California

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

Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, a leading international law firm, consistently ranks among the world’s top law firms in industry surveys and major publications. The firm is distinctively positioned in today’s global marketplace with more than 1,300 lawyers and 20 offices.


Litigation Practice:
Acclaimed as a litigation powerhouse, Gibson Dunn and the members of the Litigation practice have a long record of outstanding successes. The American Lawyer named Gibson Dunn a Finalist in its 2018 Litigation Department of the Year competition. This award followed our firm’s unprecedented three wins in this biennial competition – as the 2016, 2012 and 2010 Litigation Department of the Year – and 2014 Finalist honors. Benchmark recognized Gibson Dunn as the 2019 Appellate and Labor & Employment Firm of the Year.

The members of our litigation practice group are not just litigators, they are first-rate trial lawyers. Each year, we try numerous cases to verdicts before juries, judges and arbitrators. Our clients have trusted us to try their most significant disputes to verdict.

We have tried cases and argued appeals before the U.S. Supreme Court and state supreme courts in addition to federal and state courts across the United States involving almost every foreseeable area of controversy. We also handle disputes before a wide variety of nonjudicial forums, from federal and state agencies to international arbitrations.


Antitrust & Trade Regulation:
Gibson Dunn serves clients in virtually every significant area of antitrust and trade regulation law, including cartel and government civil investigations, class action treble damage litigation, private antitrust litigation, government review of mergers and acquisitions, and trade regulation matters.


Appellate:
Gibson Dunn has one of the nation’s leading appellate practices with broad experience in complex appellate litigation at all levels of the state and federal court systems. The practice has been involved in matters covering an array of constitutional, statutory, regulatory and common-law issues. Our lawyers have presented arguments in front of the Supreme Court of the United States more than 100 times.


Business Restructuring & Reorganization:
The firm has extensive experience in both US and multinational insolvencies. Its lawyers regularly represent and counsel official creditors’ committees, ad hoc creditor groups, secured lenders, investors and companies (including DIP and exit financing) in out-of-court work-outs and Chapter 11 cases.


Commercial Litigation & Arbitration:
Gibson Dunn’s approach emphasizes the full spectrum of services for our clients. Our litigators are trained to evaluate actual and potential cases at the earliest stages, to first determine if litigation can be avoided, or, if it is filed, whether the matter can be resolved quickly and economically. We pride ourselves on handling our litigation matters as efficiently as possible. Gibson Dunn lawyers are fully familiar with a wide array of alternative dispute resolution techniques, including arbitration, mediation, “mini-trials” and the like. 


Intellectual Property:
Gibson Dunn’s deep bench of trial lawyers with technical backgrounds, advanced degrees and industry experience provides the necessary insight to develop and defend against sophisticated claims in a wide range of industries and complex technologies. Our litigators are recognized throughout the industry as leaders in prosecuting, defending and trying IP claims in federal and state courts, before administrative bodies including the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) and U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), as well as before arbitration panels.


Labor & Employment:
Gibson Dunn is known for our unsurpassed ability to help the world’s preeminent companies tackle their most challenging labor and employment matters. We have prevailed in what are believed to be the largest class actions under several different U.S. employment laws, including Title VII, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the wage and hour laws. Gibson Dun has also worked on high-profile ERISA cases, nationally recognized Sarbanes-Oxley ‘whistleblower’ cases and aggressive advocacy on OSHA issues.


Securities Litigation, Regulation & Corporate Governance:
A recognized leader in the defense of securities class actions, derivative litigation and SEC enforcement actions, the firm advises companies on disclosure, accounting and regulatory issues for domestic and foreign regulatory bodies. The partners include nationally recognized securities class action defense counsel and a number of former senior officials with the SEC, NASD and DOJ.


Transnational Litigation:
Gibson Dunn’s Transnational Litigation practice specializes in protecting clients against claims in U.S. and other courts stemming from overseas activities, as well as reducing and eliminating the risks posed by foreign litigation that, if unchecked, threaten company-wide implications. Our uniquely skilled, creative and experienced transnational team is equipped to manage all aspects of cross-border litigation, including devising, coordinating and implementing offensive and defensive global strategies and has represented clients in some of the highest-profile cases around the world. Gibson Dunn’s international team consists of US, English, French, Spanish and German-qualified lawyers, many of whom are dual qualified.


White Collar Defense & Investigations:
The firm defends prominent companies and executives against federal and state prosecutions and has conducted numerous sensitive internal investigations in areas including anti-money laundering; computer and IP crimes; environmental violations and compliance; FCPA matters; forfeiture (civil and criminal); health care fraud; privacy; procurement fraud; securities, financial institution and accounting fraud; and tax offenses. The practice group includes numerous former federal and state prosecutors and officials, many of whom served at high levels within the DOJ, SEC and other key investigative arms of the government. The American Lawyer named Gibson Dunn the winner in the White-Collar & Regulatory category of its 2016 ‘Litigation Department of the Year’ competition.


Last Updated August 2019

Firm overview

Founded in 1982, Berman Tabacco is a national law firm with offices in Massachusetts and California. The firm has devoted its practice to complex litigation, primarily under the  securities  and antitrust  laws, as well as related services requested by and provided to its institutional clients. The firm also has an active  whistleblower  practice,  among  others.


Securities Litigation
Berman Tabacco has more than 35 years of securities-litigation experience and has represented public pension funds and other institutional investors in that area since 1998. The Firm has prosecuted some of the largest securities cases and has recovered billions of dollars on behalf of investors. Indeed, Berman Tabacco appears as one of the firms with the most settlements on the list of the top 100 largest securities class actions in ISS Securities Class Action Services' published report, Top 100 U.S. Class Action Settlements of All Time (as of 12/31/2018). The firm has successfully prosecuted and recovered billions of dollars for defrauded investors in some of the most significant shareholder lawsuits of the last 20 years, having been appointed as lead or co-lead counsel in more than 100 actions. Recent successes include:

• In re BP plc Sec. Litigation, No. 4:10-md-02185 (S.D. Tex.) The firm recovered $175 million on behalf of the class—one of just four mega securities class action settlements in 2017 (settlements of $100 million or more), according to Cornerstone Research in this hard-fought litigation on behalf of shareholders of BP American Depository Shares arising out of BP's Deepwater Horizon explosion, one of the worst oil spills in history.  Class members who submitted claims will receive over 100% of their recoverable losses.
• California Public Employees' Retirement System v. Moody's Corp., No. CGC-09-490241 (Cal. Super. Ct. San Francisco Cty.) As sole counsel, the firm recovered $255 million from Moody's and Standard and Poor's entities in this landmark individual action on behalf of the California Public Employees' Retirement System, which alleged negligent misrepresentations in connection with rating three structured investment vehicles.
• In re Fannie Mae 2008 Sec. Litigation, No. 08-cv-07831 (PAC) (S.D.N.Y.) Representing co-lead plaintiff Massachusetts Pension Reserves Investment Management Board, the firm resolved claims for $170 million alleging that Fannie Mae failed to disclose (i) growing exposure to high-risk mortgages as well as (ii) problems with the company's risk controls, both of which led to federal conservatorship in 2008.
• In re IndyMac Mortgage-Backed Sec. Litigation, No. 1:09-cv-04583 (LAK) (S.D.N.Y.) As lead counsel, the firm recovered $346 million on behalf of the class from investment-bank underwriters and officers—one of the largest mortgage-backed-securities class action settlements to date and the largest paid by underwriter defendants.

Berman Tabacco's dismissal rate for cases brought under the federal securities laws is less than half the overall dismissal rate for such cases (based on the reported dismissal rate by one authoritative study). The firm serves as monitoring, evaluation, and/or litigation counsel to over 100 institutional investors, which includes 17 statewide public employee retirement systems with more than $50 billion in assets.


Antitrust Litigation
Berman Tabacco's antitrust practice has a national reputation for prosecuting class actions that involve anticompetitive conduct and conspiracies to fix or maintain prices. Over the years, the firm has played a major role in the prosecution of numerous landmark antitrust cases  and has been at the forefront of some of the largest antitrust settlements—recovering over a billion dollars for class members and changing business practices of defendant companies. The following are examples of the antitrust group's recent efforts:

• In re Lithium Ion Batteries Antitrust Litigation, No. 13-md-02420-YGR (N.D. Cal.) Berman Tabacco was co-lead counsel for the class of direct purchasers of lithium-ion rechargeable batteries in a class action alleging that defendant manufacturers participated in a conspiracy in violation of federal antitrust laws to fix the prices of lithium-ion rechargeable batteries (which are commonly used in devices such as notebook computers, cell phones, and digital cameras).  The firm successfully negotiated settlements totaling $139.3 million, which were approved in May 2018.
• Laydon v. Mizuho Bank, Ltd., No. 1:12-cv-03419 (GBD) (S.D.N.Y.) & Sonterra Capital Master Fund, Ltd. v. UBS AG, No. 1:15-cv-05844 (GBD) (S.D.N.Y.) Berman Tabacco is counsel for plaintiffs representing two large public pension funds in actions alleging that bank traders and their affiliates colluded in violation of antitrust laws to manipulate the Euroyen TIBOR and Yen LIBOR rates—benchmark rates used to determine interest rates and to price Japanese Yen-based financial instruments.   As of September 2019, partial settlements totaling $307 million have been achieved, of which $236 million have been finally approved.

• Sullivan v. Barclays PLC, et al., No. 13-cv-02811 (PKC) (S.D.N.Y.) Berman Tabacco represents a public pension fund in a class action that it joined as named plaintiff, which alleges that over a dozen major banks colluded in violation of the antitrust laws to manipulate the EURIBOR, a global reference rate used to benchmark and price over $200 trillion of financial products.  As of September 2019, partial settlements total $309 million.

Whistleblower Representation 
Berman Tabacco's  whistleblower practice group  assists individuals wishing to expose fraud perpetrated against the federal government, states, and corporations, working to obtain the compensation and protections afforded by the False Claims Act, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Whistleblower Program, the Commodities Futures Trading Commission Whistleblower Program, and the Internal Revenue Service Whistleblower Program. Berman Tabacco helps whistleblowers engage appropriate government entities to right wrongs—enforced either by those agencies or through separate litigation. 

Last Updated Sep 2019

Firm overview