District of Columbia

Firm overview

Regularly hailed as one of the strongest litigation teams in the industry, the Debevoise litigation practice consistently delivers outstanding results for its clients.

Recent matters include:

• Led a landmark cryptocurrency win on behalf of Ripple Labs in which the Southern District of New York Court ruled that Ripple’s XRP token is not a security, and not subject to SEC regulation when sold to the general public.
• Secured a rare post-trial victory obtaining a Rule 29 acquittal of ex-Fox International Channels CEO Hernan Lopez in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.
• Won summary judgment on behalf of YPF S.A., the largest energy producer in the Republic of Argentina, defeating claims for roughly $15 billion in damages and pre-judgment interest.
• Secured a historical win for Fortinet and eight other defendants with the dismissal of a suit brought by Realtime Data by invalidating seven patents and over 120 individual patent claims.
• Obtained a dismissal of a class-action lawsuit against Tether and Bitfinex in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
• Won a $100 million award for Gramercy Funds Management and Gramercy Peru Holdings in an UNCITRAL arbitration against the Republic of Peru relating to Peru’s agrarian reform bonds – largest amount awarded against Peru in any treaty arbitration and the first decision finding Peru liable under the U.S.-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement.
• Represented the Board of CBS Corporation in an investigation of sexual harassment allegations against the CEO and senior personnel
• Reached a resolution with the DOJ and EPA for Toyota’s emissions reporting practices without any criminal charges being filed
• Represented Booking.com in a Supreme Court case where the Court ruled 8-1 that Booking.com’s eponymous domain name is not generic and could register as a trademark
• Successfully represented Qatar and Qatari entities and individuals in claims arising from measures imposed by UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Egypt against Qatar, twice prevailing before the International Court of Justice
• Responded to a significant data breach for Capital One and conducted a related investigation for the bank’s Board
• Represented Robinhood in SEC and FINRA settlements relating to best execution practices and payment for order flow
• Secured a $75 million bench trial victory for Resolution Life in the NY Supreme Court stemming from an M&A transaction
• Secured a $327 million victory in a dispute for D. E. Shaw / TERP in the NY Supreme Court on claims for breach of contract and damages from the sale of First Wind Holdings
• Won a record-breaking $400 million award on behalf of Perenco Ecuador in the final phase of its 13-year-long dispute against the Republic of Ecuador
• Won preliminary injunctions on behalf of Diamond Hands Consulting which operates “SatoshiStreetBets” web and social forums, forcing its competitors to stop using the moniker and hand over infringing social media accounts to DHS.
• Secured the dismissal of a securities class action on behalf of Tribune Media Company which accused the company of failing to disclose that its proposed merger partner Sinclair Broadcast Group, was playing hardball with regulators regarding their demand that Sinclair divest certain broadcast stations.
• Helped get relief in federal courts for nearly 46 inmates serving onerous sentences resulting from outdated mandatory sentencing provisions that were disproportionately invoked against Black men

The firm’s litigation practice is led by co-chairs Mary Beth Hogan and Andrew Ceresney and features an all-star roster, including former Attorneys General Lord Peter Goldsmith KC and Michael Mukasey and former Chair of the SEC Mary Jo White, who returned to Debevoise in 2017 following her four-year tenure. Ms. White, who previously served as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York for nine years, is Senior Chair of the firm and leads the Strategic Crisis Response and Solutions Group.

Their team also includes over 15 former Assistant U.S. Attorneys or Department of Justice attorneys, including a former federal district court judge, the former Chief of the Criminal Division of the Southern District of New York, the former Acting Assistant Attorney General for the DOJ Criminal Division, the former Deputy Assistant Attorney General for National Security and three former Unit Chiefs of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement.

The breadth of experience offered by Debevoise in and out of the courtroom sets their litigators apart. They bring personal attention, seasoned judgment, deep industry knowledge, credibility and substantive legal experience to each matter, tailoring advice to clients’ needs and circumstances. They work seamlessly and collaboratively with clients and co-counsel and across practices to achieve the best possible results for our clients.

Based in New York, Washington DC, London, Paris, Frankfurt, San Francisco, Shanghai, and Hong Kong, their broadly skilled team of nearly 300 litigators handle domestic and cross-border disputes of every kind and complex matters in courts in the United States, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, France and elsewhere, as well as before arbitration tribunals, agencies and administrative bodies worldwide. They represent clients as plaintiffs and defendants in a wide range of areas, including:

• Antitrust & Competition
• Arbitration & International Disputes
• Bankruptcy
• Business Integrity
• Crisis Management
• Data Strategy & Security
• Commercial Litigation
• Insurance Industry Disputes
• Intellectual Property
• Internal Investigations
• Labor & Employment Litigation
• Product Liability
• Securities Enforcement
• Securities Litigation
• Trial Practice
• White Collar & Regulatory Defense

Another notable and distinguishing feature of the Debevoise litigation practice is the success of their women partners. Benchmark Litigation has named nine Debevoise women litigation partners among the “Top 250 Women in Litigation”—an exceptional ranking for a firm of its size. Since the inception of Benchmark Litigation’s “Top 250 Women in Litigation” list in 2013, the firm’s partners have been recognized every year for demonstrating its tradition of serving clients at the highest levels and of contributing to the development and advancement of distinguished women leaders.

Updated Oct 2023

Firm overview

Firm overview

Founded in 1920, Akerman is recognized as one of the country’s premier law firms, with more than 700 lawyers in 25 offices throughout the United States..

Commercial Litigation: Akerman offers a leading trial team that includes litigators across the United States. We represent a diverse range of clients across numerous sectors, with particular strength in the financial services, private equity, insurance, real estate, construction, health and life sciences, and energy sectors. Akerman lawyers regularly appear before judges and arbitrators in class actions, securities, white-collar, fraud and recovery, product liability, intellectual property, employment, bankruptcy, and general business matters.

Appellate: With a bench that includes many former appellate and trial court judges, Akerman’s appellate practice is a national powerhouse with demonstrated success in handling appeals related to complex commercial litigation. Akerman's appellate team frequently assist trial lawyers during all phases of litigation, preserving errors for appeal, drafting motions and responses, and providing strategic advice on the best approach for seeking relief on appeal. They handle numerous matters before appellate courts nationwide in various commercial cases and class actions. We also have experience in administrative appeals involving high profile issues before state agencies. Additionally, Akerman's appellate lawyers represent industry associations as amicus curiae in appellate proceedings when our clients are not a party to an appeal but have a substantial interest in the outcome.

International Litigation & Arbitration: Akerman has a long record of accomplishment in resolving complex multijurisdictional disputes. Our team represents multinational, foreign, and domestic corporations and individuals before U.S. federal and state courts, as well as in arbitration proceedings before a wide range of international arbitral bodies in multiple jurisdictions. Akerman litigators help clients successfully address conflicts in a broad range of sectors, including general commercial disputes, power and energy, construction and engineering, and banking and finance, among many others. Our highly responsive, multilingual team works in tandem with experienced local counsel to provide seamless resolution to disputes throughout Latin America, as well as in Europe, Asia Pacific, Africa, and the Middle East.

Employment Litigation: Akerman’s national, multidisciplinary team helps clients navigate claims brought before state and federal agencies and boards as well as trial and appellate courts throughout the United States. Our lawyers regularly defend employers in all types of employment litigation, including complex class-action discrimination cases and collective action wage and hour matters. We also represent employers in connection with administrative charges and audits, and have successfully negotiated and supervised numerous settlements with the U.S. Department of Labor.

Updated Sep 2024

Firm overview

Who We Are: Founded in October 2018, Reichman Jorgensen Lehman & Feldberg LLP (RJLF) boldly entered the market as a trial boutique with a national reach and an ambition to create a new standard for litigation firms. Focusing on high-stakes commercial litigation, intellectual property, and white collar disputes, the firm made national headlines for breaking away from many law firm traditions, including reinventing the practice of law without the billable hour in favor of fee arrangements that align client interests. RJLF also eliminated two other standard law firm features – the partnership track and lockstep compensation – in favor of systems that encourage attorneys to advance as quickly as their skills allow. The firm is committed to attracting and retaining the most elite talent in the legal industry and pays above market.

In another departure from industry norms, RJLF is truly diverse. The firm is majority women-owned, with 30% of its lawyers being racially and/or LGBTQ+ diverse. Since the firm’s launch, RJLF has been recognized in Law360’s annual “Glass Ceiling Report” for having more women equity partners than any other U.S. firm of its size. The firm also scored as the most gender diverse of all U.S. law firms in any size category, according to the percentage of women equity partners. RJLF was named a “Top Trial Boutique” and awarded “Silicon Valley Firm of the Year” for three consecutive years by Benchmark Litigation and recognized as an “Elite Boutique” by The National Law Journal.

Elite Talent Wins Cases: RJLF’s break from industry traditions obviously resonated with the market, as the firm’s size quickly expanded with marquee talent from several esteemed “Big Law” firms such as Finnegan Henderson; Hughes Hubbard & Reed; Allen & Overy; Morgan Lewis, & Bockius; and White & Case LLP, among many others.

Our attorneys are from the most prestigious clerkships, including the Supreme Court, the D.C. Circuit, the Federal Circuit, the 2nd, 6th, 7th, and 11th Circuits, and District Courts around the country, as well as prestigious law schools such as Harvard, Stanford, Yale, Columbia, Berkeley, NYU, and others. The firm’s lawyers have undergraduate and advanced technical degrees in diverse fields including electrical engineering, physics, computer science, computer networks, and biotechnology. RJLF’s lawyers have also been recognized as among the most accomplished trial lawyers by The American College of Trial Lawyers, Chambers USA, The Legal 500, The National Law Journal, Managing IP, and IAM Patent 1000: The World’s Leading Patent Practitioners, among many others.

Recent Achievements: Punching well above its weight, RJLF often goes toe-to-toe with some of the largest law firms in the world, including Skadden Arps, Morrison & Foerster, Gibson Dunn, and Baker Hostetler, among others. Highlights of the firm’s trial prowess and recent significant wins include:

• Commercial Litigation: RJLF secured a precedent-setting victory on behalf of the CRA in the “gas ban on stoves” case against the City of Berkeley. The Ninth Circuit reversed the District Court’s ruling and held that Berkeley’s ban on natural gas hook-ups is preempted by federal law and therefore invalid. The case garnered extensive national attention from major news outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Bloomberg, and Reuters, among others.
• Intellectual Property Litigation: RJLF won a landmark $673 million award for Kove IO in a patent infringement case against Amazon Web Services, which involved cloud storage technology. At the time, this victory was the largest patent win of 2024 and ranked as the ninth highest in the past decade. The court upheld a $525 million verdict and added $148 million in interest during post-trial motions.
• White Collar Litigation: In an ultrarare price-fixing trial against the Department of Justice (DOJ), the RJLF trial team secured a complete defence verdict after two mistrials. The case stemmed from a high-profile grand jury indictment by the DOJ that charged 10 executives, including RJLF client Roger Austin, a former Vice President of Pilgrim’s Pride, alleging a price- fixing scheme in the $28 billion-per-year broiler chicken industry. The trial win earned the team Global Competition Review’s 2023 Behavioural Matter of the Year (Americas).

Pro Bono: RJLF is deeply committed to public interest litigation. We understand that our privilege of being trial lawyers naturally involves representing those in need, whether it’s high-profile impact litigation or a person who will be evicted from an apartment. We also collaborate and work side-by-side with our clients to develop targeted pro bono and community service programs. Our pro bono activities include handling cases involving civil rights, immigration, prison abuse, indigent defence, homelessness, and veterans’ issues, among others.

Offices:

California
100 Marine Parkway, Suite 300
Redwood Shores, CA 94065
T: +1 650 623 1401
W: reichmanjorgensen.com

New York
400 Madison Avenue, Suite 14D
New York, NY 10017
T: +1 212 381 1965

Atlanta
1201 West Peachtree Street, Suite 2300
Atlanta, GA 30309
T: +1 404 609 1040

Austin
515 Congress Avenue, Suite 1900
Austin, TX 78701
T: + 650 623 1401

Updated Oct 2024