District of Columbia

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

Firm overview

Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP is an elite global law firm with world-class practices across the board. Industry-leading companies and global financial institutions know they can rely on us for their most challenging legal and business matters. The firm’s top-flight capabilities are grounded in a distinguished history of 170 years, and our global, forward-looking focus is supported by offices strategically located in the world’s key financial centers and political capitals. More than 1,000 lawyers collaborate seamlessly across practice groups and geographies to provide clients with exceptional service, sophisticated advice and creative, practical solutions. 

Litigation

Litigation has been a cornerstone of Davis Polk’s practice since the firm’s inception. Our litigators are widely recognized for their creativity, integrity, strategic approach and extensive experience.

Leading companies around the world, as well as their executives and directors, benefit from our numerous partners and counsel who have many years of prior service in a variety of government roles. We also count among our ranks leading trial lawyers who have won landmark verdicts on both the defense and plaintiff sides.

We view matters through the lens of our clients’ business objectives, drawing on the substantial experience of our firm across all major industry sectors. Our approach has created a long track record of success for our clients, from motion practice to strategic settlements, trials and on appeal. Our work has earned the respect of the judiciary, prosecutors, regulators and the bar.

Some recent successes on behalf of clients include: 

• Coordinated resolution of FCPA investigations by the DOJ and SEC concerning a Colombian banking conglomerate’s involvement in an infrastructure project. 
• Complete dismissals of multiple securities fraud actions against issuers from around the world. 
• Rare dismissal of criminal price-fixing and bid-rigging charges brought by the DOJ Antitrust Division against an industry executive. 
• Trial victory for a major medical technology company in a patent infringement case.

Updated Feb 2025

Firm overview

Kirkland & Ellis LLP is a global law firm with more than 3,500 attorneys representing clients in private equity, M&A and other complex corporate transactions, litigation and dispute resolution/arbitration, restructuring, and intellectual property matters. The Firm has offices in 20 cities around the world: Austin, Bay Area, Beijing, Boston, Brussels, Chicago, Dallas, Hong Kong, Houston, London, Los Angeles, Miami, Munich, New York, Paris, Riyadh, Salt Lake City, Shanghai and Washington, D.C.

Litigation:
Kirkland & Ellis is renowned for its experience in complex litigation and arbitration. The Firm believes that the best litigation results occur when the lawyers are fully prepared to try the case through verdict. Because of Kirkland’s trial-ready philosophy and training, the Firm is able to offer clients a deep bench of lawyers who have been taking cases to verdict since the early stages of their careers. Whether in the courtroom, at the bargaining table or helping clients avoid risks without litigation, Kirkland has a long and proven track record of generating successful results for clients in their most high-stakes cases matters.

The Litigation Practice Group comprises approximately 625 attorneys throughout the firm’s worldwide offices. Kirkland represents clients in trial and appellate courts at the federal and state level, before administrative tribunals, and in arbitrations and other dispute resolution proceedings. The Firm also represents clients in connection with proceedings involving government agencies, such as the Securities and Exchange Commission, US Attorneys General Offices, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, the New York Stock Exchange, the US Department of Justice, the Federal Trade Commission, the US Patent and Trademark Office, the US Department of Labor and the Internal Revenue Service.

Kirkland litigators have successfully litigated cases in virtually every substantive area and business segment including accountant liability, antitrust and competition, appellate, class action, mass tort and toxic tort, insurance, data privacy, labor and employment, breach of contract and securities litigation.

Kirkland has been recognized by clients and the media for its achievements in litigation:

• For the 13th time, Kirkland was selected as one of the “Fearsome Foursome” in BTI Consulting’s 2024 Litigation Outlook report.
• Chambers & Partners named Kirkland & Ellis “Commercial Litigation Law Firm of the Year” at the 2023 Chambers USA Awards.
• In 2023, Kirkland ranked #1 in The Lawyer’s “Global Litigation Top 50,” the sixth consecutive year the Firm earned that distinction.
• Kirkland was named “Law Firm of the Year” for Commercial Litigation by U.S. News and World Report and Best Lawyers in their 2022 “Best Law Firms” rankings.

Intellectual Property Litigation:
Kirkland & Ellis’ Intellectual Property Practice Group is one of the oldest such practices in a full-service firm in the country, having been an integral part of Kirkland since 1925. Kirkland has approximately 200 intellectual property lawyers who are experienced in a variety of technical disciplines and registered to practice before the US Patent and Trademark Office. More than 70 percent of the lawyers are engineers and scientists trained with degrees and professional backgrounds in technical areas. Kirkland has one of the most respected intellectual property litigation practices in the country, with particular experience in large-scale patent, copyright, trademark, trade secret misappropriation and advertising matters. The work of the group frequently extends to antitrust, securities/compliance, products liability and appellate matters. Kirkland’s experience in venues where IP cases are most often litigated is extensive. The Firm tries cases before juries, judges and arbitrators in venues across the country including state courts, district courts, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, the International Trade Commission and the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. Kirkland has one of the most active trial practices in the country. Our success rate at trial is among the best, with only a few of losses over the last 10 years despite handling some of the most challenging litigation cases in history.

The Intellectual Property Practice Group has been recognized by numerous publications for its achievements:

• In Managing Intellectual Property’s 2024 IP Stars, Kirkland was named as a Tier 1 firm for Copyright, ITC, Life Sciences, Patent Contentious and Trademark Contentious and was recognized in the U.S. for IP transactions and PTAB litigation.
• Kirkland was named to World Trademark Review magazine’s 2024 WTR 1000
list of the world’s top trademark law firms and was recognized as a Tier 1 firm for enforcement and litigation nationally and in New York.
• In 2024, Intellectual Asset Management (IAM) magazine recognized Kirkland in Tier 1 for Litigation, International Trade Commission and Trade Secrets for United States -National in its IAM Patent 1000 guide. The firm was also Tier 1 for Litigation in Illinois, New York and Washington, D.C., as well as Transactions in Illinois.
• World Intellectual Property Review (WIPR) recognized Kirkland & Ellis as a Tier 1 firm in its 2022 “Global Trade Secrets Rankings.”

Please visit our website at www.kirkland.com for additional information about Kirkland and office contact information.

Updated July 2024