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 at Cleary: 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, including a deep bench of former federal prosecutors (including two former U.S. Attorneys from the Southern District of New York); several former senior officials of the SEC, including its most recent Chief Litigation Counsel of the Enforcement Division and a former General Counsel; and several former senior officials from the FTC and the DOJ’s Antitrust Division, including the former Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition and two former Deputy. 

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, EquiLend, Fox Corporation, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, “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, BNY Mellon, Citigroup, ESL Investments, FullBeauty Brands, Grupo Posadas, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, LATAM Airlines, Nomura, Nortel Networks Inc., Odebrecht Group, Oi, Punjab National Bank, Samarco Mineração, Total S.A., Vale S.A., Warburg Pincus, and The Wendy’s Company. 

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 America, Bank of New York Mellon, BHP Billiton, BNP Paribas, Citigroup, Copa Airlines, Crédit Lyonnais S.A., Goldman Sachs, HSBC, J. Aron & Company, Lowe’s, Medytox, National Amusements, Inc., National Westminster Bank plc, Robert Bosch GmbH, Warburg Pincus, 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 Medytox, Inc., Nortel Networks Inc., OpenText, Tom Ford, and United Test and Assembly Center Ltd.

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, DP World, OJSC Tatneft, Petrobras, Selex Galileo, Inc., Telecom Italia, Vale S.A., Vitro Flat Glass LLC, and Western Digital.

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, American Express, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Citibank, D.B.S. Satellite Services Ltd., Goldman Sachs, International Flavors & Fragrances, Inc., Kindred Healthcare, Juul Labs Inc., National Amusements, Inc., Petrobras, Ryanair, Sky Solar Holdings, Synchrony Financial, Synutra International, T-Mobile, and Trivago. 

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, The Republic of Tartarstan, and The Russian Federation.

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. Notable clients include Citigroup, DHL, GOL Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, The Nissan Motor Company, Petrobras, Robert Bosch GmbH, among other individual representations such as Michael Carroll, Brad Garlinghouse, and Daniel Kamensky. Cleary was also named (White Collar Crime and Investigations Firm of the Year, Benchmark Litigation 2021).

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

Updated Sep 2021

Firm overview

Hausfeld is a leading antitrust and litigation law firm with 12 offices in the US (Boston, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Washington, DC), the UK (London), and continental Europe (Amsterdam, Berlin, Brussels, Düsseldorf, Paris and Stockholm). Our global reach means we can litigate in jurisdictions that suit our clients best. We are also experienced in mediation and arbitration.

Hausfeld brings a visionary approach to resolving claims, whether that is for a single client or a group working collectively. As a leader in pioneering legal actions for damages, Hausfeld innovates by pushing further - the firm tenaciously focuses on results, and achieves pragmatic conclusions. Hausfeld lawyers have achieved some of the largest landmark settlements and judgments in our areas of practice, often after hard-fought litigation against the biggest names in the legal market. Socially minded and a champion for the best corporate governance, our lawyers are at the forefront of the legal profession in improving access to justice for both individuals and businesses. That makes for a profoundly different law firm.

The Hausfeld team comprises highly experienced litigators with a proven track record in claimant litigation in the areas of:

• Antitrust/Competition
• Commercial & Financial Disputes
• Environmental Law
• Human Rights
• Product Liability & Consumer Protection
• Technology & Data Breach

Hausfeld’s clients include some of the world’s largest corporations in myriad industries, including current clients listed on the Fortune Global 500 and Forbes Global 2000. Hausfeld is reputed for its claimant-friendly, dynamic, entrepreneurial, and pioneering approach to dispute resolution. For more information about the firm, including recent trial victories and landmark settlements, please visit www.hausfeld.com.

Updated Sep 2021

Firm overview

We are a 875+ lawyer business litigation firm with offices in Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Houston, Seattle, Boston, Salt Lake City, Tokyo, London, Mannheim, Hamburg, Paris, Hong Kong, Munich, Sydney, Brussels, Zurich, Shanghai, Perth, Stuttgart, Austin, Neuilly-La Defense, Atlanta and Miami. We aggressively litigate a wide variety of business disputes for Fortune 500 companies as well as smaller companies. We do not simply “handle” cases for years before settling them on the courthouse steps. Our goal is to seize the initiative and resolve them quickly, because it is in our clients’ interests to do so. If a case cannot be resolved short of trial, we have the experienced trial lawyers who can try it. Our business is winning cases—and we do.

Our Lawyers: Attorneys at our firm have tried over 2,500 cases and won 86%. When we represent defendants, our trial experience gets us better settlements or defense verdicts. When representing plaintiffs, our lawyers have won over $70 billion in judgments and settlements. We have also obtained seven 9-figure jury verdicts, fifty-one 9-figure settlements, and nineteen 10-figure settlements.

Our attorneys include top graduates from Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Chicago, Michigan, Columbia and other distinguished schools. At last count, 221 of our attorneys (or 25%) were law review editors in law school and/or clerked for judges; nineteen have taught law; and many have been or are general counsel for corporations. Over 25 of our attorneys are former Assistant United States Attorneys, including the former Los Angeles United States Attorney. Three of our partners have worked in the White House: two for Democrats, one for Republicans.

Trial Lawyers, Not Paper Litigators; Why Trial Lawyers Are Also Best for Settlement: Trying cases is a key element of our firm culture. Trials are zero sum games – they are no place for beginners. We try more major business cases than any other law firm. At least once each year, we are in a trial or an arbitration pursuing or defending against a claim for over $1 billion in damages. Many of our partners are very highly experienced trial lawyers, having tried dozens of cases to verdict. Seven have taught trial advocacy. We do not believe the same level of jury trial experience can be found at any other business law firm. Our trial experience is an obvious advantage in the courtroom, and is important both for the relatively rare case which must be tried and for the cases which settle. Plaintiffs’ lawyers know we will not hesitate to go to trial and know what we can do in a courtroom. Our well-known ability to try cases diminishes the lawsuit “hold up” factor and causes adversaries to re-think their demands. We believe that our firm can get better settlements because of our credibility as trial lawyers.

Firm overview

For more than 50 years, Finnegan’s lawyers have successfully litigated hundreds of cases involving the most technologically advanced and complex patents, as well as global trademark issues and trade secret misappropriations, in nearly all federal district courts, numerous state courts, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and the U.S. Supreme Court. Finnegan is one of the world’s largest intellectual property law firms in the world.

The firm practices all aspects of patent, trademark, and copyright, including counselling, prosecution, licensing, and litigation. Finnegan also represents clients on IP issues related to advertising, trade secret law, European patents and trade marks, international trade, portfolio management, the Internet, e-commerce, government contracts, antitrust, and unfair competition. We routinely appear before the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and its Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). We have also worked at these courts and agencies, and many of our professionals have backgrounds as judicial law clerks or patent examiners, or both. With more than 230 litigators, we are fully prepared and qualified to litigate through trial and appeal.

Since being involved in the very first ANDA litigation, Finnegan has been a leading firm representing innovative pharmaceutical companies before federal district courts and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Our successes derive from a deep bench of experienced and technically sophisticated attorneys who understand the long-term plans of innovative pharmaceutical companies as well as the legal particularities of ANDA litigation under the Hatch-Waxman Act and the nuances of pharmaceutical patent law. Over the last five years, our attorneys have represented 30 brand companies in almost 400 ANDA litigations involving revolutionary drugs such as Prolensa®, Relistor® subcutaneous, Relistor® tablets, Cymbalta®, and Abilify®. We consistently have 150+ ongoing ANDA litigations every year, providing counselling and litigation services in a range of technologies such as antibodies, automated DNA sequencing, diagnostics, imaging agents and other research tools, molecular mechanism infringement claims, and protein therapies.

When it comes to ITC litigation, Finnegan was litigating IP cases at the ITC long before it became the popular forum it is today. Litigating in the ITC presents a unique challenge—litigating a technologically complicated case in a short period of time, in a pressure-packed forum that can make or break the commercial success of the products at issue. At the ITC, summary determination is rare, and approximately 45 percent of Section 337 cases go to trial, all in front of an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ), not a jury. So when choosing a firm to litigate in the ITC, trial experience in the ITC is of paramount importance. In the past five years, Finnegan attorneys have been involved in nearly 15 percent of Section 337 cases. Over 130 of the firm’s attorneys have litigated at the ITC. Finnegan also has practitioners with ITC experience in the chemical, pharmaceutical, and mechanical fields. Our attorneys have even tried ITC cases involving design patents and trademarks. During the past two years, more than half of all ITC cases have involved electrical and IT-related technologies and semiconductors; Finnegan has more than 80 lawyers and over 20 professionals who have at least one degree in electrical engineering, computer science, or some other related form of specialized technology. 

Finnegan’s trademark litigation practice spans numerous industries and covers all types of trademark rights, including service marks, trade dress, product configuration, trade names, domain names, letters, numbers, colors, and telephone numbers. Representing both plaintiffs and defendants, our lawyers have decades of experience litigating both large and small trademark cases before courts throughout the country and regularly appear before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and its Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB), the federal circuit courts of appeal, district courts, and other tribunals. We have an impressive track record of favorably resolving litigations for our clients, whether by choosing a forum that gives clients the best chance to win on the law, filing a motion to dismiss, obtaining an early temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction, positioning a case for settlement, moving for summary judgment, or taking the case to trial. One of our strengths is the use of experts to enhance our clients’ legal positions. For many years, we have worked with numerous consumer survey experts on a wide range of issues in trademark litigation, including likelihood of confusion, likelihood of dilution, genericness, secondary meaning, and fame. We also make strategic use of other experts in areas such as linguistics, marketing, consumer psychology, industry practices, and damages.