury awarded client Disney a complete defense verdict in a high-profile suit brought by an animator who alleged Disney infringed his copyrights to develop the blockbuster film, “Moana.”  The plaintiff alleged he had passed his materials to a family member who worked on a Disney lot, but the jury decided that the creators of “Moana” never had access to the plaintiff’s outlines and script.

Headquartered in downtown DC, Kellogg Hansen Todd Figel & Frederick is a mid-sized law firm home to numerous trial-tested appellate and complex litigation lawyers.
       Founding and managing partner Michael Kellogg specializes in appellate, regulatory, and antitrust issues, many of which he has argued before the US Supreme Court. Fellow name partner Mark Hansen is a seasoned trial lawyer active in civil and criminal actions. As counsel, he has obtained some of the largest judgments in antitrust and unfair trade practice cases in recent history. David Frederick, a name partner, manages a diverse practice in the appellate arena. He has represented an array of individuals, classes and companies before the US Supreme Court, state supreme courts, and in every court of appeals across the country. Frederick serves as lead counsel for National Credit Union Administration in a lawsuit against numerous international and national banks. Aaron Panner is recognized for his work in the antitrust space. He is active representing clients in high-profile, high-stakes disputes in appellate and district courts across the country. He recently represented iPhone owners in one of the most considerable victories for private antitrust plaintiffs before the US Supreme Court. Andrew Shen is recognized for his breach of contract, securities, antitrust, health care, fraud, telecommunications, and whistleblower litigation practice. He recently represented an insurance company in a string of lawsuits related to the sale of residential mortgage-backed securities. Steven Benz is recognized as an antitrust and unfair competition expert, having represented clients in numerous complex commercial actions throughout his 25-plus year career. He is part of the lead counsel team representing Veeva in a suit filed by a rival life sciences giant which accuses the client of poaching an employee as part of an alleged practice that encourages competitors’ works to breach noncompete agreements. A Maryland federal judge determined the court had no jurisdiction over the matter.

Based in the Philadelphia suburb of Radnor, Pennsylvania, plaintiff heavyweights Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check have scored nationwide wins in the class-actions sphere. Clients voice appreciation for its partners being “well prepared in analysis of cases,” and “keeping the client informed.” While domiciled in suburban Pennsylvania, the firm’s ambitions have taken it global. “Kessler Topaz has a lot of penetration in the European market. They spent a lot of money on that, and it has paid off. They realized that there was a space in Europe where they did not know there was a class-action market at all, and so they built a monitoring practice with them. This has grown to the point where they are representing institutional investors in the US as well.”

In a recent example of the rewards of the firm’s overseas entrepreneurialism, Kessler Topaz scored a major win in February 2022, when a $1.6 billion global settlement became effective with Steinhoff International Holdings, Steinhoff auditor Deloitte & Touche South Africa, and Steinhoff’s former directors and officers and their D&O insurers. The settlement is purportedly the largest securities settlement outside the US to date. It resolves claims brought by Steinhoff common stock shareholders before courts in the Netherlands, Germany, and South Africa for losses they sustained as a result of Steinhoff’s December 2017 revelation that it had discovered accounting irregularities and that it had overstated profits by $7.4 billion between 2009 and 2017. Kessler Topaz, representing more than 40 institutional investors from around the globe, initially filed legal action in the Netherlands, seeking recovery of investor losses and a judicial examination.

Stuart Berman is particularly noted for his non-US litigation practice, as is Darren Check. The latter is praised by a client as “very knowledgeable and informative” and someone who “always keeps his clients up to date on the status of cases.”

While the firm has been primarily lauded for its securities practice, an area in which it has scored some of its most noteworthy victories, there has been a push toward antitrust cases as of late. In one example, Joseph Meltzer represents a class of plaintiffs who filed a Consolidated Class Action Complaint against pharmaceuticals entity Amarin, alleging that, having pursued and lost patent infringement litigation against would-be generic competitors as well as exhausting every regulatory means to prevent and delay the launch of generic competitors, Amarin adopted an unlawful strategy to artificially extend its monopoly for its sole product, Vascepa. By locking up every viable supplier of the key ingredient needed to manufacture generic Vascepa, Amarin boxed generic manufacturers out of the market. This scheme left Amarin free to continue charging supracompetitive prices and obtain the most profit it could out of Vascepa, at the expense of the plaintiffs and other purchasers of the drug. In another “antitrust-adjacent” matter, Meltzer and Check represent a class of plaintiffs, New Jersey municipalities, who filed a complaint against video programming and cable entities Netflix and Hulu, alleging that the defendants were required to file an application for individual certificates of approval or a system-wide franchise, in accordance with a New Jersey state statute, and failed to do so – and thus are providing cable television services throughout New Jersey without authorization and in contravention of the New Jersey Cable Television Act. Such certificates of approval and/or franchise would have authorized the defendants to use public rights-of-way to provide their cable television service and video programming, provided that defendants make payments to each municipality in which it provides service. The required payment is equal to a percentage of the gross revenues derived from subscription fees paid by subscribers in each municipality. The plaintiffs seek to require the defendants to abide by the CTA and pay what they owe to New Jersey municipalities.

Kirkland & Ellis has steadily risen from its roots in Chicago (where it remains a dominant brand) to become an international powerhouse. “Kirkland is a very formidable firm – [they have] a lot of talent. They have a lot of really solid people. There’s just something ‘cool and tough’ about them that you just can’t touch.” One of the larger and more comprehensive litigation capacities, Kirkland stands out as a firm that that boasts bench strength and high-level appointments in virtually every area of practice it offers, which include (but are not limited to) securities, antitrust, product liability, appeals, intellectual property, white-collar and investigations, commercial litigation, and bankruptcy, with the last being an area in which the firm is particularly dominant. “In bankruptcy, it’s Kirkland every day – they have to be at the top,” insists one peer, himself a leader in this practice. “I would specifically point to Mike Slade as a leader here – he takes some of the hardest bankruptcy cases around.”

     Kirkland is also noted for housing several leaders in the trial law specialty. To that end, perhaps the biggest news is the 2023 return to Kirkland of James Hurst, a famed and prolific Chicago-based trial luminary noted for prodigious courtroom acumen who took a multi-year hiatus. Hurst represented Abbott Laboratories and its affiliate, Abbott Molecular., in a lawsuit alleging gender and race discrimination brought by an African-American female and former employee of Abbott. Hurst prevailed on the clients’ behalf in September 2023. Another of the firm’s marquis trial lawyers, DC’s Mike Brock(who has been consistently ranked as one of Benchmark’s Top 100 Trial Lawyers since its inception in 2014) led a team along with Chicago’s Leslie Smith and Anne Sidrys representing 3M Company and its subsidiary Aearo Technologies in product liability litigation concerning 3M’s allegedly defective dual-ended Combat Arms Earplugs. In 2021, the Kirkland team secured a complete defense verdict in the second and fifth bellwether trials in this massive and headline-grabbing litigation. Operating from the firm’s Los Angeles and San Francisco offices, all-purpose commercial litigator Mark Holscher is another of the firm’s trial stars – one who makes his debut on the Top 100 list this year. A local candidate on this list testifies, “Mark is terrific. He’s now on the plaintiff’s side and become a thorn in the side of entertainment studios.” Holscher is representing Stable Road Acquisition in a purported consolidated securities class action arising from a merger, as well as an SEC action involving the CEO and founder of the merger candidate entity.

    Domestically, Kirkland has exhibited a remarkable level of growth in its New York office in particular. Kirkland came into this market and started knocking over furniture and not asking permission, just taking it,” quips one contemporary, summing up the firm’s explosive growth in the city. “We do a lot of work with them, and they send us work. They can’t be adverse to most of the private-equity firms that matter, but they have become an utter juggernaut in the New York market. More than anyone, they are responsible for the cultural shift in New York firms – there is a poaching war going on between them and some ‘white-shoe’ firms that I’m sure are historically not used to having their dominance challenged!” Many credit Sandra Goldstein, a litigation powerhouse and “straight shooter,” for this phenomenon. “Sandra has not only a terrific reputation but a sizeable book of business,” states one peer. “She has a carousel of securities and Delaware-related litigation on the go. But she also benefits from having the Kirkland machine and a great team that is coming under her and, at this point, with her – people like Stefan Atkinson, Rachel Fritzlerand Matthew Solum. They are all junior to Sandra but absolutely critical and playing major roles.” A peer elaborates, “Stefan Atkinson is a young guy that is very strong in Delaware.” The duo of Golstein and Atkinson prevailed in affirming a judgment entered in favor of Constellation Brands in a case in which Mexican beer brand Modelo brought suit against Constellation, the holder of a perpetual license to use the Corona and Modelo trademarks on “Beer” in the US, alleging that Constellation’s new Corona Hard Seltzer and Modelo Ranch Water products fell outside the scope of the license because hard seltzers are not beer. A peer insists, “You’ve got to look at [the New York office of] Kirkland harder for securities work! Just at the moment they’ve got GrubHub. Jeld-Wen. Six Flags. Honeywell…shall I go on?”Solum in particular is identified as “a securities star in the making,” with one peer stating, “We are seeing him everywhere and not just in one specific type of securities case, either. He’s got M&A work, derivative work, class actions, you name it.” Solum represents Avalara and certain of its former directors in putative securities class action arising from Vista Equity Partners’ $8.4 billion take-private acquisition of Avalara. Solum also represents Avalara in a related petition brought by Avalara against dissenting shareholders to determine the fair value of shares. Another New York partner, in the intellectual property space, Dale Cendali represented Take-Two Interactive Software in a copyright infringement lawsuit brought by a tattoo artist related to the depictions of NBA players LeBron James, Danny Green and Tristan Thompson in Take-Two’s  popular NBA 2K video game series. Take-Two designs each of the NBA players’ avatars with an eye toward realism, which requires including the players’ real-world tattoos on their virtual avatars in NBA 2K. The plaintiff claimed that the inclusion in NBA 2K of six tattoos he inked on these three NBA players amounted to copyright infringement. At trial, the Cendali and her team argued (among other things) that the inclusion of these nearly imperceptible tattoos in the massive video games is de minimis, a fair use, and covered by a license from LeBron James. In April 2024, the jury returned a verdict of no infringement.

Plaintiff shop Labaton Keller Sucharow (newly christened thus in 2024 from its former Labaton Sucharow name) is strategically placed in the financial district of New York as well as in Wilmington, Delaware and Washington, DC, where it is well poised to feed heartily on a steady diet of corporate disputes arising on Wall Street and in the Delaware Court of Chancery. As far as its prized securities practice, the firm remains at the top echelon, as a defense-side peer says, “Labaton is one of the few plaintiff firms that get the big, meaty securities cases and they litigate them.” The firm has also made inroads into the privacy space, with a number of partners delving into the practice. “It’s a whole new crew coming up there,” declares one peer.
     One such partner is New York’s Michael Canty, who is making significant strides in profile as of late. Canty served as co-lead counsel representing Public Employee Retirement System of Idaho in a securities fraud case against Alexion Pharmaceuticals and certain of its executives. The suit alleged that Alexion, a pharmaceutical drug company that generated nearly all of its revenue from selling the Company’s flagship drug, Soliris, made materially false and misleading statements and omissions principally connected to Alexion’s sales practices in connection with the marketing of Soliris. After years of vigorous litigation that commenced in 2019, the parties reached a $125 million settlement, which was affirmed in December 2023. Canty leads the trial representing Carpenters Pension Trust for Northern California and the Carpenters Annuity Trust Fund for Northern California, among others, in a securities class action filed against Allstate, the company’s CEO and its former President of Allstate Protection. The case arises from the company’s alleged growth strategy that ultimately led to relaxed underwriting standards which caused claims to increase.  Canty laid the ground before trial with several critical victories, including prevailing against the defendants’ motion to dismiss, class certification, and defeating the defendants’ motion to exclude the opinions of his experts. Finally, once again in December 2023, the parties received approval of a $90 million joint settlement. Carol Villegas is lauded for her “grit and talent” and denoted by a market peer as “the one who’s very prominent [at Labaton].”  Villegas serves as the youngest team leader in the firm’s history, spearheading the burgeoning Consumer Protection and Data Privacy Practice. In the privacy space, she serves as co-lead class counsel in their case alleging violations of privacy rights and related statutes against Flo Health, a women's health app developer that allows users to track data such as fertility and menstruation. While Villegas is trailblazing through the privacy and consumer protection litigation, she continues to be a pillar of the plaintiff-side securities bar.  Villegas and Canty are lead counsel to the Public Employees Retirement Association of New Mexico in a securities action against California’s utility provider, PG&E.
     Labaton has also been steadily building out its Delaware practice. This has largely been attributed to the efforts of Ned Weinberger, a partner who has made a splash in the Delaware market and has had the community talking. “Ned Weinberger has been killing it,” exclaims a peer, who goes on to elaborate, “Dell Class V was a milestone, a huge settlement. He’s gotten some pretty good wins. Just in terms of presence, aptitude and skills, I think he will keep the flag planted [in Wilmington.]” In the alluded-to Dell case, Weinberger served as co-lead counsel against controlling stockholders of Dell, alleging they had breached their fiduciary duties by expropriating billions of dollars in value from Dell’s Class V Stockholders. After hotly contested litigation, Dell agreed to pony up a $1 billion cash settlement in lieu of a trial.

Since its inception, McKool Smith has established itself as a litigation force to be reckoned with, a reputation that continues today on the strength of its deep bench of trial lawyers that spans seven offices throughout the US (four in Texas, the state in which the firm saw its genesis.) Firm figurehead and founder Mike McKool has since departed, but the firm retains the name and its image as frequent and battle-tested denizens of the courtroom. “McKool is a real trial firm,” states one peer in summation. “Those people have trials in their DNA!” Another concurs, “The culture there is one that has long been imbued by giving their all in court.” Clients are equally appreciative of the firm’s approach. “They understand current trends in highly specialized areas of litigation. They identify risks and opportunities and guide towards meaningful resolutions.”
     A new litigation star making her debut in this edition, Jennifer Truelove, a versatile practitioner in the Marshall, Texas office who has demonstrated a particular flair for patent litigation, helped secure a $303 million patent-infringement verdict on behalf of Netlist against Samsung, with a jury finding Samsung willfully infringed three of Netlist’s patents related to computer memory technology. Netlist had previously licensed the patents to Samsung, but that agreement expired in 2020. After the license expired, Samsung continued to knowingly use semiconductor memory products that infringed Netlist’s patents. The verdict was announced in April 2023, following a jury trial. Truelove scored against Samsung again in April 2024, when, as co-counsel, she secured a patent infringement verdict for $142 million, including a running royalty on behalf of G+ Communications. In the Dallas office, David Sochia represents PARC in a multi-patent case against Facebook, Twitter, and Snap involving advertising and social media technologies. A peer in the patent space insists, “David Sochia – you’ve got to look closer at him!” Michael Fritz, also in Dallas, is touted for commercial and intellectual property litigation. Fritz is cheered by a client as “very thorough and a good communicator.” While the firm’s Lone Star State operations have a well earned legacy for patent work, that is not exclusively the focus of practitioners in these offices. “[Houston’s] John Sparacino is an outstanding attorney,” extols one peer. “And he does no patent work, to my knowledge – he’s doing bankruptcy work!”    
     McKool Smith has experienced substantial growth outside of Texas as well, both in practice-area breadth and in practitioner headroom. In New York, Christopher Johnson leads a team acting on behalf of HSBC, as trustee, in litigating coordinated cases that collectively seek repurchase of nearly $2 billion of defective mortgage loans. All cases survived motions to dismiss, and the parties subsequently reached tentative settlements in all cases between May and October 2023. Two other partners acting with Johnson on this case, Courtney Statfeld and Robert Scheef, are also earning their own favorable impressions from clients. “Courtney Statfeld is an excellent litigator with strong courtroom skills and great presence,” enthuses one peer. “She is also very good at distilling complex facts into clear, effective arguments.” Another client raves on Scheef’s behalf, “Rob Scheef has a masterful understanding of the RMBS litigation environment.  He offers thoughtful litigation advice beyond nuts and bolts, and he sees the entire picture.”
     Domiciled in the DC office, Alan Whitehurst is praised by a client as “a strategic thinker [who] possesses [an] outstanding blend of poised advocacy, technical skills, and tactical judgment. He is a strong advocate in IP litigation and is achievement oriented.”

MoloLamken is a rare example of a litigation shop that has entrenched itself in three key geographic venues (New York, Washington, DC and Chicago) while remaining lean and nimble enough to qualify for “boutique” status. The firm’s name partners straddle the axis of trial and appellate counsel and maintain broad and diverse ranges of cases for an equally varied portfolio of clients. A peer offers in summation, “MoloLamken cover a lot of ground,” and further elaborates, “I’m actually seeing them doing a lot more plaintiff work!” Clients also offer glowing reviews. One raves, “Based on my experience, MoloLamken provided a comprehensive legal defense utilizing highly skilled attorneys with extensive experience and knowledge of the subject matter. They are highly professional lawyers who care about their clients and are highly motivated to achieve the best possible results for their clients.”

     New York’s Steven Molo, one of the firm’s founders, is considered “a visionary,” by peers, one of whom emphasizes, “He’s a trial lawyer! He goes to court more than many others on [Benchmark’s] list.” Molo and Washington, DC-based Eric Nitz represent plaintiffs in a misappropriation-of-trade-secrets case concerning an aircraft conversion program for the Boeing 777 jumbo jet. “Eric Nitz is extremely passionate about his work and thus his clients,” extols one such appreciative client. “He is extremely intelligent, knowledgeable, creative, and detailed oriented. And of course he is highly persistent to achieve the best possible outcome.” Molo led a team is serving as class trial counsel in a 10b-5 securities fraud stockholder class action against a company that transported oil developed from fracking in North Dakota to the coasts.  Shortly before trial, the class reached a settlement with the company’s officers and defendants for $14 million, nearly the entire remaining insurance policy balance.  The ensuing jury trial proceeded against one remaining defendant, and a favorable verdict was rendered in June 2022. Other members of this team included New York’s Sara Margolis and Robert Kry, who works from both the DC and New York offices. “Oh my God, Robert Kry is so good,” raves a peer. “You must recognize him!” Kry was lead appellate counsel seeking review of the dismissal of a securities fraud shareholder class action against Biogen and three of its executives. The allegations are that the defendants misrepresented the results of their clinical trial data for their Alzheimer’s drug by concealing portions of the data that showed that the drug was not in fact working. Upon the fraud being exposed, an advisory committee voted unanimously against the drug, and the company’s stock price plummeted, causing investors over one billion dollars in damages. In October 2023, the court of appeals reversed an earlier unfavorable decision and reinstated the plaintiffs’ claims in part. 

     Jeffrey Lamken, in the firm’s DC office, is an appellate specialist. A client cheers his “excellent writing and strong skills in oral presentation.” A DC peer quips, “Jeff is so known for IP appeals cases that I think he’s developed a real niche in that world. God help you if you want a Supreme Court case out of the Federal Circuit because I’m sure Jeff is going to go after it and most likely get it.” Although intellectual property might be a particular substantive area of concentration, Lamken represented The Humane Society of the United States before the Supreme Court in a successful defense of California’s Proposition 12 (drafted by the client in 2018), which forbids the sale within California of pork that comes from pigs housed in certain extreme conditions of confinement, against a constitutional challenge from pork industry groups.

     MoloLamken continues to enrich its talent ranks beneath the more senior name partners. New York’s Justin Ellis earns commendations from his peers, one of whom testifies, “I have partnered with Justin in a series of whistleblower complaints regarding fraudulent commercial mortgage-backed securities. [He’s an] excellent, hard-working attorney with a keen intellect and deep knowledge of the substantive area of work, namely securities litigation.” New York’s Ben Quarmby balances commercial and IP matters and is similarly championed by contemporaries. “I’m seeing Ben more and more, he’s doing really well in this space,” confirms one peer. A client buttresses this assessment: “Ben Quarmby is very clear and very reactive. He knows his subject perfectly.

Situated strategically in New York City, Morvillo Abramowitz Grand Iason & Anello has built a premier white-collar crime and investigations practice recognized nationwide as the “go-to” for both domestic and international clients. Its esteemed white-collar practice is complemented by capability in commercial and securities litigation, largely involving executives and cutting-edge issues, as well as employment-related litigation and high-profile and sensitive investigations. Former co-counsel and clients alike have praised its lawyers’ expertise and professionalism in and out of the court room. “They familiarize themselves deeply with the case and are always familiar with the details,” testifies a client. “They clearly address the challenges of the case; they clarify the legal situation; they are convincing in their strategy of approach; they know the strengths and weaknesses of a case; the pleadings are clear and persuasive; the views of the other side and the court are always present; they are quick when necessary; they have been successful in all cases so far, and there have been no surprising court decisions so far.” Another enthuses, “The Morvillo team is very down to earth and knowledgeable. They served an invaluable guide in navigating the opaque legal system while being business friendly and efficient. Their experience and legal knowledge significantly reduced my anxiety and stress on the legal side, but as importantly their compassion and understanding were even more valuable for me and my family.  They were always promptly available weekdays or weekends, regular or after hours.”
     Considering how sensitive the issues are that the firm deals with, many of its engagements are unsurprisingly of a confidential nature. However, certain appointments are not only public but very high-profile. This year, Elkan Abramowitz and Richard Albert represented of the former CEO of American Media, publisher of the National Enquirer, in connection with high-profile investigations relating to the Michael Cohen and Donald Trump prosecutions. The Morvillo pair obtained immunity for the client and prepared him for grand jury and trial testimony, including a week of trial testimony in the criminal trial in New York State centering on allegations relating to alleged hush-money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels. Robert Radick and Christopher Harwood lead the representation of a tech startup company and its CEO in connection with claims filed in New York Supreme Court by a former officer based on his termination and the forfeiture of his equity. The duo uccessfully litigated a motion to compel arbitration of the dispute, and currently representing the company and two of its executives, including its CEO, in the arbitration. Radick is championed by a client as “balanced, knowledgeable, realistic, smart, understanding and efficient.” About Harwood, a client raves “He is an outstanding personality who is always very convincing and can enter into a discussion at any time. He speaks very clearly, and his pleadings are clear and logically structured. It doesn't get any better than that. His presentation and his reactions in court are outstanding, always excellently prepared. He always addresses risks clearly. Telemachus “Tim” Kasulis, whose practice follows a similar trajectory as Harwood’s (the duo is humorously referred to as “The Fraud Twins”) is given a similarly glowing review by a client. “He is, above all, an excellent listener, a compassionate person, who understands the human nature of his clients and their family and deeply cares about them and the situation they are in. He is extremely smart, knowledgeable and very effective communicator.  His years of experience as a prosecutor gives him a unique perspective. Tim has been there for me, weekdays, weekends, regular or after hours.  My wife has incredible respect for Tim and his qualities.” Brian Jacobs, another young partner at the firm who has made great strides of late, is also involved in several securities-fraud cases. A client cheers Jacobs as “an extremely intelligent and thoughtful attorney,” and goes on to testify, “He has a deep knowledge of criminal law and is a go-to practitioner, particularly for criminal appellate work. Brian also possesses excellent judgment, is highly reliable, and is a pleasure to work with.” Karen King is addressed by a client as “a masterful strategist, [with] great communication, great research, team- and resource-management, great argument skills and writing. [She is] Great at managing client expectations and directing her team for seamless, flawless execution.”

In over 125 years of existence, Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough has grown beyond its humble South Carolina roots to enjoy nationwide acclaim. While still a regional powerhouse with offices in major markets like Atlanta, the Carolinas, and Florida, the firm also has locations on both the East and the West Coasts. 

Michael Brown is recognized nationally as a Top 100 Trial Lawyer and leading practitioner in product liability and insurance defense. He has been described as a “formidable” opponent who most recently defended Johnson & Johnson against a series of personal injury product liability claims. Brown defended J&J in a case that went before a jury in Oakland, California. The plaintiff alleged that he had developed mesothelioma from asbestos exposure while using J&J’s baby powder. The plaintiff sued J&J for $500 million and was awarded $18.8 million. The case is still under appeal.  

Baltimore’s Michael Blumenfeld specializes in commercial litigation, representing businesses of all sizes in disputes related to contracts, torts, employment, and product liability. Currently he is representing a family in an alleged negligence and wrongful death of an individual, who was making a delivery on their property. The parties are engaged in discovery and have a trial set for 2024.  

Matt Sturtz, who also works in the Baltimore office, focuses his practice on construction, bankruptcy, and real estate litigation. He is the lead representative for the estate of Preston Ayars, Jr. in a contract dispute for the failure to close on a $5 million real estate transaction. 

David Dukes, who is domiciled in the Columbia, South Carolina office, also holds the prestigious Top 100 Trial Lawyer status. He is known for his product liability practice and is serving as co-lead trial counsel with Marc Williams on behalf of Johnson & Johnson. 

Appellate and product liability partner Marc Williams, of the Huntington, West Virginia office, presided as lead counsel for Johnson & Johnson before the West Virginia Mass Litigation Panel regarding claims filed by hospitals against opioid manufacturers. The cases allege that infants born to opioid-addicted mothers were exposed to opioids in the womb that resulted in developmental injuries. Williams argued the motion to dismiss these cases, which was granted by the West Virginia Mass Litigation Panel. The dismissals are under appeal.  

Robert Massie handles high risk cases in West Virginia often involving wrongful death and injuries. He led the appeal of a wrongful death verdict for the client, Speedway, LLC. In that case, an employee of Speedway took drugs while on duty and became impaired. The employee left work and fell asleep while driving and fatally struck a motorcyclist. The jury returned a verdict against Speedway assessing damages of over $2 million and a second jury returned a verdict of more than $5 million.

On appeal, Massie handled the oral argument. In a unanimous opinion the court held that the trial court incorrectly submitted the case to the jury, determining that it was irrelevant that Speedway should have known that the employee was impaired as Speedway did not cause the impairment.

Mark Raymond is a litigation star out of the Miami, Florida office. His practice of more than 35 years includes complex commercial and probate litigation. He serves as the co-chair of the firm’s Securities and Corporate Governance Litigation Group and advises the Boards of Directors and General Counsel of leading companies as well as prominent Trustees.

Operating out of a single office in Manhattan, Patterson Belknap elicits resounding praise from a vocal contingent of peers and clients, the likes of which are usually reserved for a national firm. “We think very highly of them,” opines one peer, summing up the general consensus. “They are not showy or flashy, they are just solid all across the board. We could use more like them.” A client extrapolates on the firm’s overall approach through a glowing accolade: “They bring a potent combination of transactional and litigation expertise to the table to help clients achieve their objectives. Building on their knowledge of deal documents and judicial decisions, they are great strategists and excellent writers. They tell their client candidly when it has a weak position, rather than engaging in undue optimism.” The firm’s practice offering covers a diverse spectrum, spanning commercial matters, white-collar crime, antitrust, intellectual property, securities and false advertising claims, an area in which the firm is said to be one of the few major players. The firm’s hybrid model also affords it the freedom to take on cases in the plaintiff and defense roles. Patterson Belknap has also made headlines as of late for matters involving a more novel nature. 

     The firm, and namely Barbara Mullin, has been at the forefront of patent litigation as of late, with a series of Hatch-Waxman engagements for Janssen Pharmaceuticals, on which Mullin was lead trial counsel. She scored big for this client in a set of three consolidated actions against Mylan and is currently leading other cases against several other generic drug manufacturers. Peter Tomlinson led a team that secured a significant victory on behalf of the Baldwin County Bridge Company when a judge granted injunctive relief against the Director of the Alabama Department of Transportation due to alleged bad-faith conduct on the Director’s part. Josh Goldberg represents Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiary Ethicon in a multi-billion-dollar litigation concerning Johnson & Johnson’s acquisition of the robotic-assisted surgical device manufacturer Auris Health. The allegations, filed by the entity representing former shareholders of the acquired company, took issue with the contingency payments that were to be made if certain FDA clearance and sales milestones were hit. Said milestones were not hit. The case proceeded to trial in January 2024. Geoffrey Potter leads the charge on an anti-counterfeiting crusade for Gilead, taking to task over 100 defendants, including pharmaceutical distributors and pharmacies, who are alleged to be part of an international counterfeiting ring that trafficked counterfeits of Gilead-branded HIV medication throughout the US, putting patients at risk. The counterfeits included bottles of Gilead-branded HIV medication that actually contained entirely different medication inside, such as high-dose antipsychotics. The counterfeiting ring also trafficked Gilead-branded bottles with counterfeit patient instructions and counterfeit chain-of-custody documentation that fraudulently claimed that the bottles were sold through authorized channels. Patterson Belknap is also one of the few New York firms to have cornered the market on the false advertising niche, primarily through Steve Zalesin, a universally lauded partner in this capacity. Zalesin represents household names such as Johnson & Johnson, Coca-Cola and Hershey in numerous actions concerning a multitude of products.

Paul Weiss remains a brand name that is synonymous with blue-chip clients, and when these clients face extraordinary circumstances, the firm’s unassailable litigation team is a shortlisted crew in any conversation. “Paul Weiss sure has a whole lot of market share,” observes a peer. “They do great by their clients, and they are great at advising which cases to go all the way with and which cases to settle. The whole team is superb.” The firm’s litigation capabilities extend across virtually all major commercial practices, with star power at all levels within each of these, and the firm shows no signs of slowing in its agenda of recruiting and grooming this talent. Historically an East Coast powerhouse, the firm has since entrenched itself in the California market with the January 2021 addition of a San Francisco office, spearheaded by Melinda Haag and Walter Brown, two leaders in the white-collar area. Paul Weiss then followed with an office in Los Angeles, opened in 2024, with product liability specialist Kim Branscome installed in this outpost. “Kim made her bones on the talc cases for J&J,” testifies a peer. “I never tried a case with her, but I have read a few of her transcripts. She is known and respected in the products world, gets work.” The doubling-down on the West Coast was not the only recent development for the firm; a peer notes, “Paul Weiss is getting more involved in the employment area! [New York partners] Lisa Velasquez and Brette Tannenbaum are two people I would name for this, although Brette does a lot of other varied commercial work as well.”

     DC partners Bill Isaacson and trial lawyer Karen Dunn continue to draw acclaim for their antitrust work. The pair logged a March 2022 dismissal of an antitrust lawsuit filed by the DC Attorney General that challenged Amazon’s “fair-pricing” policy nationwide and then defeated the district’s post-trial motion for reconsideration and its motion to further amend its complaint in August. The case eventually wound up at the DC Court of Appeals, with oral argument taking place in December 2023. Appellate specialist Kannon Shanmugam is acting in the appeals capacity. “He’s amazing, really professional,” extols a peer on Shanmugam’s behalf. “He does a great job for his client and deserves the reputation he has.” Dunn and Isaacson, along with Jessica Phillips, also won a major bench trial victory in the District of Nevada on behalf of Oracle in a high-stakes, long-running copyright infringement dispute with Rimini Street. Issuing an extraordinary injunction order in July 2023, the court ordered Rimini to shut down its automated tools and issue and prominently post a 15-point press release in which Rimini discloses its alleged untruths to the public.
     New York’s Daniel Kramer and Audra Soloway, both stars in the securities capacity, logged another triumph for Amazon, and several current and former executives, in December 2023, when the Western District of Washington dismissed without prejudice a putative securities class action alleging that the defendants had defrauded investors in connection with statements made about Amazon’s relationship with third-party sellers and about the pace of growth in Amazon’s fulfilment distribution network. “Dan Kramer is really amazing,” raves a peer. “He’s got a great understated touch that is perfect for managing stressful borderline-crisis situations.” Kramer and Soloway also teamed up with Brown and Haag as trial counsel for Apple following the court’s denial of summary judgment in a securities fraud class action relating to a single statement by CEO Tim Cook on a 2018 earnings call concerning Apple’s business in China. Meredith Dearborn, another star in the firm’s San Francisco office, also was part of team. Dearborn lays claim to her own fan base in the securities community. “I like Meredith a lot,” asserts one peer, who goes on to confirm, “She worked with us on a case for [fintech and crypto entity] Ripple, and she impressed me. She’s young, maybe only 40, but is really poised for greatness.”
     In yet another Amazon engagement, a team composed of New York stars Roberto Gonzalez, Loretta Lynch and Jeannie Rhee were retained by the online retailing juggernaut in what is purported to be one of the largest publicly agreed-to racial equity audits to date. The audit analyzes the company’s overall policies, practices, programs and initiatives to determine their racial impacts on the company’s wage-earning employees.
     Enthusiasm for the always-championed New York securities star Brad Karp remains strong and shows no signs of abating. “Yes, Brad is still ‘the man,’” attests a peer. “You can expect that to be the case for a while yet. He’s in-demand, yes, largely due to his savvy, people-pleaser personality, but also because he really works hard for it.” Another peer supports this view: “He is still everywhere at once, still a hustler. One wonders if he sold his soul for this energy.” A team composed of Karp, Tannenbaum, Andrew Ehrlich and Lorin Reisner won a significant victory in April 2023 for The Blackstone Group and Blackstone Alternative Asset Management when a Kentucky Court of Appeals panel unanimously held that the Kentucky attorney general should never have been permitted to intervene in and revive a $50 billion derivative action in which the original plaintiffs were found to lack constitutional standing. The case was brought by a group of individual Kentucky public pension members in 2017, alleging that the Asset Management entity breached its fiduciary duties by unlawfully selling unsuitably risky custom funds of hedge funds to the pension agency, as well as engaging in a civil conspiracy among investment managers and trustees to conceal this.

Polsinelli has grown beyond its Kansas City roots to inhabit various strategic locations throughout the country. The firm’s aggressive expansion over the years has equipped it with breadth and depth in many areas of litigation, while still maintaining its premier reputation as a go-to litigation firm for the healthcare industry.

      Chicago’s Mary Clare Bonaccorsi previously served as Polsinelli’s Cross-Department Litigation Chair, while keeping an active practice mainly focusing on the healthcare industry, routinely leading high-stakes corporate internal investigations for clients in healthcare and the pharmaceutical industry. Additionally, her casework often involves false claims act litigation in both state and federal courts throughout the country. Thomas Gemmell and Daniel Reinberg join Bonaccorsi in the Chicago office. Gemmell’s practice mixes IP and business litigation. He leads several industry-specific practices, serving as lead of the unmanned systems and advanced robotics practice and co-lead of both the aviation practice and the transportation and logistics practice. Reinberg like Bonaccorsi concentrates his practice on the healthcare industry.

      John Peterson bridges a geographic and practice divide, practicing in Nashville and Chattanooga as well as Los Angeles, Peterson is a commercial litigator with vast experience in securities as well as real estate, and he is yet another Polsinelli partner devoted to healthcare litigation, an industry essential to Tennessee's economy. New addition to this year’s Litigation Star ranking is Atlanta-based partner Kurt Erskine. His practice’s focus is white collar crime, both investigating and litigating cases against state and federal entities. He is leading a healthcare company through a civil rights investigation conducted by the Department of Justice. Beyond the healthcare industry, Erskine is handling securities and insider trading fraud investigations by the SEC and DOJ, as well as a fraud case filed by the FBI and DOJ. Farah Nicol operates out of the firm’s Raleigh and Los Angeles offices and serves chair of the firm’s litigation department -- the first leader to not be based in Kansas City, the firm’s mainstay. Nicol’s primary focus is on product liability and toxic tort litigation.

     Rounding out the South, Dallas partner Adrienne Frazior debuts this year as a Litigation Star. She leads government investigations with an added expertise in employee benefits. Currently, Frazior defends companies that managed and administered self-funded health benefit plans in a Department of Labor investigation and subsequent litigation. She also defends a company in a matter alleging violations of Missouri Sunshine Laws, initiated by the state’s Attorney General.

     Polsinelli has maintained a commitment to upholding its labor and employment practice. Denise Drake, chair of the labor and employment practice, is among the firm’s leading, Missouri-based litigators. Drake is a leader through and through – leading the practice, the expansion into growing markets, and clients in their disputes. She has been consistently distinguished as a Labor & Employment Star since its inception, maintaining the status with a roster of notable class action disputes. Los Angeles litigator September Rea serves as the firm’s arbitration and dispute resolution vice chair, with Colorado-based Donald Samuels serving alongside her as chair. . Rea leads the California-based lawsuits arising from an investigation into allegations of C-suite misconduct that included abuse, harassment, retaliation and unfair competition. The case has spanned Italy, California, and Texas. Dallas’ Angelo Spinola specializes in handling labor and employment disputes on behalf of clients in the home health industry, particularly hospice and homecare companies. He recently resolved a lawsuit alleging violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) challenging the company’s alleged practice of not including certain nondiscretionary bonuses in the regular rate when calculating overtime pay. 

With seven of its 12 global offices situated strategically throughout the US, Proskauer provides a wide range of services to clients across a broad spectrum of practices ranging from commercial to intellectual property, securities to white-collar crime and investigations, as well as its near-unparalleled status in specialty areas of employment, entertainment and sports law.
     The firm has also seen a pronounced spike in its bankruptcy profile, solidly on the strength of its mammoth appointment as lead outside counsel to the Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico, which was created to oversee the restructuring of Puerto Rico's finances, valued at $125 billion, in accordance with the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act (PROMESA.) The Board's mandate is to return Puerto Rico to fiscal health with access to the capital markets, and to initiate pro-growth reforms designed to generate a free flow of capital between Puerto Rico and the US. This long-running and sprawling action involves a team of Proskauer attorneys from numerous offices, including Boston’s Timothy Mungovan, New York’s Martin Bienenstock and Margaret Dale, and Los Angeles’ Michael Firestein, all of whom have played substantial roles in the manifold turns of action in this matter since its beginnings. Dale, a commercial litigator who has made a noted pivot to bankruptcy, is involved in several other Puerto Rico-related issues, primarily dealing with employee retirement issues. Mungovan, the firm’s Chair and immediate past head of litigation, has developed a vocal peer following. One extols, “I think he’s superb. He’s not just a figurehead – the guy is a seriously good lawyer, absolutely dynamite.”
      LA’s Bart Williams, not only one of the firm’s most celebrated trial lawyers but also the country’s, has been at the forefront of several milestone matters every year, with this one being no exception. “Bart is the driver of Proskauer’s litigation practice in LA,” insists a local peer. “His practice is just so spectacular, and what he says is very important.” Williams acted with LA’s Susan Gutierrez as trial counsel for Gilead Sciences, securing a landmark win in a $3.6 billion antitrust case on allegations that the pharmaceutical company struck an anticompetitive "pay-for-delay" patent settlement related to two of its HIV medications. In July 2023, a San Francisco jury delivered a full defense verdict following a six-week trial. Williams, along with swiftly rising New York star Lee Popkin, was also trial counsel for Monsanto in a jury trial that was scheduled to commence in March 2023 in San Francisco. The case was brought by an alleged former user of the Monsanto herbicide Roundup and his wife, who claimed that Roundup caused him to develop non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma. The matter settled favorably for the client on the eve of the trial. LA’s Shawn Ledingham, a future star with a burgeoning following, was also part of the team. “I think the world of him,” opines a peer, confiding, “I wish I could hire him! I think he’s going to be heard about in national cases in another five years.” Another LA-based future star, Vinay Kohli, a healthcare-focused partner, is cheered by a peer as “so underrated – more people need to be talking about him, including Benchmark!”
     Proskauer has been particularly active, and successful, in the antitrust capacity as of late. Chris Ondeck, co-head of the firm’s antitrust group and co-head of its DC office, scored big for Wayne Farms when, after nearly seven years of litigation, he secured a complete victory at summary judgment in the broiler chicken litigation, in which plaintiffs alleged that the top 21 chicken producers in the US, including the client, unlawfully agreed to work together to reduce the supply of chicken over a 10-year period as part of a two-hub conspiracy. Plaintiffs claimed damages valued at $45 billion in total. Wayne Farms is one of a small group of defendants that has not settled any part of the case, and instead proceeded to summary judgment. In June 2023, the court granted summary judgment in favor of Wayne Farms and six other defendants, with one additional defendant (who, while being represented by another firm, was not granted summary judgment) is scheduled to proceed to trial in September 2023. Ondeck also led a team that included Ledingham and two other antitrust partners, DC’s Colin Kass and LA’s Colin Cabral, to secure a landmark victory for Sanderson Farms against the same allegations. The Proskauer team defeated a damages claim totaling more than $7 billion, which, had the jury ruled against Sanderson, would have been automatically trebled.
     New York’s Brad Ruskin remains as active as ever in matters concerning the firm’s famed sports practice, with a carousel of cases on the go for various athletic leagues and associations. Ruskinis defending Major League Soccer (MLS) against a federal lawsuit brought by the North American Soccer League (NASL) against MLS and the US Soccer Federation following US Soccer’s decision not to sanction NASL as a Division II professional league for the 2018 season. NASL alleges that MLS and U.S. Soccer are engaged in an antitrust conspiracy to ensure that MLS is the sole Division I soccer league in the United States, and further alleges that MLS is an illegal monopoly. A trial has been scheduled for September 2024. Sandra Crawshaw-Sparks, who divides her time between New York and LA, helms another celebrated Proskauer pillar practice, entertainment litigation. Crawshaw-Sparks is defending Live Nation and Madonna in a class action alleging breach of contract and false advertising in connection with alleged late starts for shows in Madonna’s Celebration Tour.