Operating out of a single office in Manhattan, Patterson Belknap elicits resounding praise from a vocal contingent of peers and clients, the like of which is 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 expands 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 wide 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 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 of late for matters of a more novel nature.
The firm made news in May 2022 when a team led by Adeel Mangi scored big for Appian Corporation in a trade secrets and computer theft case in Virginia State Court. The Patterson Belknap team secured an eye-popping $2 billion verdict for the client. Mangi makes an impressive leap from the future star level to litigation star in this edition and, even more remarkably, earns a position among the coveted Top 100 Trial Lawyers list on the strength of this win. Pegasystems appealed in February 2023, and the Patterson Belknap team continues to represent Appian on appeal. Other members of the team included Jeff Ginsberg and Muhammad Faridi, the latter of whom was also part of a team (led by Peter Tomlinson) that, after more than a decade of litigation and following multiple weeks of a trial that finally commenced in September 2022, secured a historic settlement of $1.84 billion for Ambac to resolve this matter and related cases against Bank of America entities. Ambac initiated this litigation against Countrywide Home Loans (now a BoA unit) in New York Supreme Court in 2010, alleging pervasive fraud and breaches of representations and warranties made by Countrywide relating to the mortgage loans underlying several residential mortgage-backed securities transactions – the likes of which brought the economy to its knees in 2008.
William Cavanaugh, who is a noted authority in antitrust and intellectual property, represented Takeda Pharmaceuticals in patent litigation concerning hypertension drugs.
“Bill Cavanaugh is a top-tier trial attorney, who has a unique ability to distill complex matters to simple and persuasive propositions for juries,” testifies a client.
Saul Shapiro represents Charter Communications in a lawsuit filed arising out of a 2006 agreement, the terms of which permitted the plaintiff entity to sell customers a “white-label” high-speed internet service using Charter’s infrastructure, in exchange for supplying Charter with a number of IP addresses to allow its customers to connect to the plaintiff’s high-speed service. The plaintiff claims in the litigation that Charter customer service representatives defamed the plaintiff and that Charter refuses to return certain IP addresses that it supplied under the parties’ agreement. “Saul is a great communicator and oral advocate,” testifies a client. “He identifies all possible risks, no matter how minute, and is prepared for each.”
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 won a victory for Allbirds, a maker of footwear and apparel using wool and natural materials, in a putative class action that challenged the company’s claims regarding the sustainability of its products and raw materials sourcing practices. In April 2022, the US District Court for the Southern District of New York granted a motion to dismiss in full, with prejudice. Geoffrey Potter represents Abbott Labs in an action against more than 300 wholesalers, retailers, and individuals that bought and sold diverted international FreeStyle-brand blood glucose test strips in the US. Said test strips that are packaged for sale outside the US have labelling and instructions that have not been cleared by regulators for sale in the US and therefore pose a potential risk to consumers. Because international boxes cannot lawfully be sold in the US and are not covered by US insurance, the boxes are diverted with the intent that they will be fraudulently submitted to insurance as US boxes, allegedly causing Abbott to lose sales and make unwarranted rebate payments to insurers. Abbott secured a preliminary injunction against the defendants barring them from selling international FreeStyle strips, which was affirmed by the Second Circuit. Abbott is seeking out-of-pocket damages of more than $50 million, and punitive damages of more than $100 million. Potter and his team secured favorable settlements with, and permanent injunctions against, many of the defendants, and damages trials for the remaining defendants are being scheduled.
