California

Firm overview

Firm overview

Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP is a law firm created by the 2018 merger of two preeminent firms— Hunton & Williams and Andrews Kurth Kenyon—each more than a century old. With nearly 1,000 lawyers in the United States, Asia, Europe and the Middle East, the firm serves clients across a broad range of complex transactional, litigation and regulatory matters.

Hunton Andrews Kurth boasts two internationally renowned energy practices—a tier one oil and gas practice, and a tier one power practice. In addition to its deep and diversified corporate and finance practices with robust capabilities in capital markets, private equity and structured finance, the firm has one of the largest full-service litigation practices in the country, with particular depth in the key litigation markets of Texas, California, Florida and the Mid-Atlantic.

Hunton Andrews Kurth brings together multiple widely recognized industry-leading practices, including privacy and cybersecurity, labor and employment, intellectual property, environmental and P3, public finance and infrastructure. Both legacy firms have received recognition and accolades in the league tables and rankings outlets for their work in these, and other, practice areas.

Litigation Overview:

With over 350 attorneys, Hunton Andrews Kurth has one of the top litigation teams in the country, having litigated and/or arbitrated in each of the 50 states and in many foreign countries. Our diverse team has the collective knowledge, skill, and experience necessary to help businesses identify and manage potential risks, respond to existing or threatened litigation, and pursue resolution in any venue. Clients have distinguished us for having the “manpower and experienced attorneys who can handle the most sophisticated and high-end litigation” (Chambers USA, 2018).

Our lawyers regularly handle litigation matters in the energy, financial services, healthcare, construction, aviation, consumer products and retail industries. We pride ourselves on our ability to tailor our strategy to the needs of the client’s specific situation. Our commercial litigation docket regularly includes class action defense, commercial contract disputes, white collar defense matters, administrative matters and investigations, and appeals in state and federal courts.

Our team of litigators draw upon decades of experience to handle all aspects of disputes with the goal of achieving successful results whether in the boardroom or a courtroom. We collaborate with clients to develop strategies that are comprehensive in scope and aligned with their needs. The firm’s representation does not exist in a vacuum, and we approach each matter within the larger context of client businesses.

We serve as national or worldwide coordinating counsel for many of our clients. We are engaged by corporations and other large entities across a broad range of matters – from providing advice and counsel about business disputes and torts to civil litigation, trial and appeal, when necessary. We are often engaged in “bet-the-company” cases, complex commercial disputes, multidistrict litigation and coordinated state law proceedings, as well as class actions. Our lawyers have the experience to handle cases that involve multiple adversaries in federal and state courts across the nation and abroad.


Last updated Sep 2019

Firm overview

Alto Litigation is a powerhouse litigation boutique based in San Francisco representing some of Silicon Valley’s most coveted companies and entrepreneurs in high-stakes litigation and regulatory matters, ranging from securities class actions and SEC investigations to trademark disputes.

Alto’s lead attorneys received degrees from the nation’s most elite law schools (Harvard, Yale), and have successfully represented Fortune 500 companies over the last two decades. The firm represents technology companies, entrepreneurs, officers, directors, employees and shareholders in Silicon Valley and beyond in high-stakes litigation.

Alto prides itself on being lean and efficient, with the close team of litigators achieving positive results for top executives and companies. Alto’s size allows them to offer clients alternative rate structures, including flat fee or contingency arrangements when appropriate. The results speak for themselves. On the plaintiffs’ side, the firm has achieved millions in judgments and settlements. On the defense side, the firm has achieved dismissals, arbitration wins, and early settlements.

These results have not gone unnoticed. For 2020, Benchmark Litigation ranked Alto Litigation as a “Tier 1” Firm in San Francisco and a Recommended Firm in California. In 2019, Benchmark Litigation nominated Alto Litigation for both San Francisco Firm of the Year and California – Securities Litigation Firm of the Year. In 2018, the Daily Journal selected Alto Litigation for recognition as a California “Top Boutique” law firm. The Daily Journal selected Alto Litigation as one of only 20 firms statewide to receive the distinction that year, recognizing the firm for its work in complex commercial litigation.

Firm overview

Larson O’Brien LLP is a national trial boutique based in Los Angeles with offices in Orange County and Washington, D.C. With a team of some of the most experienced and respected trial lawyers in the country, we focus on high-stakes cases. Our elite trial advocacy and experience inform all aspects of our litigation strategy and create winning opportunities for achieving the optimal result for each client before and at trial, and on appeal.

The firm handles all facets of complex commercial and business litigation matters, including contractual disputes and business torts; class actions; intellectual property; real estate, environmental and natural resources; media and entertainment; employment litigation and counseling; and ground-breaking civil rights litigation. Our white collar defense practice is among the most decorated in the country, having taken on some of the biggest cases in the history of California and highly publicized cases nationwide. We have a robust appellate practice comprising attorneys with decades of experience in federal and state appellate courts nationwide, including appearances before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Founded in 2016, our firm’s talented attorneys range from junior associates coming off of federal clerkships to highly experienced former federal prosecutors and public defenders, state prosecutors, and a federal judge.

A Record of Success

A representative sample of our successes at trial and on appeal is as follows:

• Won complete acquittal of Colonies Partners managing partner Jeff Burum following a marathon jury trial in People v. Biane et al., defeating the government's allegations that the defendants bribed county officials to obtain a $102 million settlement in an eminent domain case, which at the time, then-Attorney General Jerry Brown dubbed to be one of the most significant public corruption matters in California's history. Currently representing Colonies Partners and Mr. Burum in a civil rights suit seeking over $100 million in damages for the retaliatory investigation and failed prosecution.
• Counseled the Orange County Water District in its efforts to remediate volatile organic compounds in the Orange County North Basin, pursuant to CERCLA and related federal and state regulations, resulting in successfully achieving the site’s status on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Superfund National Priorities List.
• Won summary judgment, later affirmed on appeal, in favor of a private water company and its officers, defeating allegations that defendants misappropriated water rights and breached fiduciary duties.
• Served as plaintiffs’ co-counsel and trial counsel in federal securities litigation arising from the initial public offering of Snap Inc., resulting in a mediated settlement for a multimillion-dollar cash payment.
• Prevailed before the U.S. Court of Appeals, affirming the dismissals we obtained on behalf of an A-list actor and producer in two intellectual property disputes.
• Obtained multimillion-dollar settlements for the Quapaw Nation and tribe members in a lawsuit spanning 17 years regarding claims that the mismanaged tribal assets.
• Obtained a favorable sole-tax-count, no-custody, no-restitution disposition, and the dismissal of all remaining charges for an aerospace economic development expert charged with embezzling millions of dollars in NASA funds in the highly publicized People v. Shaw.
• Successfully represented the states of Arizona and Oklahoma in connection with their efforts to seek recovery following the Volkswagen AG emissions “Diesel Dupe” scandal, obtaining settlements totaling more than $40 million.
• Won summary judgment in favor of a mass media company in a hotly contested employment dispute.
• Obtained a $10 million jury verdict and judgment against the Rose Bowl Aquatic Center and in favor of a minor child abused at the defendant's facilities.
• After five days of trial in federal court, secured dismissal of all nine counts alleged against a retired senior Drug Enforcement Administration agent accused of conspiring to commit fraud and make false statements to federal officers in USA v. David Garcia Herrera.
• Succeeded in having no charges filed against a doctor following months-long investigation of alleged $30 million in False Claims Act violations.
• Won three appeals overturning orders granting terminating sanctions in Breliant v. Boyd et al.—a high-profile wrongful death action against a celebrity drug interventionist—and defeated defendants’ motion for summary judgment after remand.
• Represented Arizona voters challenging the constitutionality of unequally populated voting districts created by a state commission, before the U.S. Supreme Court in Harris v. Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission.

Awards & Recognition

• Ranked a “Tier 1” firm in Los Angeles for Commercial Litigation and Criminal Defense: White-Collar, and ranked nationally for Criminal Defense: White-Collar, by U.S. News - Best Lawyers®   “Best Law Firms.”
• Four partners, including Stephen G. Larson and Paul A. Rigali, recognized by The Best Lawyers in America©. 
• Partners Stephen G. Larson and Jonathan E. Phillips honored with the California Lawyer Attorneys of the Year (CLAY) Award by the Daily Journal for their successful defense in the 10-month jury trial in People v. Biane et al.
• Four partners, including Stephen G. Larson, recognized by the Los Angeles Business Journal as among the most influential people and top litigators in Los Angeles.

Community Outreach & Pro Bono

Diversity and inclusion are integral components of Larson O’Brien’s firm culture, and are core values that guide our efforts to work within and help improve our legal community. Our attorneys carry these principles throughout their practice and in their involvement with diversity-driven professional organizations—including the Institute for Inclusion in the Legal Profession (IILP) Social Impact Incubator, Just the Beginning—A Pipeline Organization, the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA), the Federal Judicial Externship and Scholarship Committee for the Mexican American Bar Association, and the International Association of Korean Lawyers (IAKL), to name a few.

Our attorneys have dedicated significant portions of their practices to pro bono projects both at Larson O’Brien and in prior positions. The firm was among the first to join L.A. Represents, a city-wide pro bono initiative providing free legal services to Los Angeles residents facing hardships caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Most recently, we joined the Law Firm Antiracism Alliance (LFAA), the national coalition of law firms aiming to create large-scale, coordinated pro bono projects that address systemic racism. We continue to target and expand our pro bono efforts to those who need it most.

Last updated Sep 2020