We are 800+ lawyers serving clients from 12 offices located in the leading financial and business centers in the Americas, Europe and Asia. The world’s leading organizations, companies and corporations choose us to be their representatives in their most critical situations. But more, they consider Proskauer a strategic partner to drive their business forward. We work with asset managers, major sports leagues, Fortune 500 companies, entertainment industry legends and other industry-redefining companies.
Proskauer’s Litigation Department wins make-or-break cases, changes laws and establishes precedents. Our litigators cover the full spectrum of complex commercial litigation practice areas, including: antitrust, asset management, bankruptcy, copyright, false advertising, insurance recovery, patent, privacy and cybersecurity, products liability, real estate, international arbitration, securities, sports, trademark and white collar. We are also known for our appellate practice, which handles appeals in federal and state court, and advises on trial issues.
Proskauer’s 150+ litigators have built a track record of success both inside and outside the courtroom. We pride ourselves on being trial lawyers, and we have extensive experience trying cases before juries, judges and arbitral tribunals throughout the U.S. and abroad. Where appropriate, we embrace alternative dispute resolution and have achieved significant success resolving challenging matters for our clients.
Our lawyers include former senior government officials and prosecutors with formidable trial and regulatory experience. Our litigators have served as the U.S. Attorneys for New Jersey and the Southern District of Illinois; chiefs and deputy chiefs of divisions of U.S. Attorney’s offices in New York and the District of Columbia; New York Deputy Attorney General; the Corporation Counsel of the City of New York; and clerks for justices of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Our litigators have consistently earned top rankings from Chambers and The Legal 500, U.S. News Best Lawyers, Daily Journal and The American Lawyer. The Firm was also noted in the New York Law Journal as a General Litigation Finalist for Litigation Department of the Year.
Select recent representations include:
Secured the historic Plan of Adjustment, filed by the Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico, on behalf of the Commonwealth of Puerto Ricoand other entities, which was confirmed by U.S. District Court Judge Laura Taylor Swain. This first territorial debt restructuring in the history of the United States is a critical victory for Puerto Rico as it puts an end to its almost five-year bankruptcy, cut billions in debt, fixes a broken pension system and returns the Commonwealth to balanced budgets. Although several objecting parties have appealed the confirmation order, the Oversight Board has already successfully defeated one such appeal, and the others are currently pending. Notably, the restructuring and all related litigation took place under a brand new statute the U.S. Congress designed for Puerto Rico.
Secured a landmark victory for Monsanto and its parent company Bayer in a case brought by a woman claiming that use of the herbicide Roundup caused her non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. A California jury rejected the claims, returning a defense verdict on all counts. The San Bernardino County jury concluded not only that Roundup did not cause Mrs. Stephens’s cancer, but that Roundup performs safely and does not pose a cancer risk. This defense verdict on “general causation” was the first of its kind in Roundup litigation.
Lead counsel to Miramax in a path-breaking lawsuit filed against director Quentin Tarantino on allegations of intellectual property infringement and breach of contract in connection with Tarantino’s offering of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) relating to the Miramax film Pulp Fiction. The case is one of the first of its kind relating to NFTs.
Lead trial counsel for Monsanto in a five-week, multi-plaintiff trial for Monsanto in St. Louis, Missouri, alleging that use of the herbicide Roundup caused the three plaintiffs’ non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The jury rejected plaintiffs’ claims entirely, returning a defense verdict on all counts in under three hours.
Lead trial counsel for Gilead Sciences in various California state and federal product liability actions brought by ~17,000 plaintiffs related to Gilead’s HIV prevention and treatment drugs. The cases allege that Gilead drugs were defectively designed and failed adequately to warn about the increased risk of potential kidney disease and bone injury that could result from use of its highly effective and FDA-approved HIV medications.
Lead counsel for the National Football League in actions filed by apparel distributors and NFL merchandise purchasers in federal court in New York alleging that the NFL’s agreements with Fanatics, Inc., a manufacturer, supplier and distributor of licensed sportswear and merchandise, violate state and federal antitrust laws.
Lead counsel for Shamrock Capital Advisors, LLC and related entities in connection with pending claims brought by the founders and early employees of FanDuel against Shamrock and other private equity firm investors in New York state court alleging that FanDuel’s merger with European bookmaker Paddy Power Betfair improperly diluted the plaintiffs’ interests in FanDuel prior to the company’s multi-billion dollar valuation.
Defense of MLS against a federal lawsuit brought by the North American Soccer League against MLS and the US Soccer Federation following US Soccer’s decision not to sanction NASL as a Division II professional league for the 2018 season. NASL alleges that MLS and U.S. Soccer are engaged in an antitrust conspiracy to ensure that MLS is the sole Division I soccer league in the United States, and further alleges that MLS is an illegal monopoly in violation of the Sherman Act.
Representation of Wayne-Sanderson Farms, one of the largest producers of broilers (chicken) in the U.S., defending numerous class actions filed both by classes of direct purchasers and indirect purchasers, who assert a damages claim against the defendants of $48 billion. The case is the largest current antitrust case in the U.S. in the food industry.
Representation of ATP Tour and WTA Tour on:
- issues relating to the accusations of sexual abuse by WTA member Peng Shuai and the subsequent take down of such charges from social media and her disappearance, which in turn have led to the suspension of WTA events in China;
- successfully defending against various challenges by the Madrid tournament (and its former billionaire owner, Ian Tiriac), including to ATP’s format and to WTA’s imposition of certain penalties for violations of its rules; and
- the ban by Wimbledon and the LTA of Russian and Belarussian players from play at their events in the UK, which violates various Tour rules and agreements that require entry of events to be based on merit and without discrimination.
Updated Sep 2022
