District of Columbia

Firm overview

Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP has been a leader in the legal profession for more than 75 years. Our 1,100 lawyers, who operate in 16 offices in major global financial centers, work together across practices, industries, and jurisdictions to provide clients with clear, actionable approaches to their most complex legal and business challenges.

Litigation and Arbitration: Recognized as one of the top litigation and arbitration groups in the world, Cleary has counseled corporations, financial institutions, governments, and individuals in cases that have dominated the business and legal news. Our engagements frequently require cross-border coordination of the firm’s varied resources, allowing us to pair our corporate, regulatory, and financial experience with our litigation prowess. Our U.S. team has a wealth of government experience and a deep bench of former federal prosecutors comprised of, among others, two former U.S. Attorneys from the Southern District of New York; several former senior officials of the SEC, including a former Chief Litigation Counsel of the Enforcement Division, a former Assistant Chief Litigation Counsel and Supervisory Trial Counsel of the Enforcement Division, and a former General Counsel; a former Director and a former Deputy Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition; and two former Deputy Assistant Attorneys General of the DOJ’s Antitrust Division.

Antitrust Litigation: For decades, we have represented many of the largest U.S. and international companies in the full range of antitrust litigation, including monopolization, conspiracy, and merger cases in district and appellate courts across the United States. Unlike at many other firms, where generalist litigators handle competition cases, our antitrust litigators are true antitrust practitioners, and this difference is demonstrated in our track record of success. Notable clients include T-Mobile, Fox Corporation, HSBC, Juul Labs, “K” Line America, Keurig Dr Pepper, Molson Coors, NSK, Sabre Holdings, Teladoc, and Whirlpool.  

Bankruptcy and Workout Litigation: Harnessing our integrated global partnership and network of locally qualified lawyers, we represent both debtors and creditors in cross-border restructurings and insolvency proceedings in the United States, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. Notable clients include Apollo Capital Management, Automotores Gildemeister, BNP Paribas, Citigroup, Grupo Posadas, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, LATAM Airlines, Nomura, Nortel Networks, Odebrecht Group, Oi, Punjab National Bank, Samarco Mineração, Total S.A., Vale S.A., Warburg Pincus, The Wendy’s Company, and YPF S.A.

Complex Civil Litigation: Cleary is recognized as a leading firm for complex commercial disputes, bringing business savvy and an international point of view to bear on a full range of business matters. Notable clients include Assured Guaranty, Bank of New York Mellon, BHP Group, BNP Paribas, Citigroup, Copa Airlines, Crédit Lyonnais, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, Medytox, National Amusements, Inc., National Westminster Bank plc, Robert Bosch GmbH, and YPF S.A.

Intellectual Property Litigation: Our formidable litigation practice includes the litigation and arbitration of IP disputes, with particular experience in international patent and trademark infringement matters, and licensing and JV disputes in multiple jurisdictions. We have led clients to victories in many landmark IP cases. Notable clients include Citigroup, Medytox, Nortel Networks, OpenText, and Tom Ford.

International Arbitration: We have extensive experience in international commercial arbitration, investment treaty, and other arbitrations involving public international law, and in enforcing or challenging arbitral awards and foreign judgments in the United States and U.S. judgments abroad. Our lawyers also serve as arbitrators in major international cases, are experienced in drafting arbitration clauses for complex international transactions, and regularly work with our corporate colleagues on technical commercial and M&A arbitrations. Notable clients include Agfa-Gevaert Group, Ontex Group, Petrobras, Pluspetrol Perú, Selex Galileo, and Vale S.A.

Securities and M&A Litigation: We have extensive experience representing boards, special committees, acquirers, and financial advisors around the country in litigation related to mergers, tender offers, and other takeover-related settings. We also advise on a range of corporate governance matters and handle other derivative litigation challenging the actions of boards of directors. Notable clients include Allergan, Applied Materials, Assured Guaranty Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, International Flavors & Fragrances, Juul Labs, Odebrecht S.A., Polychain Capital, Ryanair, Synchrony Financial, and T-Mobile.

Sovereign Litigation and Arbitration: For more than 30 years, the firm has worked on litigation and arbitration matters involving sovereign states and state-owned entities in a wide range of disputes, including debt restructurings, and has developed and refined the legal and financial techniques used to address these problems. Notable clients include The Arab Republic of Egypt, The Bank of Spain, The French Republic, The Hellenic Republic (Greece), Japan, The Republic of Argentina, The Republic of Austria, The Republic of Congo, The Republic of Iraq, The Republic of Slovenia, and The Republic of Tatarstan.

White Collar Defense and Internal Investigations: Cleary advises and defends the world’s leading financial institutions and multinational corporations and, in certain cases, their senior employees, in a broad range of sensitive criminal and regulatory matters. We defend clients before the DOJ, SEC, and other government agencies and—when necessary—in court, and we regularly conduct internal investigations for companies and their boards. Our established practices in the U.S., Europe, Asia, and Latin America enable us to provide a comprehensive and coordinated approach to cross-border enforcement matters. Recently, Cleary was selected and appointed by the New York State Attorney General’s Office to conduct an independent investigation into allegations against then-Governor Andrew Cuomo. The firm’s notable clients also include Citigroup, DHL, GOL Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, The Nissan Motor Company, Robert Bosch GmbH, and Vale S.A., among individual representations such as Michael Carroll, Brad Garlinghouse, and Daniel Kamensky. 

Other Offices: Abu Dhabi · Beijing · Brussels · Cologne · Frankfurt · Hong Kong · London · Milan · Paris · Rome · São Paulo · Seoul

Updated Aug 2022

Firm overview

Cadwalader’s Global Litigation Group represents clients throughout the U.S. and abroad in criminal, governmental regulatory and civil litigation matters. With litigators in New York, Washington D.C., Charlotte and London, we bring together a broad array of expertise, including extensive government service, to provide counsel that is commercial, strategic and tailored to achieve the client’s business goals in the particular case. Our lawyers are leaders in their fields. Cadwalader litigators regularly publish articles in leading legal journals on significant topical issues; speak at major industry conferences; testify before Congress and other legislative bodies; appear on television or radio programs covering legal or business issues; and teach courses involving business law at some of the country’s leading law schools including, among others, the University of Pennsylvania School of Law, George Mason University School of Law and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. For their efforts, our lawyers are recognized by virtually all lawyer ranking publications such as, among others, Benchmark Litigation, Chambers, Legal 500, Global Competition Review, Global Investigations Review, Best Lawyers in America and Super Lawyers. 

Built on the firm’s deep knowledge of the financial services industry and decades of experience serving its participants as well as hedge funds, corporations throughout the Fortune 1000, and their directors and officers, we are well versed in and sensitive to the demanding competitive and regulatory environments that our clients navigate every day. 

We strive to protect and defend our clients’ business primarily in the following essential areas:

Antitrust

• Antitrust Litigation
• Merger Clearance

Corporate & Financial Services Litigation & Regulation 

• Class Action Defense
• Consumer Financial Services Enforcement and Litigation
• Corporate Governance Litigation and Counseling
• International Dispute Resolution
• M&A Litigation
• Shareholder Activism

Intellectual Property

• IP Due Diligence
• ITC Litigation
• Patent & Trade Secret Litigation
• Patent Preparation & Prosecution
• Trademark & Copyright Protection

White Collar Defense and Investigations 

• Anti-Money Laundering Investigations and Compliance
• Crisis Management and Congressional Investigations Practice
• Cybersecurity and Data Privacy
• Economic Sanctions
• FCPA Enforcement and Compliance
• False Claims Act and Health Care Fraud
• National Security
• Pharmaceutical Regulation and Compliance
• Securities Enforcement

We also have significant industry expertise. In addition to financial services, where Cadwalader has focused for over 225 years, our litigators have extensive knowledge of and experience handling matters in the aerospace and defense, aviation, beverage, construction, education, hospitality, pharmaceutical, sports, real estate, technology, telecommunications and transportation industries.

Cadwalader litigators bring this knowledge and experience to bear in a myriad of forums.  We regularly appear on behalf of our clients in U.S. federal and state courts, foreign and domestic arbitration tribunals, and in government and regulatory agency proceedings in the U.S. and Europe brought by, among others, in the U.S.: the Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Financial Institutions Regulatory Authority, the Internal Revenue Service, the Federal Reserve, the Department of the Treasury and its Office of Foreign Assets Control and Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the various Inspectors General, the Department of Defense and its various agencies, the World Bank, and Congressional Committees, and in the UK and Europe: the Serious Fraud Office, the Financial Conduct Authority, and the European Commission.

Updated Oct 2022

Firm overview

Wilkinson Stekloff is the leading trial litigation boutique in the country, demonstrating a depth of talent and skill unmatched by firms of any size. Since its founding in 2016, the 35-lawyer firm has tried over 20 cases to verdict, winning the vast majority. Through 2021, that intensity continued, with a series of significant victories in challenging and high-stakes cases across the country.

What makes Wilkinson Stekloff unique?

The firm’s business model and mission set Beth Wilkinson, Brian Stekloff, and their team apart from other trial practice groups. The firm’s innovative business model, offering fixed-fee arrangements for all cases, gives clients certainty around their budgets even in the most contentious trials. And because clients know they will pay the same fee no matter the size of the team, the firm can employ its depth of talent in all key events — depositions, strategy sessions, and court hearings — without affecting the clients’ bottom line.

The firm views it as critical not just to hire outstanding attorneys, but to give them meaningful trial experience and client exposure. This is deliberate, as it supports the firm’s overall mission—to develop the next generation of trial lawyers. And this mission sets Wilkinson Stekloff apart from all trial practice groups. At Wilkinson Stekloff, the vast majority of associates have worked on at least one trial, and those who have been with the firm for years are veterans of many trials in jurisdictions across the country.

The firm’s clients have included heavy-hitters in a wide range of industries, such as Allergan, Altria Group Inc., Bayer, Facebook, FedEx, Georgia Pacific, Glenmark, Medtronic, Monsanto, the NCAA, the NFL, Pfizer, and Philip Morris USA — all of which have come to rely on Wilkinson Stekloff as a go-to trial firm that can handle their toughest cases. 

Despite the impact of the pandemic, which shuttered courthouses across the country, Wilkinson Stekloff continued to provide excellent outcomes for its clients. Most recently, the firm achieved headline-making results in two high-stakes matters, securing a complete dismissal of FTC antitrust allegations on behalf of Altria Group and earning the first-ever jury verdict win for Monsanto in litigation over whether the herbicide Roundup causes Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma.

In addition to serving as lead trial counsel in the administrative proceeding before the FTC, Wilkinson Stekloff also represents Altria in three separate consolidated private antitrust cases pending in the Northern District of California and in an MDL involving RICO and state-law claims in the same court. The firm is counsel for the NCAA in a putative antitrust class action lawsuit brought by current and former student-athletes challenging rules that prohibit or limit student-athletes from receiving compensation for the commercial use of their name, image, and likeness (NIL) under the Sherman Act. Wilkinson Stekloff represents the NFL in a putative class action lawsuit challenging the NFL’s multibillion-dollar exclusive distributorship arrangement with DIRECTV for Sunday Ticket. Wilkinson Stekloff also oversees trial strategy for Medtronic in cases related to its hernia mesh product, and has secured multiple pre-trial victories in these cases.

As a trial boutique, the firm prides itself on providing pro bono representation to clients facing trials, which can be particularly confusing or intimidating to individuals unfamiliar with the legal system. But the range of the firm’s pro bono litigation practice is unmatched, covering appeals, class actions, and strategic counseling. Wilkinson Stekloff has handled more than 80 pro bono matters since its founding in 2016, with nearly all of the firm’s attorneys devoting significant time to those matters and the firm’s brightest young talent winning trials in leadership roles. In just the last year, the firm’s pro bono teams secured three major immigration victories, as well as a win on appeal in a complex and contentious divorce and custody case involving domestic violence. 

Achieving this many successes with a firm of just under 35 attorneys has led to multiple accolades for Wilkinson Stekloff and its attorneys, including being shortlisted as a 2022 Outstanding Firm for Pro Bono by Chambers and recognized as a 2021 Top Boutique, Top 20 Trial Firm, and Tier 1 Commercial firm by Benchmark Litigation. 

The firm’s deep bench of go-to litigators includes Beth Wilkinson, chosen for Benchmark Litigation’s elite group of the 10 leading women litigators who stand out from its iconic Top 250 Women in Litigation List, as well as the Top 100 Trial Lawyers; Brian Stekloff, ranked by Chambers as a nationally prominent products liability trial lawyer and named a 2022 Litigation Star by Benchmark Litigation; James Rosenthal, noted as a “Winning Litigator” by the National Law Journal; Kosta Stojilkovic and Rakesh Kilaru designated as 2022 Benchmark Litigation Future Stars; and Kieran Gostin and Moira Penza named to Benchmark Litigation’s 2022 40 & Under List. 

Clients, colleagues, and competitors acknowledge that, lawyer for lawyer and matter for matter, Wilkinson Stekloff is a litigation juggernaut poised to continue its success for years to come. 

Updated Aug 2022 

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, with offices in Silicon Valley, New York, Washington, D.C., and Atlanta, the majority women-owned trial firm made national headlines for breaking away from many law firm traditions, including eschewing the billable hour in favor of arrangements that align client interests and reward efficiency. 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. More than half of the firm’s lawyers are women, 2/3 of the firm’s partners are women, and 30% of the firm’s lawyers are ethnically diverse. Law360’s 2022 Glass Ceiling Report: Women in Law features RJLF among the top three law firm “Ceiling Smashers” for having the highest representation of women equity partners for a U.S. firm of its size. RJLF also ranked among the top most gender diverse U.S. firms of its size, according to percentage of female attorneys. 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, 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, biotechnology, and zoology. 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. The firm proved its trial prowess when it served as lead counsel for Densify in a high-profile patent dispute against global tech giant VMware. After a nine-day trial, jurors awarded Densify $236 million in damages finding that VMware willfully infringed two Densify virtualization technology patents. Courtland Reichman, RJLF’s Managing Partner, was recognized as the AmLaw “Litigator of the Week” and Benchmark Litigation’s three-time winner of “Silicon Valley Lawyer of the Year” following his success as lead counsel for Densify at trial. The firm’s verdict on behalf of Densify was recognized in The National Law Journal’s 2021 “Verdicts Hall of Fame” (7th largest verdict in past five years). 

In March 2022, the firm also secured a $15 million patent infringement verdict on behalf of Droplets, Inc. against tech giant Yahoo, following a three-week jury trial in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. After 10 years of hard-fought litigation, the jury needed only seven hours of deliberation to award Droplets $15 million in damages. Droplets’ engineers changed the way websites worked during the Internet revolution, creating foundational technology that made websites interactive. 

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 defense, homelessness, and veterans’ issues, among others.

Updated Sep 2022