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Hunton Andrews Kurth

Firm overview

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Hunton Andrews Kurth is a global law firm with over 900 lawyers handling a range of complex transactional, litigation, and regulatory matters for clients in many industries, including energy, financial services, real estate, retail and consumer products, and technology. With offices across the US and in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, the firm is aligned with clients’ businesses and committed to delivering exceptional service. Our full-service litigation practice is one of the largest in the country, with particular depth in key litigation markets such as Texas, California, New York, Florida, and Virginia and the Mid-Atlantic.

Since its founding more than 100 years ago, Hunton Andrews Kurth has been a business-focused firm, an approach we continue in today’s litigation-focused climate. Our team of more than 400 litigators draw upon decades of experience to handle all aspects of disputes with the goal of achieving successful results whether in a courtroom or the boardroom.

Our skilled litigators focus on strategy from the outset and develop individualized litigation plans that are comprehensive in scope, mindful of each client’s business and legal goals, and aligned with client needs. We aggressively and efficiently represent clients at different phases of their corporate life cycles. Whether advising a start-up in patent litigation or a Fortune 100 company in a bet-the-company class action, we apply the same principles of client-focused representation to achieve the desired result.

Litigation Overview: Hunton Andrews Kurth has a top global litigation team, having litigated and/or arbitrated in all 50 states and many foreign countries. We often serve as national or worldwide coordinating counsel. Our diverse team has the collective knowledge, skill, and experience to help businesses identify and manage risks, respond to existing or threatened litigation, and pursue resolution in any venue. Hunton Andrews Kurth attorneys are admitted to the American College of Trial Lawyers and ranked by publications such as Chambers USA, Legal 500, and Benchmark Litigation, and the firm is named one of the “most feared firms in litigation” by BTI.

We handle litigation matters in the energy, financial services, healthcare, telecommunications, food, hospitality, consumer products, and retail industries, tailoring strategy on a case-by-case basis. Our commercial litigation docket includes class action defense, commercial contract issues, white collar defense, administrative matters, cybersecurity and privacy investigations, and appeals in state and federal courts. We represent corporations and other entities across a broad range of complex matters – from providing advice and counsel about business disputes and torts to civil litigation, trial, and appeal. We are often engaged in “bet-the-company” cases, multidistrict litigation, and coordinated state law proceedings. Our lawyers have the experience to handle cases that involve multiple adversaries in courts across the nation and abroad.

In addition, the firm’s environmental team, with more than 45 environmental attorneys and scientists, many of whom are former DOJ attorneys and senior regulatory agency officials, handles high-profile environmental litigation matters. These include enforcement defense, permit litigation, and challenges to environmental regulatory programs before federal district and appeals courts and the US Supreme Court, addressing issues of nationwide significance.

Updated Aug 2024

Weil Gotshal & Manges

Firm overview

Weil is a leader in the marketplace for sophisticated, global legal services. Our pioneering “one-firm” approach, which integrates approximately 1,200 attorneys across three continents and multiple practice areas, allows the Firm to partner with many of the world’s most successful organizations on matters as complex and interconnected as the businesses themselves.

Featuring approximately 350 lawyers in more than a dozen practice areas and areas of specialization, Weil’s global Litigation Department is one of the largest, most diversified, and highly respected in the legal industry. We provide clients with business-oriented solutions to complex, multi-faceted legal challenges, including business disputes, regulatory actions and investigations, financial distress, and other potentially enterprise-changing circumstances.

Our expertise spans a number of substantive areas:

Antitrust: Weil is regularly retained by some of the largest corporations in the world to handle their antitrust litigation matters. Our Antitrust practice advises clients on the interrelationship between antitrust, IP, trade, and unfair competition laws and regulations, and litigates and tries those cutting-edge issues in civil and criminal cases before juries and judges in jurisdictions across the United States. Representative clients include Bridgestone, GrubHub, Hilton Worldwide, Meta Platforms, Panasonic, Paramount Global, Regeneron, Saks Fifth Avenue, Simon & Schuster, and Warner Bros. Discovery.

Appellate: Weil’s Appeals and Strategic Counseling practice covers all of the Firm’s substantive areas of expertise, including employment, securities, copyright and trademark, patent, tax, bankruptcy, antitrust, civil rights, and administrative and constitutional law, among others. With 33 practitioners located across the United States, including former clerks to U.S. Supreme Court justices, over a dozen former clerks to federal appellate judges, a former Assistant Solicitor General for the State of New York, and a former Assistant to the Solicitor General of the United States, we regularly prosecute and defend appeals before the U.S. Supreme Court, all 13 federal circuit courts, and a range of state intermediate and supreme courts. We are regularly called upon to provide essential support before lower courts and regulatory agencies, as well as to assess whether litigation is advisable. Representative clients include BNSF Railway, Comcast, Elanco, Grubhub, Regeneron, Saks Fifth Avenue, Sanofi, Sears Holdings, Speedcast, Washington State University, and many major technology companies.

Bankruptcy: Weil is well-known as the leading restructuring firm in the world. We not only invented much of what is standard today, but we also have been involved in almost every type of consensual and litigated restructuring transaction in the United States since the 1970s. Weil has served as chief debtors’ counsel in the largest U.S. bankruptcy filings in history and has represented clients in numerous complicated international insolvencies. Our experience extends to exchange offers, debt for equity swaps, pre-packaged and prearranged chapter 11 cases, as well as conventional chapter 11 reorganizations.

General Commercial: Weil is a one-stop firm for commercial litigation matters, and has achieved significant victories in high-profile disputes for BNSF Railway, Burger King, eBay, ExxonMobil, Paramount Global, PepsiCo, Repsol, Sanofi, Serta Simmons, and Warner Bros. Discovery, among others. We specialize in trying high-stakes breach of contract, fraud, tortious interference, unfair competition and other business tort claims, class actions, and litigations arising under RICO, the False Claims Act, and numerous other statutes.

Intellectual Property: Weil offers market-leading capabilities in IP litigation, including complex patent, trade secret, copyright, and trademark disputes, as well as counseling. For decades, Weil’s prestigious IP/Media group has been at the forefront of hot-button industry issues. The group’s work in the area of digital media has been trailblazing, touching on multiple areas of commercial significance including artificial intelligence, e-commerce, digital rights management, and digital content licensing. We are also recognized for our expertise in false advertising, music licensing, television/motion picture and other content distribution, and privacy/data protection issues. Representative clients include A&E Television Networks, AIG, Alibaba, eBay, Getty Images, Meta Platforms, Pandora Media, and SiriusXM. Weil’s Patent Litigation group focuses on high-stakes patent and IP disputes, whether they involve winning a key patent infringement action at trial or on appeal before the Federal Circuit, litigating a complex investigation at the ITC, or trying contested IPR proceedings at the PTAB. Our team includes 39 attorneys, many of whom have technical degrees, allowing us to identify critical issues, understand the technology at the forefront of a case, and become trusted advisors to our clients, which include Altria, BeiGene, Bio Rad, Comcast, HP, Illumina, Johnson & Johnson, , Palo Alto Networks, Regeneron, and Sanofi.

International Arbitration: Leading multinationals involved in important international disputes repeatedly turn to Weil for its business oriented approach, understanding of specific cultural issues, extensive government and trade experience, and recognized skill in handling complex investment and commercial arbitrations before all major arbitral institutions, including the ICC, AAA, LCIA, and ICSID.

Product Liability: Weil’s Product Liability & Mass Tort practice handles nationwide class actions, MDL proceedings, and joint state/federal litigations, among other matters, and has won some of the largest consumer fraud class actions involving alleged product defects in the United States. Our experience extends to a broad range of issues – including product defects, environmental remediation and indemnification, natural disasters, chemical contamination, PFAS (forever chemicals), and crisis management – in sectors that include automotive products, industrial chemicals, medical devices, toys, food and beverage, pharmaceuticals, heavy equipment, and airlines. Notable clients include Alibaba, Dometic, ExxonMobil, Johnson & Johnson, L'Oréal, Nike, PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble, Repsol, and Sanofi.

Securities: Weil’s Securities Litigation practice has handled numerous high-stakes, precedent-setting disputes, including those related to the insolvency or restructuring of major financial institutions, high-profile SEC enforcement proceedings, white-collar securities prosecutions, proxy contests, busted-deal and other M&A litigation, and class action and derivative litigation. The group continues to tackle complex litigation and investigations for clients such as AIG, AMC Entertainment, Brookfield, Digital Currency Group, Elanco, Getty Images, Marathon Digital Holdings, Morgan Stanley, Sanofi, Walgreens, and Warner Bros. Discovery, as well as shareholder suits arising out of large, sophisticated M&A and SPAC transactions.

White Collar Crime: Led by an elite group of highly ranked criminal defense lawyers with extensive government experience, Weil’s White Collar Defense, Regulatory & Investigations practice conducts complex internal investigations and handles an array of criminal, civil, and regulatory investigations and parallel litigation arising out of accounting and securities issues, allegations of insider trading, money laundering, fraud, executive misconduct, and cartelization, and allegations related to U.S. criminal and regulatory laws with international and extra-territorial dimensions, such as the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

Updated Aug 2024

Sidley Austin

Firm overview

Sidley is an elite global law firm. Harnessing 158 years of legal heritage, we provide strong representation on behalf of clients in more than 70 countries. Our lawyers apply a Built to Win^SMclient service model to their legal strategies, ensuring the best possible outcomes in complex transactional, restructuring, regulatory, and litigation matters. With 21 offices strategically situated in key commercial and financial hubs across the world, our perspective and our reach are truly global. Our 2,300 lawyers, fluent in more than 80 languages, possess the cultural awareness and cross-border legal acumen needed to bring clarity to a dynamic business landscape.

Follow Sidley on Twitter @SidleyLaw.

Appellate: Sidley is widely recognized as one of the premier appellate firms in the country, and as a trailblazer — regularly addressing intricate, precedent-setting issues in federal and state law in the Supreme Court, the federal courts of appeals, as well as state appellate and supreme courts across the nation. Since the inception of the practice in 1985, the team, including more than 20 former Supreme Court clerks, has briefed over 220 cases on the merits and argued more than 150 cases before the Court.

Bankruptcy: Sidley’s global Restructuring group is regularly involved in the largest restructurings throughout the world. The team represents companies facing in-court or out-of-court restructurings, official and ad hoc committees of creditors, agent lenders, and participants in distressed M&A processes. Sidley prides itself on the group’s ability to use innovative, bespoke approaches to obtain the best results in complex situations.

Commercial: Clients repeatedly turn to Sidley’s Commercial Litigation team when their most important disputes must be tried. Sidley’s track record of successes is unparalleled in high-stakes, mission-critical cases against well-regarded opponents, no matter the forum. The team’s full-service litigation capabilities are relied upon by leading global companies with household names.

Competition/Antitrust: As a part of the firm’s global antitrust offering, Sidley has a strong and well-respected litigation practice. Sidley lawyers represent clients in their most complex cases, including matters involving antitrust enforcement, merger clearances, claims of collusion, and other alleged antitrust violations. The team has represented domestic and international corporations, trade associations, government entities, professional societies, and individuals in the full range of civil and criminal trials.

Insurance: Sidley’s Insurance Disputes practice advises on significant insurance litigation nationwide across a variety of areas, including regulatory compliance, insurance class actions, reinsurance disputes, ERISA litigation, general commercial litigation, securities and shareholder litigation, and Supreme Court and appellate courts, among other areas.

Intellectual Property: Sidley boasts one of the most distinguished and highly regarded Intellectual Property litigation practices in the U.S., with approximately 80 lawyers and a deep bench of trial lawyers. Handling matters for innovation-driven clients ranging from global Fortune 500 companies to groundbreaking startups, the team develops winning strategies for high-stakes IP litigation involving patents, trade secret and unfair competition, false advertising, copyright infringement, and trademarks.

International Arbitration: Sidley’s Global Arbitration, Trade and Advocacy practice exemplifies a superior depth of knowledge of the law, regulatory challenges, and culture of the jurisdictions in which the team practices. Operating from the U.S., Europe, and Asia, the team works as a tightly integrated team of practitioners with different cultural and legal backgrounds and broad language capabilities.

Labor and Employment: Sidley is at the forefront of representing employers in major high-profile class and collective action litigation against many of the biggest and most aggressive plaintiffs’ firms in the country. The team is known for winning bet-the-company cases and deftly handling high-value discrimination, harassment, and retaliation claims, executive disputes, whistle-blower claims, restrictive covenant and trade secret litigation, and investigations involving matters of the utmost importance to companies.

Product Liability and Recall: Sidley’s Product Liability and Mass Torts practice has played key roles in many of the most significant product liability litigations. The team has decades of experience handling claims associated with products, the facilities that manufacture them, and the companies that sell them. We defend clients in state and federal courts and are typically lead counsel in multidistrict litigations and state coordinated proceedings.

Securities: Sidley’s Securities and Shareholder Litigation team stands out for the strength of its work, winning complex securities matters at the trial level and on appeal across a variety of sectors. The team’s deep bench and extensive experience allows Sidley to represent a wide range of clients. This includes major corporations and private companies, boards of directors and board committees, senior executives, financial advisers, investment banks, and auditors.

White Collar Crime: Sidley lawyers have handled investigations in more than 130 countries, collaborating seamlessly across borders and practice groups to offer a cohesive approach to white collar crime and corporate investigations matters. The firm can mobilize teams quickly to swiftly deploy the critical legal support needed to manage sensitive, high-profile investigations and litigation.

Updated Sep 2024

Akerman

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

Review

Dispute resolution

Akerman

With multiple offices from coast to coast, Akerman has a nationwide reach and a range of practices that includes consumer financial services, construction, intellectual property, and bankruptcy. The firm is routinely commended by clients, who point out its strengths in giving advice. One client appreciates the way the team “communicates with their clients,” and goes on to state, “Overall, I was very happy.”

Another client using the firm’s banking and financial services expertise shared several positive points: “[They have] great communication and follow-up on matters, a balanced approach to litigation, reasonable hours and billing, and all-around excellent service.” In the commercial litigation space, another says, “Akerman offers excellent advice and options.”

The firm has a particular concentration of strength in Florida, where the firm originated. In the Jacksonville office, Christian George brings his expertise in bankruptcy and commercial litigation to clients who have expressed their appreciation for his leadership. A client who has tapped George for bankruptcy, commercial, and banking disputes notes that he “understands our model and approach to working out matters and litigation.” The same client commends George’s “excellent communication and follow-up, balanced approach... and good rapport with [the executive management] of our bank.” He is described as having a “great personality.”

The Miami office includes Robert Chaskes, a commercial litigator and co-chair of the distressed-property practice. One client says, “[He has] superb legal knowledge and [a] pragmatic approach to domestic and international business disputes.” Chaskes is described as having “excellent communication skills” and as being a “top-notch legal professional.” Chaskes defended Amicorp in a case that involved the contentious doctrine of conspiracy jurisdiction to assert personal jurisdiction in Florida. Chaskes successfully argued that the plaintiffs did not provide a sufficient basis to exercise personal jurisdiction pertaining to the tortuous activity allegations under either the state’s statute or the US Constitution. The Third Circuit affirmed the ruling, further clarifying the use of the doctrine of conspiracy jurisdiction.

Megan Costa DeLeon, based in the firm’s Orlando office, focuses largely on commercial disputes. However, she also serves as lead counsel in a product-liability case defending ProAmpac against a lawsuit filed by RCBA Nutraceuticals. The trial court allowed the plaintiff to file an amended complaint, which added ProAmpac as a co-defendant based on its acquisition of PolyFirst Packaging. (PolyFirst manufactured the alleged defective packaging.) Costa DeLeon appealed to the Fifth Circuit, which published an opinion agreeing with her arguments that the plaintiff failed to establish personal jurisdiction. Her motion to dismiss was reversed and remanded for further proceedings.

Beyond Florida, Mark Bernstein resolves commercial conflicts and lawsuits predominantly on behalf of clients in the financial and manufacturing industries. Working out of the Chicago office, Bernstein is praised by clients for his industry and practice- area expertise. “Mark is always very timely and provides great insight into construction contracting,” says a client who sought out Bernstein for his commercial knowledge. “Mark has an excellent understanding of our business from both a commercial and operational perspective.” Bernstein is the lead partner representing MG East, which hired Premier Design & Build Group to construct three buildings in Miami Gardens, Florida. Shortly after substantial completion of the buildings, the roof edges and gutter systems began showing signs of rust and corrosion, leaving holes that allowed water to drain directly onto the buildings and the surrounding property. MG East sued Premier for breach of general contract for the failure to properly install the roofing and gutter systems. The claimed damages are more than $2 million. The case is in its initial phases of discovery.

Benjamin Joelson in Akerman’s New York office specializes in commercial litigation and intellectual property. He often represents commercial landlords, tenants, developers, and construction companies over real-estate disputes. He is currently on the team representing a potential joint venture to open a HALAL GUYS restaurant at the American Dream complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey. It was uncovered that Dream Big Holding, LLC’s principal, through a new entity, had secretly opened a restaurant called Falafel Inc. at the American Dream complex. That same location had already been leased to the joint venture. In another pending case, Joelson is part of the team representing Vanderbilt Atlantic Holdings, the ground-floor lessor of a property in Brooklyn, New York, in a lease dispute with its tenant, McDonald’s Corporation.

Boies Schiller Flexner

Originally established in New York, Boies Schiller Flexner is a firm with a reputation for its creative and aggressive efforts on behalf of its clients. With a significant presence in the Florida market and with offices across the country and the world, the firm’s commercial litigation practice includes breach of contract, fraud, restructuring, securities, mergers, and many other statutory claims.

Sigrid McCawley is highly regarded for her trial acumen and leadership. She is one of the firm’s managing partners as well as co-administrative partner in the Fort Lauderdale office. Her experience includes complex commercial litigation disputes in high-stakes cases. McCawley may be best known for her recent work representing victims of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. She filed separate lawsuits accusing JPMorgan Chase and Deutsche Bank of supporting Jeffrey Epstein’s sex-trafficking enterprise. Both banks ultimately settled, securing a combined $365 million for the victims. McCawley also leads the team in two lawsuits filed against Russell Simmons, co-founder of Def Jam Recordings. In the first lawsuit, under New York’s Adult Survivors Act, Simmons is accused of sexually assaulting a former executive at Def Jam in his Manhattan apartment in the 1990s. The suit also is being filed under New York City’s Gender Motivated Violence Act, which created a two-year lookback window for sexual assault claims that expires in March 2025. McCawley filed a second lawsuit against Simmons on behalf of another former music executive, Drew Dixon, for defamation. In a recent interview, Simmons accused Dixon of lying about the sexual abuse she suffered for purposes of seeking fame.

Another of the firm’s Fort Lauderdale attorneys, Stuart Singer, is a multidisciplined litigator whose experience includes antitrust, securities, energy, and class action defense. “Stuart Singer,” one peer says, “is an excellent attorney.” On behalf of NextEra Energy, he was the lead lawyer, obtaining an important commerce cause ruling that allowed companies to compete for power transmission projects. Singer is also on the team that filed a suit on behalf of Panini America, a sports trading card company, against Fanatics for antitrust violations in the market for sports trading cards. The suit alleges that Fanatics engaged in anticompetitive conduct including signing exclusive deals with the NBA, NFL, and MLB, and poaching more than 30 Panini America employees. The case is ongoing.

Hunton Andrews Kurth

With offices across the country and around the world, Hunton Andrews Kurth is praised for its ability to provide clients with exceptional service across many practice areas. Clients have noted the variety of issues for which they can turn to the firm: “Class actions, regulatory advice, cybersecurity litigation, and arbitration.” Another client shared, “Hunton Andrews Kurth has provided a variety of legal services to us recently. Hunton has provided advice and counsel on commercial contracts, litigation, class action litigation, employment issues and franchising.” In the same vein, the client commented on the firm’s service, adding, “Hunton brings a level of service that is above and beyond what we experience with other firms. They understand the client and provide counsel in a timely manner.”

From the Houston office, Kelsey Hope’s focus is complex commercial disputes with an emphasis in the managed-care industry. Hope was on the team that secured a victory for the Rite Aid Corporation against litigation brought on by a group of insurance and pharmacy benefit companies seeking more than $100 million from the national pharmacy chain for allegedly overcharging for prescription medications. After a two-week trial, within a few hours the jury returned a ruling in favor of Rite Aid.

Another member of that team, Chris Dufek focuses on antitrust and consumer protection. Dufek, who works out of the Washington DC office, has represented clients in complex commercial and class action cases concerning antitrust and consumer protection laws, cybersecurity, fraud, and contractual disputes.

Richmond-based Elbert Lin receives praise from peers who said: “Elbert Lin – He's the man!” Lin served as one of the lead counsels when the firm won a nearly $47 million judgment for its client Dewberry Engineers (“Dewberry”), a provider of professional services for the built environment against defendant Dewberry Group, a real estate company. The judgment, entered by the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia after a three-day trial, resulting from Dewberry’s claims against the defendant for federal and state trademark infringement and breach of contract.

In the New York office, Jeremy Boczko focuses on intellectual property rights. He has represented clients in trademark, copyright, and patent trials. Fellow New York partner Armin Ghiam advises clients on intellectual property assets in mergers and acquisitions. He also has experience with patent preparation. Together they were lead partners representing Hisamitsu America, the maker of SALONPAS Brand Pain Relieving Patches. Scilex accused Hisamitsu of mislabeling these patches by marketing their products as “maximum strength” within the over-the-counter category. The court has dismissed the bulk of Scilex’s claims.

In Florida, Andrea DeField focuses on recovering insurance funds. She also leads Hunton's cyber insurance practice. She was a lead on the team that secured a victory for the United States Sugar Corporation. US Sugar’s insurer refused to provide coverage for the expenses incurred in defending a bet-the-company environmental case regarding its practice of cane-burning. The court found that the policy covered the cane-burning action and that the insurer owed US Sugar more than $6.5 million in defense expenses.

King & Spalding

With its main headquarters in Atlanta, King & Spalding has more than a dozen offices across the US, and more overseas. The firm’s international presence makes it possible to try and manage cases around the world in multiple jurisdictions for corporate clients from trial to appeal. Its government matters team includes former US attorneys and senior officials from regulatory and enforcement organizations like the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Food and Drug Administration. The firm can lead clients through complex investigations brought by US and foreign enforcement agencies. The firm has also made several key recruits in its New York office of late, first luring seasoned trial statesman Randy Mastro in 2022 and, in 2023, adding Jennifer Recine, a quickly ascended younger star who made a name for herself at Kasowitz for her varied commercial litigation practice that includes an emphasis on real estate and distressed assets.

Ursula Henninger works out of both the Miami and Charlotte offices. Her practice specialized in product liability and mass torts. She often handles cases that involve allegations of corporate misconduct and claims for punitive damages, representing companies in cases including tobacco, pharmaceuticals, and other industries. In the past year, Henninger represented R.J. Reynolds in two cases in Miami. In the first, she gave the closing arguments before a jury that reached a verdict in favor of the client, rejecting the plaintiff's $15 million demand. She also retried and reversed an Engle progeny case in which the plaintiff was originally awarded $41 million.

In Texas, Tracie Renfroe is co-leader of the firm’s Product Liability and Mass Torts litigation group. She has defended clients in class actions, arbitrations, and administrative agency proceedings, and her skill, with clients in the pharmaceutical and energy sectors, in presenting complex scientific and technical issues to judges and juries is key. Renfroe is one of the lead attorneys defending the energy company Baker Hughes, which had a flow and process technology facility in Louisiana that plaintiffs allege contaminated the surrounding groundwater, soil, and air with trichloroethene. So far, Renfroe has successfully defeated multiple motions for class certification and is preparing for trial.

In Texas and New York, Mike Stenglein is the chair of the firm’s global construction and engineering disputes practice. His concentration falls under complex business disputes, usually in the construction and private equity sectors. Reficar, a Colombian state-owned oil refinery, has been in a long-running dispute over construction costs with McDermott International, a construction company. Stenglein was one of the lead partners to help win a $900 million award for Reficar in an arbitration before the International Chamber of Commerce.

Morty Dubin’s New York practice includes product liability, toxic and environmental torts, and class action defense. He has experience with mass torts and asbestos claims. In the past year, Dubin won a jury verdict for Johnson & Johnson concluding that its baby powder talc product did not cause the plaintiff’s ovarian cancer. In another case, he won a defense verdict for Union Carbide by convincing the jury to reject a mesothelioma wrongful-death claim brought on behalf of a deceased worker.

Alvin Lee’s clients are often in the financial services, energy, chemical, and technology sectors. His practice includes energy and infrastructure projects and commercial litigation. He was the co-lead attorney representing JP Morgan in a suit brought by Canadian Breaks, a wind farm in Texas. Canadian Breaks alleges that a force majeure provision excused its performance during winter storm Uri. A judge granted a summary judgement, concluding that the storm did not constitute force majeure under the hedge agreement between JPMorgan and Canadian Breaks.

Weil Gotshal & Manges

Weil Gotshal & Manges enjoys a reputation as a firm whose litigation bench is one of the most comprehensive in terms of practice depth. “They have all the bases covered,” confirms a peer. “A nice wide spectrum. And they have the depth and breadth in their personnel to cover it.” The firm’s national reach is spread among offices on the East Coast in New York and DC, throughout several locations in California, two locations in Texas, one in Boston and a location in Miami. Its practice area portfolio also covers a lot of ground, with product liability, bankruptcy, antitrust, commercial, intellectual property, securities and white-collar crime all playing prominent positions in the overall composition of the firm’s litigation service offerings.
The firm made a notable augmentation to these services within the past couple of years with

with the recruits of DC-based Mark Perry and Drew Tulumello, both of whom joined Weil from Gibson Dunn and both of whom provide strategic enhancements to Weil’s appellate capacity. “Weil has really made a significant investment here,” declares a peer in reference to the firm’s development of the appeals practice. “They are now officially a player in that specialty – they went from 0 to 100.” This practice is not limited to more established seniors; Robert Niles-Weed, a young New York-based star [featured in Benchmark’s 40 and Under list and also profiled in a special feature in this edition] whose practice also encompasses other strata of commercial litigation and antitrust, has also carved out a name for himself in the appellate space. Niles-Weed acted with Perry as co-counsel for Comcast, who was sued for allegedly infringing a patent concerning an interactive program guide that integrated both linear cable channels and other content sources. Niles-Weed also worked with Tulumello serving as appellate counsel to BNSF Railway in what is purported to be the first case ever to go to trial under Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act. Following trial, where BNSF was represented by trial counsel from a different law firm, the jury returned a $228 million verdict in favor of the plaintiffs. The Weil duo represented BNSF in its efforts to obtain a new trial or reduction of the verdict. In September 2023, the parties entered into a settlement. Perry also acts with two other younger stars, New York’s Luna Barrington and Silicon Valley’s Bambo Obaro, representing national grocery retailer Kroger in connection with its pending $20+ billion merger with Albertsons and concurrent divestiture of hundreds of stores. Federal and state regulators have filed three separate suits in Federal Court in Oregon, and State court in Washington and Colorado seeking to enjoin the merger, and Weil is working with co-counsel to defend against these suits.
          The firm has had an equally impressive run in the intellectual property capacity, with New York’s Elizabeth Weiswasser garnering a pronounced level of praise on the strength of her increased visibility and demonstrated acuity in the patent arena. “Liz is a great IP lawyer but she’s actually a phenomenal trial lawyer,” elaborates one patent-oriented peer. “It’s easy to get bogged down in details in these types of cases but Liz cuts through all that and just shines in the courtroom.” Weil’s IP bench is equally revered on the West Coast, where Silicon Valley-based Ed Reines generates “a lot of respect on the life sciences side,” according to peers. One contemporary declares, “The practice that Ed has built in the Bay Area for life sciences is really just remarkable, and he’s trying cases as well. [He is] very impressive.”
     Securities has been another calling card for Weil, and specifically for New York’s Jonathan Polkes, whose practice balances civil and criminal work and who stands out to peers in the bar as “one of the rare breed of securities lawyers who is ready to try cases anytime if need be.” Polkes led a team, which included Caroline Zalka and Theodore Tsekerides, that triumphed for Warner Brothers and Discovery in February 2024 in a securities case that was brought following a stock drop after the $43 billion merger of the two entities. Polkes and Zalka also have been leading the defense of numerous securities class actions filed against longtime client Walgreens in courts around the country. These cases arise out of the company’s failed 2017 merger with Rite Aid, and feature allegations that Walgreens misled investors about the likelihood the Federal Trade Commission would approve the deal. Another New York securities star (and head of the firm’s national practice) John Neuwirth successfully defended another longtime client, AMC Entertainment, in fast-tracked stockholder litigation in Delaware Chancery Court arising from its planned overhaul of its capital structure. Plaintiffs alleged that AMC’s senior management and board of directors breached their fiduciary duties by diluting common stockholders’ voting power through the creation of a new preferred class of securities and a subsequent planned reverse stock split.
     New York’s David Lender, an all-purpose commercial trial lawyer, remains a peer favorite. One enthuses, “I keep saying he’s the lawyer I want to be when I grow up, but he’s younger than me! He’s just in another league.” Lender led a cross-section commercial/antitrust team that included Greg Silbert and Eric Hochstadt in the successful representation of the Tri-City ValleyCats and the Norwich Sea Unicorns in two separate but related disputes against Major League Baseball (MLB), in one alleging that MLB’s Restructuring and contraction of minor-league baseball violates the US antitrust laws.