New York

A fully integrated international conglomerate, Shearman & Sterling has been at the forefront of some headline-making litigation on a global basis and is routinely recognized as a leading legal entity by disputes lawyers from such locales as Europe and Southeast Asia. With most of its 20 offices being based in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, some would even argue that the firm is too globally integrated to even be relegated to assessment on just a one-country level. Nonetheless, within the States the firm is called upon most often for its experience and acumen with matters of the securities and white-collar and FCPA enforcement variety and is quickly developing a leading profile in the antitrust space as well. 
     New York’s Adam Hakki remains a perennial peer favorite, with glowing reviews offered on a unanimous basis. Hakki’s practice is largely focused on, but not limited to, the securities, antitrust and governance fields, with experience in both the criminal and civil capacities. A team led by Hakki (and also involving Agnès Dunogué and Lyle Roberts) won a significant and complete victory for Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS) in a high-profile and closely watched securities class-action arising from the 2021 collapse of Archegos Capital Management, a family office run by billionaire investor Bill Hwang, who later was indicted for his conduct. (ViacomCBS was one of the companies whose share prices were adversely affected by the liquidation of Archegos.) The litigation claimed that the offering documents for March 2021 securities offerings by ViacomCBS should have disclosed that Archegos had obtained concentrated and leveraged synthetic positions in ViacomCBS stock via total return swaps entered into with investment banks, which also acted as underwriters for the offerings, and that those swaps needed to be liquidated due to Archegos’ financial distress. Hakki also achieved a significant victory for Twitter in shareholder litigation relating to the fraught acquisition of Twitter by Elon Musk. The shareholder plaintiff agreed to voluntarily dismiss the case a few days before pre-trial briefs were due. Hakki has also balanced an active portfolio of antitrust cases along with his securities matters. One example involved a victory on behalf of Intercontinental Exchange and various subsidiaries in a LIBOR-related antitrust action brought on behalf of group of consumers purportedly injured as a result of an alleged price-fixing conspiracy.
     Shearman’s US bench is brimming with others noted for their antitrust prowess. A frequent teammate of Hakki’s, Jeffrey Resetarits, is generating a good deal of traction in antitrust as well as securities. “Keep your eye on him,” advises a colleague at one of New York’s top firms. “We’ve been seeing more of him lately and we are very impressed. He and Adam Hakki had a nice win [in March 2019] in a matter involving CDOR [Canadian Dollar Offered Rate.]” New York’s Richard Schwed is representing JetBlue Airways Corporation in two high-profile DoJ lawsuits concerning alleged anti-competitive activity in several capacities. Todd Stenerson, based in the DC office, led a team (including DC’s David Higbee) that achieved a significant victory for Booz Allen in the DoJ’s attempt to block its $440 million acquisition of EverWatch. In December 2022, the DoJ dismissed its lawsuit, officially ending the litigation after the court permitted the parties to close the transaction. One fellow leader in the antitrust space enthuses, “Todd is a very creative and out-of-the-box thinker. He will just generate idea after idea in a very thought-provoking way that benefits all involved.”
      Stephen Fishbein, whose practice straddles white-collar crime and enforcement with antitrust elements, secured a victory on behalf of an individual in a significant criminal insider-trading case. In December 2022, the Second Circuit ruled, among other things, that the evidence was insufficient on the two counts on which the client was convicted and dismissed the fraud charges.

While Anderson Kill offers a full range of litigation services including commercial, bankruptcy, securities and intellectual property, its primary calling card is insurance; in that regard, the firm is dedicated to policyholder-only matters. Far from finding this a limiting approach, the firm has instead excelled at this with gusto, and is revered by peers on both sides of the “V.” “These guys are zealots,” opines a peer. “They view insurance litigation as a ‘holy war - good and evil.’ But they know what they’re doing; they’ve been doing this a long time. They know these carriers and they’ve kept these files, meticulously protecting them.” The firm has also managed to parlay its reputation as a go-to shop for traditional insurance-related areas like asbestos into a haven where clients can turn in instances of more recent threats such as cloud-related data breach and privacy issues. “These types of matters - cybersecurity, the cloud! - are areas that Anderson Kill really got a head start on years ago.” Clients are equally appreciative; “Anderson Kill excels at representing businesses and individuals in insurance coverage and claim disputes. They literally wrote the book in this arena, entitled Insurance Coverage Litigation. They are outstanding lawyers, brief writers and strategists” Firm figurehead Robert Horkovich is applauded by all who come into contact with him, including adversaries. “I adore him, even though we are usually screaming at each other. No one fights harder for his clients, and no one keeps you on your game like him. Doing battle with him makes you a better lawyer.” One such client weighs in, “Bob Horkovich knows EVERYTHING about asbestos coverage litigation! All of his work [for us] has been exceptional.” In one of his many lead trial counsel appointments, Horkovich represents The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey in litigation commenced by its insurance company relating to coverage for numerous asbestos claims dating to the construction of the original World Trade Center. The matter, valued at over $50 million, was in front of the New York Supreme Court, which in November 2017 granted all five of Port Authority’s motions, ruling that coverage is triggered if claims allege exposure during the construction of the World Trade Center, that AIG has not set forth a valid argument of exhaustion of its policy, and that AIG’s duty to defend continues even after the policy exhausts. The court then reaffirmed its decision in April 2019. Horkovich also represented Siltronic in a policyholder matter, also against AIG. The client moved for summary judgment to the effect that an exclusion applied only if the pollution was expected or intended by the policyholder, in this case Siltronic, which bought the property not knowing that it already was contaminated. AIG moved for summary judgment that the exclusion applies if the releases to the environment were expected or intended by anyone, including the historic polluters and even neighbors. In July 2018, the court granted Siltronic's summary judgment motion and denied AIG's. Horkovich also represented the San Diego Unified Port District, once again against AIG, in a matter in which the client sought liability insurance coverage to help clean up the Port of San Diego arising from claims and suits. When AIG alleged exhaustion of policy limits and cut off funding, the Port filed suit. AIG recanted its claim of exhaustion, acknowledging that policy limits remained, but litigation continues as to when umbrellas take over what obligations and as to bad faith. In March 2018, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California ruled that AIG must pay claims under its umbrella policies in addition to its primary policies. The Court entered final judgment regarding these two important rulings in March 2019.

Cahill Gordon & Reindel remains a favorite with its stable of loyal long-time clients, which include global cornerstones of the financial industry, as well as embattled individuals who turn to Cahill practitioners for counsel but probably hope to never see the firm (or any litigator) again. One of Cahill’s clients voices appreciation for the “comprehensive advice, with excellent strategic game plan” that the firm has become known for. Cahill is best known for its concentration in the commercial, securities, antitrust and white-collar crime capacities.
     Operating from both the firm’s New York flagship as well as its DC location, Brad Bondi has become known as a trusted advocate for white-collar and securities enforcement matters. Bondi leads a team that is representing five large hospital funds as plaintiffs in connection with potential claims against Allianz Global Investors arising from the catastrophic implosion of Allianz’s Structured Alpha investment products. The allegations concern violation of federal securities laws and state common law claims. Total losses claimed exceed $10 billion. Bondi also represents former a KPMG senior partner and executive who is charged, along with four others, in a high-profile case with wire fraud and other offenses relating to the misappropriation by the defendants of confidential inspection information from the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board. “Over the years I have some to know Brad well and have trusted him on several important projects,” testifies a peer. Bondi is not the only partner in this group earning acclaim; Nola Heller represents a former asset manager who is charged for her alleged role in a $63 million scheme to place fraudulent bonds in discretionary client accounts. In March 2020, Heller served as lead trial counsel in a four-day evidentiary hearing regarding the client’s motion to withdraw her guilty plea. The response is also strong for Anirudh Bansal, a younger partner who is making a swift ascent. “I think Anirudh is first-rate,” opines a peer. “He was a junior to [celebrated former Cahill partner] David Kelley so he got excellent training and then had big shoes to fill, which he did. He stepped up in a big way, and I expect you’ll see more of him.”
     In the commercial capacity, Tammy Roy is another younger partner making a rapid rise. A client addresses Roy as “a rock star” who “[has] command of facts without getting lost in details. [She has a] bright future.” Roy has taken the lead on several notable engagements as of late. She represents S&P Global in five related actions alleging that S&P made reckless misrepresentations in connection with the rating of a life settlement securitization. In March 2019, several claims were dismissed but others were allowed to proceed and are now in discovery. Roy also represented UBS in connection with a defamation claim filed by a former UBS employee-turned-whistleblower after UBS publicly refuted the plaintiff’s claims, which were published in a book, regarding the details of his role in a tax-evasion scheme allegedly implicitly endorsed by UBS. UBS also denounced the plaintiff and highlighted lapses of credibility in his story. The parties settled the matter in September 2020. Roy also represented UBS Financial Services in a putative class action filed in the Southern District of New York in October 2020.  The named plaintiff sought to represent an alleged class of US citizens living abroad who she claimed had their UBS investment accounts frozen, converted to cash or closed without timely notification. At a pre-motion conference that was filed for in January 2021 in anticipation of UBS’s motion to dismiss, the plaintiff conceded that the court lacked subject matter jurisdiction and subsequently filed a stipulation of voluntary dismissal of all claims.
     Cahill has long serviced Credit Suisse in cases straddling an intersection of securities and antitrust issues. Joel Kurtzberg, a recent addition to Benchmark’s litigation stars, has proven his mettle in having taken the lead on several of these matters. “Get Joel on your radar,” advises a peer. “He has earned it.” The team also includes long-time stars Herb Washer and Elai Katz, the latter known primarily for his antitrust acumen and the former frequently pivoting between securities, antitrust and commercial cases. “Elai is an antitrust secret weapon,” confides a peer. “He comes on like a bit of a street fighter, but you can tell by his writing – and he does a lot of it – that he is really studious and geeks out on this stuff.” Washer is said to be able to “do it all, while all the while being one of the more pleasant and well-spoken litigators you’ll encounter.” Others servicing Credit Suisse in various capacities include Sheila Ramesh and future star Jason Hall, as well as David Januszewski, a seasoned partner who receives near-universal acclaim from peers in the market. “David is fantastic, he should get national recognition,” insists a peer. Beyond his work for Credit Suisse, Januszewski also acts for Deutsche Bank. On behalf of this institution, Januszewski led a team (including Ramesh) that litigated a six-day bench trial in Connecticut seeking to enforce a judgment, secured by the bank in a UK court in 2013, against Alexander Vik and his offshore investment entity Sebastian Holdings, seeking to hold Vik liable personally as the Sebastian Holdings’ alter ego in Connecticut. Januszewski also prevailed on behalf of Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas, securing a July 2020 dismissal in the Northern District of Illinois for a suit filed in March of that year in which plaintiffs filed their complaint against the bank, asserting claims for negligence, conversion, and contribution in connection with the transfer of securities alleged to have been funneled among various entities as part of a third-party’s long-running Ponzi scheme.

Cohen & Gresser is a boutique handling litigation, intellectual property and white-collar matters. While formed in 2002, the firm’s lawyers have rich histories; several of them initially honed their crafts at some of the country’s most respected firms. “Have you checked out what’s going at Cohen & Gresser lately? You should! There is some interesting work going on over there right now, and they have made great strides in the niche that they occupy,” insists a peer. “The firm is doing tremendously well. We call them ‘Cohen and Growin’!’ I had lunch with [managing partner] Larry Gresser and he dispensed great advice as to forging your own boutique made up of former big-firm premier talent. That’s what they did!” Gresser has kept busy representing Goldman Sachs in a case alleging a group boycott among major investment banks. The plaintiff alleges that their patented securitization model making use of a bankruptcy-remote special purpose entity to finance airport terminal construction will lower interest rates and volatility on airport special facility bonds and that banks allegedly boycotted the model to protect their profits from secondary-market ASF bond trading. Mark Cohen leads a team (which includes Gresser) that continues to act as court monitor for the Fire Department of New York (FDNY.) The team was appointed in 2011 by the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York to oversee implementation of the Court’s remedial order. The Court’s order grew out of its finding that the FDNY’s practices and procedures for recruiting and hiring entry-level firefighters have had a disparate impact on black and Hispanic firefighter candidates. More recently, the parties to the litigation requested that Cohen and the team oversee the implementation of a settlement involving claims that the FDNY had intentionally discriminated against black and Hispanic firefighter applicants. As Court Monitor, Cohen and the team oversee an extensive and multi-tiered remedial process involving, among other things, the FDNY’s practices and procedures for recruiting, testing, and screening black and Hispanic entry-level firefighter candidates, and its EEO functions. “This is a fabulous appoint,” asserts a peer, “and best of all, it’s working!”

Cravath Swaine & Moore continues to set the standard for other major business law firms. Its elite status as one of the “white-shoe” firms is acknowledged by contemporaries on a coast-to-coast basis and always with tones of reverence. “The Cravath style” has been used as a descriptor for firms aspiring to the same level of pedigree. The firm also draws acclaim from several of its blue-ribbon roster of clients. “They provide excellent strategic advice and written work product. They also prepare for trial/hearing in a very thorough manner,” confirms one such client.
     For decades, Cravath managed to elicit this remarkable level of national prestige from its one office in Manhattan in New York. That changed last year. While Cravath’s reputation remains as unassailable as ever, it has finally expanded its operations to a DC office, a bold gambit that immediately caused a buzz in the nation’s capital and beyond. “Like everything Cravath does, this was not just some kind of desperate expansion for expansion’s sake,” declares one peer. “They saw an opportunity and exploited it quickly, netting themselves some great recruits in that office.” These strategic hires include Jennifer Leete, a former associate director in the SEC’s enforcement division who handles regulatory and investigations work, and Noah Phillips, an antitrust practitioner and former FTC commissioner. “They are still getting established here,” surmises one DC-based peer, “but between the talent they attract and the allure of the Cravath brand, I’ve no doubts they’ll do well in no time.”
     While the firm’s inroads into DC are not going unnoticed, the hub of Cravath’s major litigation activity remains its New York office, which has been a lodestar for generalist trial lawyers. While longtime icon Evan Chesler has officially retired, Dan Slifkin upholds Cravath’s trial pedigree at the senior level. Slifkin is representing certain directors designated by companies within the TotalEnergies group, a set of global multi-energy companies, to SunPower Corporation’s board of directors in a stockholder-derivative action filed in the Delaware Court of Chancery alleging defendants breached their fiduciary duties in connection with the sale of SunPower’s commercial and industrial business to a subsidiary of TotalEnergies. Helam Gebremariam, a younger star who juggles antitrust, securities and commercial work is acting with Slifkin on this matter. “I got to see Helam cross-examining witnesses and it was really a tour de force,” testifies a peer. Kevin Orsini continues to hold firm to his growing reputation as another all-purpose trial powerhouse. “Kevin can do it all – antitrust, ‘event-driven litigation’ – and he never stays in one place,” commends a peer.“He’s doing antitrust one day and wildfire cases the next!” David Marriott’s profile continues to elevate on the strength of his prodigious trial aplomb. Marriott, the recipient of Benchmark’s coveted “Trial Lawyer of the Year” award for 2024, demonstrates courtroom acuity across a number of areas; most recently, his antitrust actions have generated widespread acclaim. He led a team (which also included Timothy Cameron, Rachel Skaistis and Margaret Segall) that represented biopharma entity Amgen in successfully defending an FTC challenge to Amgen’s $27.8 billion acquisition of Horizon Therapeutics—securing a consent order in September 2023 that ended all litigation and cleared the path for the transaction to close. This win comes hot on the heels of similar triumphs in the previous year for Illumina, again against the FTC, and Louis Dreyfus/Imperial Sugar against the DoJ. The managing partner of the firm’s litigation group, Karen DeMasi, is championed by a peer as “the ultimate consummate professional.” DeMasi is yet another partner known for her diverse practice portfolio. DeMasi, along with future star Lauren Rosenberg, scored big for First Solar, winning back-to-back dismissals in January and June 2023 to defeat putative class action securities litigation filed against the company and certain of its senior executives in Arizona federal court.  Plaintiffs, two pension funds that purchased First Solar stock, alleged defendants made false and misleading statements regarding the company’s solar module and its project development business. 
     While Cravath’s dedication to breeding versatile trial lawyers is proven, the firm does also boast a roster of specialists, with the aforementioned antitrust being the most prominent. “Antitrust is kind of the beating heart of Cravath,” notes a peer. Cravath has led Epic Games – the creator of the wildly popular Fortnite game, to multiple victories in its high-profile antitrust actions against Google and Apple challenging core aspects of the companies’ app store policies. As lead trial counsel, a Cravath team led by Gary Bornsteinand also including Yonatan Even and Lauren Moskowitz, won a unanimous jury verdict against Google on all counts in December 2023.
    Omid Nasab led West Coast utility entity PG&E in its successful defense against a massive putative class action seeking $2.5 billion in damages for emergency power shutoffs conducted by PG&E in 2019—first securing dismissal of the action in the bankruptcy court, then affirmance in the district court and, ultimately, winning a decision from the California Supreme Court shielding PG&E from liability. “I want to shout out Omid,” testifies a DC-based peer. “He stepped in and played a big role in an insider trading case we had for [dating app] Bumble! He’s on the younger side but already getting some more first-chair roles.” A white-collar/enforcement team composed of Benjamin Gruenstein, John Buretta and Evan Norris represented British American Tobacco (BAT) in reaching a global settlement, announced in April 2023, with the DoJ and OFAC to resolve sanctions breaches arising from historical business activities in North Korea between 2007 and 2017 in violation of the bank fraud statute and the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. In a matter straddling the intersection of fraud and intellectual property, Gruenstein acts with IP specialist Keith Hummel in representing cardiovascular-focused medical device entity Abiomed as the plaintiff in a trade-secret and breach-of-contract action against a German medical device company, and its founder, alleging that the defendants entered into consulting agreements concerning Abiomed’s compressible heart pump. In September 2023, the Cravath duo defeated defendants’ motion to dismiss, which had sought dismissal on jurisdictional grounds. 

Davis Polk & Wardwell is a consistent leader in litigation, earning its place as one of the top-tier firms in antitrust, securities, and white-collar crime especially. The firm’s growth over recent years has strategically established its presence in the New York, Washington DC and California markets. The accomplishments of its bench across practice areas have further driven the firm’s acclaim in high-profile litigation.

     Davis Polk remains one of New York’s elite firms and is equipped with numerous respected lawyers. Greg Andres serves as the firm’s co-chair of the white-collar crime and investigation group and is one of the leading lawyers in the practice area, enjoying a spot on the Top 100 Trial Lawyers list since its inception. An all-star bench including Andres, Jarrett Arp, and Tatiana Martins, who makes her debut as a litigation star this year, handled the criminal charges in a broiler chicken-related antitrust lawsuit filed by the Department of Justice Antitrust Division against Jason McGuire, an executive in the industry. The team succeeded in the day-long James hearing regarding the admissibility of 294 statements and secured a dismissal of the criminal charges against the client after the court rendered the government’s evidence inadmissible. Based out of DC, Arp is one of the firm’s leading antitrust litigators whose practice is especially sought after for high-stakes and sensitive matters. Uzo Asonye, also of the DC office and debuting as a litigation star, specializes in white-collar crime defense, having joined the firm in 2020 after serving as the acting chief of the Financial Crimes and Public Corruption Unit in the Eastern District of Virginia. Asonye has joined forces with Andres in representing a Fiat Chrysler engineer who was charged with conspiracy to manipulate emissions tests. The duo have obtained favorable pre-trial rulings, including a successful motion for production of Brady and Rule 16 materials. The team initially obtained a dismissal of wire fraud conspiracy counts, and while the Sixth Circuit reversed on appeal, it also shared its skepticism as to whether the government would be able to prove its case during the trial.

     Head of the litigation group James Rouhandeh is also an established leader of the securities bar, known especially for being the “go-to” for financial institutions, particularly Morgan Stanley, for which he continues to handle cases related to residential mortgage-backed securities arising from the 2007 financial crisis. He defends the major financial institution against fraud claims filed by IKB Deutsche Industriebank in a case which has involved discovery across three countries. The team secured a pre-trial victory in defeating IKB’s motion to amend its complaint. While Rouhandeh continues to be a force for established institutions like Morgan Stanley, he is also at the forefront of securities litigation involving cryptocurrency platforms such as industry leader Binance. Last year, Rouhandeh obtained a complete dismissal of a securities class action alleging that the company unlawfully operated an unregistered exchange and an unregistered broker-dealer, unlawfully sold unregistered securities based on the sale of unregistered tokens, and another 149 violations of state blue sky laws. The court dismissed the case, agreeing with his arguments that the claims were not within the statute of limitations and that the company is not a “domestic exchange”, therefore neither federal nor state laws would apply extraterritorially. Another New York litigator who stands out in the market is Andrew Ditchfield. A peer at another top-tier firm praises Ditchfield’s capabilities in litigation, commenting, “It’s really fun to litigate against people outside of our firm that I think are at our level.” A commercial and civil litigator with a specialty in M&A-related litigation, Ditchfield recently scored a victory representing Brookfield in a shareholder dispute related to the company’s $8.3 billion acquisition of CDK Global. The complaint alleged violations of the Illinois Securities Act and sought to delay the tender offer by way of preliminary injunction, which was denied at the circuit court. The court agreed with Ditchfield’s arguments and subsequently found that the plaintiff could not show likelihood of success on the merits and thus they[WC(1]  voluntarily dismissed their case.

     New York litigator James McClammy makes his debut as a litigation star this year. Alongside long-time star Edmund Polubinski, McClammy represented two of the large lender syndicates in the case of Twitter v. Elon R. Musk in the Delaware Court of Chancery. The case arises from Musk’s attempt to terminate the merger agreement, for which the clients had committed to providing financing in the amount of $25.5 billion. McClammy and Polubinski were leading subpoenas over a 10-week period in the expedited and closely watched case, which was dismissed after the acquisition closed. In another case involving Elon Musk, litigator and arbitrator Frances Bivens represents JP Morgan against Tesla, alleging that the company breached certain agreements governing warrants that the client purchased. The case arose from Musk’s tweet to take Tesla private and, in turn, JP Morgan adjusted the strike price pursuant to the agreement. Bivens has filed a motion on the pleadings, and also defends the bank against counterclaims and damages from Tesla. Bivens and fellow international arbitration specialist Antonio Perez-Marques handled an 11-day arbitration as lead counsel defending Albemarle, one of the largest lithium suppliers, against alleged fraud, breach of contract and other claims filed by competing chemicals company, Huntsman. The co-head of the civil litigation practice, Paul Spagnoletti, recently obtained a critical win in a federal RICO lawsuit which garnered praise from the legal industry. On behalf of Apollo co-founder Josh Harris, Spagnoletti secured a dismissal of federal RICO claims filed by co-founder and former CEO Leon Black, who alleged that there was a fraudulent scheme to force him to resign by leveraging sexual abuse allegations against him.

     Dana Seshens is co-head of the civil litigation group and handles securities class actions and intellectual property litigation with the West Coast team. Seshens and distinguished California litigator Neal Potischman are representing Universal Television, Jimmy Fallon and his product company in a class action alleging violations of the federal securities laws and consumer protection statutes in California. The case is one of many involving celebrity endorsements of non-fungible tokens and related cryptocurrency. Seshens and Potischman have thus far quashed a subpoena and have moved to dismiss the case entirely. The duo has also worked on several other California cases together and on separate occasions served as counsel for underwriters in securities class actions. Seshens leads the team in defending PG&E in a class action arising from the California wildfires. On intellectual property, Seshens partners with Ashok Ramani, the head of the practice group, to handle trade secrets disputes on behalf of industry-leading pharmaceutical companies like Pfizer. The pair are preparing for trial early next year in a fast-paced trade secrets case filed on behalf of Pfizer against Razor Therapeutics, a start-up founded by two former executives who Pfizer allege used trade secrets to establish the company. On the patent side of IP, Ramani scored a trial victory for Magnolia Medical Technologies in its lawsuit against its sole competitor in provision of initial specimen diversion devices, Kurin. Ramani was called in to replace an IP boutique’s team just prior to summary judgment and was head-to-head with another top-tier intellectual property litigator representing Kurin. He obtained a verdict of infringement in the first phase and in the second, a verdict of damages and no invalidity.

Elsberg Baker & Maruri was only forged as its own entity in early 2024, but its constellation of practitioners is composed of litigators that have served in leading positions in other celebrated litigation shops, including name-brand trial juggernaut Quinn Emanuel and Quinn-spinoff New York boutique Selendy Gay. While a new firm, Elsberg Baker is already garnering significant momentum on the strength of its collective and individual trial-centric ethos. The firm’s reputation is being propelled by a wave of peer recognition and client testimonials. “Time will tell how this venture plays out, but with that crew, they seem to be poised for great things,” opines one New York peer. Another elaborates, “I have known the principals at Elsberg Baker for years, both as colleagues and trusted advisors. There is no dearth of areas where these lawyers succeed, but a few that come to mind is creativity, relentlessness, and judgment. The team also is relentless, which is a very important skill for litigators. Oftentimes, the line between winning and losing is drawn on the finest of margins, including going that extra yard to review documents that others might not, to ask questions from clients and adversaries that may seem tedious, or simply turning over every stone.”
     Speaking to the name partners’ individual reputations, a peer declares, “David Elsberg is a master of thoroughness and making sure everything is considered. And that relentless approach makes sure that his clients have every card in their hand when they litigate. David has not only phenomenal legal judgment but also business judgment. Too many lawyers focus only on the law and not the commercial and practical realities of the client's business. David's advocacy is so effective because he is keeping both of those planes in mind at all time. David thinks through every legal issue from its origin point to end point and makes sure there is no missing link in the legal argument chain. That is invaluable for trial-facing litigation (where David excels) because David angles a litigation in that direction from the beginning.” Elsberg, formerly a name partner at what is now Selendy Gay, attends to a diverse commercial litigation practice, with recent examples that touch on securities, bankruptcy and even high-net-worth family law. A peer also testifies, “I know Rollo Baker from prior litigation in which we were adverse and was very impressed by him. He's exceptionally bright, committed and strategic. I see him as one of the best up-and-coming commercial litigators in New York. He is very smart, strategic and committed, and commercial as well.” Baker’s practice similarly covers a broad portfolio of commercial disputes. Silpa Maruri is addressed as “a hands-on attorney with strong command of the facts and deep knowledge of the law. She is a strategic litigator with strong engagement management skills.” Maruri is similarly engaged in a variety of commercial litigation, including one case in which she provided lead trial counsel for Dell Technologies and achieved a landmark $1 billion settlement on behalf of a class of former minority shareholders the entity in Delaware Chancery Court.

Freshfields is well established as a strategically connected legal force around the globe. It is the only one of the London-headquartered “Magic Circle” firms to have established itself as a powerhouse in litigation, as opposed to just the corporate and transactional work that is the primary driver of this prestigious group. Freshfields has further extended its reach into the US litigation space with the addition of a securities and shareholder litigation practice, which, entering only its fifth year, has already demonstrated aptitude for complex bet-the-company disputes on both the East and West Coasts. “Freshfields was able to pull a few great hires in,” observes a peer. “That firm has a huge footprint – they have a huge balance sheet so they can afford the talent.” A client testifies, “We started using Freshfields as US securities law counsel, but have since accessed their team across various specialty groups - secured lending, M&A, executive compensation, bankruptcy/insolvency, civil litigation, etc.  They continue to impress us with the depth of expertise and consistent high quality of the partners.” Another states, “Freshfields has a few matters with us where they are conducting internal investigations and where we have had to report on those matters to the DoJ and SEC. They have a very skilled and experienced investigations team and have a strong international presence, so they are well-suited to conducting complex international investigations. They also are responsive to our concerns about budget.”
     Freshfields proved its ability to “pull a few great hires in” once again this year, when it lured Gayle Rosenstein Klein to its New York office. Klein, a multi-faceted commercial litigator who joined from Schulte Roth & Zabel, has developed her own fan base among peers. “That really is another super hire – talk about going from strength to strength for them.”
     Much of the success of the securities and shareholder group is attributable to its co-head, Meredith Kotler of the New York office, who decamped from Cleary Gottlieb to build out the Freshfields team. Kotler is regularly trusted by global institutions and corporations for her keen, sophisticated representation in financial securities-related disputes that often involve class actions as well as shareholder derivatives. “She did great,” attests one peer of Kotler’s incredible success with business development and recruiting. “She knew who she wanted and had the Freshfields machine supporting her.” Another peer testifies, “I did a panel with her recently and she really knows her stuff when it comes to securities.” Another key member of this team, Mary Eaton, is also generating acclaim, further elevating the firm’s securities profile. A client addresses Eaton as “strategic and responsive,” and asserts, “Directors hang on her words.” A peer confirms, “Mary is doing 3M cases, which are pretty messy. She and Meredith are a pretty strong duo.” This duo successfully represented AstraZeneca, its CEO, and several other executives in a putative class action in the Southern District of New York, challenging disclosures regarding AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine, including alleged problems with its clinical trials and prospects for FDA emergency use authorization. The team scored a motion to dismiss, which plaintiffs appealed. Kotler argued this appeal in May 2023, and a dismissal was granted. Eaton also has historically represented Citigroup, a client that continues to call on her services. “Mary is counsel on that ‘Oops! We meant to wire $9 million and instead wired $900 million’ case, which is a big deal,” asserts a peer.
     Freshfields’ double-pronged securities offensive has been equally successful in California, where Boris Feldman, a “towering figure of the securities bar,” and Doru Gavril have established the firm’s foothold in that market. One peer testifies, “I know Boris Feldman very well. He has such a big name, that anchor will drop deep in the [Silicon] Valley. He is a legend out here; I’ll be on a bus and talk to someone about him and they’ll know him! He’s also just a social animal, so he gets around. I also know Doru, who is great. Another peer stresses, “Boris is one of the best-known lawyers in the Bay Area, and at Freshfields he’s the head of technology. I think this is more what he wants to do. He’s got a real keen sense for tech and is getting more into securities cases that specifically involve this area. And he’s a more senior partner, so for someone to be doing that at his age demonstrates his ambitions.” Feldman and Gavril have paired up to represent numerous household-name Bay Area clients in securities and derivative litigation, including Instacart, Alphabet and Tesla.
     While Freshfields is certainly “having a moment” in securities, it is also celebrated in other key areas. The firm’s domestic white-collar team has been particularly active of late. The global co-head of this practice, New York’s Adam Siegel, is championed as “a great talent right in that ‘sweet spot’ of having experience but still plenty of headroom.” Among several other appointments, Siegel provides extensive advice to a major global oil company across its international subsidiaries, covering internal and external investigations and significant compliance risks.  Also in New York, David Livshiz is garnering increasing acclaim for his broad-based commercial litigation practice that incorporates investigations as well as bankruptcy work. A client extols on his behalf, “He is incredibly responsive and practical. He has a deep understanding of our business and is commercially savvy, so his legal advice is very strategic. He does a great job of putting together and leading great teams that are tailored to the particular matter.” In DC, Eric Bruce is lauded by a client as “extremely smart, very experienced, and easy to work with. He understands client needs, has creative ideas, asks for and implements feedback, has credibility with the DoJ and SEC -- he's a superstar!”
     Freshfields has historically held a pole position in international arbitration, and this continues. In particular, Noiana Marigo in the New York office is addressed by peers as “extremely strong, Argentine trained, but a long time here in the US and can do cases in English and Spanish.”

Formidable in a myriad of practice areas, Gibson Dunn & Crutcher remains one of the most in-demand and influential firms in litigation. With offices across the country, especially in major markets, there is no shortage of nationally recognized litigators who dutifully uphold the firm’s exceptional reputation. “Gibson Dunn is doing a good job in having an array of people in a variety of cases,” sums up one contemporary, who also notes, “And it’s also cross-ideological. They have people who are more liberal and others who are more conservative, and yet they all work well together very professionally.” A client testifies, “Gibson Dunn is excellent and has greater resources [than many of the firms I use for smaller litigations.]”
     Already comprehensively entrenched nationally, Gibson Dunn remains in growth mode. This is arguably most obviously visible via its Texas operations, whose ranks have been swelling with trial talent as of late. In September 2022, the firm welcomed former Fifth Circuit judge Gregg Costa to its Houston’s office. Costa is a celebrated figure in this market and has been focused on building out that office’s civil trials and white-collar capacity. Cox was part of a team that achieved a milestone summary-judgment victory followed by a sweeping victory at trial for an ad hoc group of lenders in the Serta Simmons Bedding dispute in Bankruptcy Court in Texas, validating a market-leading transaction that provided Serta Simmons Bedding with new liquidity and capital structure relief in order to ensure its survival during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Collin Cox, a commercial litigator who earned his stripes at boutique firm Yetter Coleman, also lends a flair for trial to this office. The Dallas office has been equally abuzz of late; in July of 2024, the firm augmented its already-strong bench in that city with the addition of Liz Ryan, formerly with Weil Gotshal, who peers address as an “awesome trial lawyer.” Trey Cox, another Dallas partner who honed his chops at another firm (the boutique now known as Lynn Pinker Hurst & Schwegmann) is championed as “someone who tries cases and very often wins.” Also in Dallas, Allyson Ho obtained victories for Vistra and Luminant in litigation stemming from Winter Storm Uri, securing reversal from the Houston Court of Appeals of the MDL court’s refusal to dismiss billions of dollars in personal injury and property claims against Vistra and other Texas generators. “All in all,” surmises a local peer, “this is Texas litigation at its finest. We are hard-asses around here about outsiders coming in [to the Texas trial lawyer scene] and thinking they can hang, but Gibson Dunn is doing it right.”
     There has been no shortage of milestones logged in other offices as well. Thomas Hungar, an appellate specialist in the DC office, obtained a 9-0 Supreme Court win for Slack Technologies in what has been hailed as the first securities and derivative suit relating to going public through a direct listing. Also in DC, David Burns, a white-collar practitioner with a niche national-security practice, is also a noted favorite. “David has great experience at the DoJ, and he is really smart and thoughtful,” testifies a client. “My entire team likes working with him, and he builds a strong team within Gibson Dunn too. He is a go-to person for challenging, high-risk investigations and disputes, and also gives good general risk-management advice.”
     Gibson Dunn maintains its historic stronghold in the California market. In Los Angeles, where the firm’s roots begin, Theane Evangelis has experienced a remarkable rise in profile on the strength of her multifaceted practice that incorporates appellate, labor and employment, and media and entertainment. Evangelis persuaded the Supreme Court to grant certiorari and decide whether the enforcement of generally applicable laws regulating camping on public property constitutes “cruel and unusual punishment” prohibited by the Eighth Amendment. The Supreme Court’s grant of review comes after hundreds of amici—including states, cities, politicians and myriad community and business groups—told the Court that the Ninth Circuit’s unprecedented interpretation of the Eighth Amendment has contributed to the growing problem of encampments in cities across the West. In the San Francisco office, securities star Brian Lutz is cheered by a peer as “matter-of-fact and easy to deal with.” Lutz secured dismissal of a shareholder derivative action against the Board of Directors of Block (f/k/a Square) arising out of Square’s acquisition by a group of recording artists led by hip-hop mogul Jay-Z of the music streaming service TIDAL. Lutz also secured a full dismissal with prejudice for Danimer Scientific of a securities class action related to alleged “greenwashing” statements about the company’s products used in biodegradable plastic utensils and packaging.
     In the New York office, Orin Snyder, a commercial litigator with a noted niche in media and entertainment, remains a ubiquitous figure. “Orin is always involved in the media stuff I do,” confirms a practice-area peer, “but I have to admit, he’s more hooked-up than I am! Want to meet Jerry Seinfeld or get backstage at a Billy Joel concert? Orin has the in – his profile is just at that level.” Illustrating this point, Snyder achieved a historic victory for pro bono client Deon Jones when a federal jury returned a unanimous verdict in his favor, finding that a Los Angeles Police Department officer violated the client’s Fourth Amendment rights by shooting him in the face with a rubber bullet during a demonstration in the wake of the George Floyd murder. Following a seven-day trial, the jury awarded $375,000 to the client. Snyder was also part of the firm team on the aforementioned Serta Simmons bankruptcy case. In another tangentially entertainment-oriented matter, Reed Brodsky and Rahim Moloo scored for Jay-Z’s SCLiquor in an intense battle with a Bacardi subsidiary, resolving over 10 actions with a negotiated transaction over a premium cognac company. Laura Goldman is addressed by a peer as “the go-to legal issues person at Gibson. I would hire her to write a brief in a heartbeat – she’s excellent.”

A patent-focused intellectual property boutique, with an emphasis on biotech and pharmaceuticals, Groombridge Wu Baughman & Stone got off to a roaring start in 2023 as entity calving off from Paul Weiss with a trial-centric approach and a wave of peer review fueling its market momentum. “This is an IP shop to watch,” advises one peer. “They broke off and took all of their clients with them, and they are steadfastly loyal because [Groombridge Wu]  can try cases.” Another elaborates, “They get hired for cases of some enterprise significance. They skew largely in favor of life sciences. There’s a great balance there of Nicholas Groombridge, the polished, eloquent, seasoned statesman, and the group of other name partners (Eric Stone, Steven Baughman and Jennifer Wu, who are younger and really roll up their sleeves and get involved in the trenches.” The firm maintains an almost even 50/50 balance of plaintiff and defendant work. Groombridge and Stone represent Acuitas, who invented the essential lipid nanoparticle that is used in the COVID-19 vaccine from BioNTech and Pfizer and who has been sued by a number of other entities attempting to claim credit in the wake of the enormous success of the mRNA vaccines during the pandemic. Groombridge, Wu and Baughman are lead counsel for plaintiffs 10x and Stanford University in litigation in the District of Delaware asserting six patents on key technology relating to single-cell sequencing.

With an unusual structure that qualifies as “boutique” even while composed of a team domiciled in offices in New York and Washington, DC, Harris St. Laurent & Wechsler juggles a novel mix of white-collar crime, commercial litigation and employment work. “You don’t just have [a practice] like that fall in your lap,” observes one peer. “It’s a slog! You have be determined and patient to make it work, but [Harris St. Laurent] has! They seem to be doing great.” Starting in 2009, the firm showcases talent that boasts credentials from larger and better-known law firms. Among the New York-based partners, Jon Harris was previously at Curtis Mallet as well as Bernstein Litowitz and is cheered by a client as “a very talented and hard-working lawyer. He is a great legal and commercial strategist and has very strong trial experience.” Harris represented a pioneering Web3 artist in a dispute against the luxury fashion house Hermès. The case involves the client’s creation of an artistic experiment, MetaBirkins, which were non-fungible tokens (NFTs) that depicted faux-fur-covered Birkin bags. Hermès claims that the client’s NFTs constituted trademark infringement, dilution, and cybersquatting, while the client maintains the project is artistic expression protected by the First Amendment. Harris and employment specialist David Wechsler represent a trader at Deutsche Bank indicted in the Sothern District of New York relating to alleged manipulation of LIBOR. After a conviction at trial, his verdict was reversed and he was acquitted of all charges by the Second Circuit, which found his conduct did not constitute a crime. Following the acquittal, the Harris St. Laurent pair brought this current claim against Deutsche Bank for malicious prosecution seeking $150 million in damages, alleging that the government outsourced its LIBOR investigation to Deutsche Bank and its counsel, and that Deutsche Bank, in order to cover up the conduct of its senior management related to LIBOR, targeted the client as a scapegoat. Andrew St. Laurent specializes in white-collar crime. A peer in this field notes, “His instincts seem exactly right. I was dealing with him in the context of an investigation, and his manner made him a pleasure to deal with. As much as we like to give the government a good fight, you don’t have to be nasty when you do that.” While the New York office houses most of the firm’s star players, the firm’s DC office houses Barry Pollack, a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers with a white-collar crime emphasis on behalf of individuals and entities. In one notably high-profile engagements, Pollack represents Julian Assange, a journalist and publisher of Wikileaks who has been accused of crimes in relation to the publication by WikiLeaks of information about war crimes and other US government activities

Celebrated boutique Hecker Fink has earned itself a pride of place in the crowded New York litigation market. One client goes so far as to assert, “This is the best litigation shop in NYC.” The firm is in expansion mode, not only in terms of reputation and market share but also in terms of actual headcount. “Their firm has grown quite a bit,” observes one contemporary. “Every year, they get larger and so are in more matters, and they recruit more talent, and so their reputation is getting stronger even beyond the name partners. I would point to Jenna Dabbs as one example, she’s very effective. Also, Mike Ferrara, he’s doing really well.” The firm did lose recently one partner – former name partner and trial lawyer Roberta Kaplan, who departed the firm this year, prompting its July 2024 name change from its former title of Kaplan Hecker & Fink.
     Sean Hecker is a rare breed of white-collar trial lawyer, with an unassailable reputation that has been fortified by universal peer and client testimonials, and the representative work to support the commentary. “Sean is the best lawyer in [New York] city,” insists a client. “He offers strategic thinking, communication, and very strong written work product. It is difficult to identify a shortcoming. His representation of us was a home run.” Hecker represents law firm Dechert in multiple active lawsuits relating to an alleged scheme to hack a client’s adversary’s emails, publish and use some of the hacked material, and cover up the scheme. The principal RICO complaint seeks hundreds of millions of dollars in damages. Hecker and Ferrara represent John Patrick Gorman III in an action brought by the CFTC for allegedly manipulating the prices of US dollar interest-rate swap spreads, and for certain alleged misstatements, while working as the head of non-yen rate trading for Nomura in Japan. Hecker and Dabbs meanwhile act for Glen Point Capital founder and former Chief Investment Officer Neil Phillips, who was indicted by the Southern District of New York in 2022 on commodities and wire fraud charges for alleged manipulative trading in the FX spot market. Phillips was also charged by the CFTC in connection with the same alleged conduct. David Gopstein, a future star who makes his debut in this edition, works with Hecker and Dabbs in this matter. On her own, Dabbs represents multiple individuals in connection with an investigation by the Southern District of New York and the SEC, which led to the indictment in the Spring of 2022 of the former CEO and CFO of investment firm and family office Archegos Capital Management, and guilty pleas pursuant to Informations filed against the firm’s former Head Trader and Chief Risk Officer.  The charges include racketeering and fraud offenses relating to a market manipulation scheme. Archegos’s downfall also resulted in significant losses for many of the firm’s trading counterparties, all of which were large and established financial institutions. Trial against the indicted CEO and CFO of the firm is scheduled for the Spring of 2024, and the government’s investigation is ongoing. 

In the tri-state area, New York-based Herrick Feinstein focuses on development and construction disputes, foreclosures, zoning litigation, restructurings, and bankruptcies. Herrick also has a strong restructuring and finance department along with a specialized practice in complex employment litigation.

William Fried is a co-chair of the litigation department, in which he focuses on construction and real estate disputes, trust-and-estate litigation, and business divorces. Fried is the lead partner representing the Fortis Property Group, a real estate investment and development company, in a high-profile dispute relating to the unfinished luxury high-rise building at 161 Maiden Lane in downtown Manhattan. Fortis brought litigation against Pizzarotti, a construction company, seeking $78 million in claims related to alleged engineering, architectural, and construction issues on the project. The litigation remains ongoing.

Carol Goodman is the co-chair of Herrick’s litigation department and chair of the firm’s employment practice.  She has litigated before the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the New York City Commission on Human Rights, the Joint Commission on Public Ethics, and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

Hoguet Newman Regal & Kenney continues to distinguish itself as a formidable force in its native New York as well as nationally. “They have some ‘Big Law’ credentials while having that kind of personal touch you can only get from boutiques,” declares a peer. Indeed, the firm’s founding partners do come equipped with experience from global juggernaut firm White & Case and have since forged ahead on building out this boutique with a high-touch approach. While the firm has some particularly strong niche areas – insurance and labor and employment, most notably – founding partners Dorothea Regal and Fredric Newman have instilled a culture that welcomes work that one partner quips is “pike law – anything that comes down the pike.” Whereas Regal represents international and domestic clients at trial and on appeal in complex commercial and insurance coverage litigation, Newman dedicates his practice to commercial trial representation.
     While Regal and Newman remain active in these matters, the torch is being passed to younger generations of talent at the firm. Most notably, Joshua Blosveren has proven an especially visible and active member of the group. “Josh is a very good litigator who offers very good insurance analysis.” Blosveren leads a team that represents Syngenta Crop Protection in an insurance coverage litigation filed by its primary and umbrella insurance companies in Delaware Superior Court seeking a declaratory judgment of no coverage for long-tail personal injury exposure claims made against Syngenta arising out of the manufacture and sale of Paraquat pesticide products by Syngenta and its predecessor companies. The basis for the insurers’ denial of coverage is that Syngenta’s notice of the claim was allegedly late and should have been noticed before the claim was filed against Syngenta. In August 2020, the Hoguet team secured Syngenta summary judgment on the threshold issue of the timing of the claim, which secured Syngenta $24 million in coverage. At the same time, the firm team defeated the insurance company’s pre-discovery motion for summary judgment, alleging that Syngenta made a misrepresentation in its application for insurance. A bench trial was held in October 2022 and in March 2023 – the court issued a post-trial decision that handed Syngenta a complete victory. Zurich appealed the court’s two summary judgment decisions in the Delaware Supreme Court which, in February 2024, affirmed the two summary judgment rulings. The firm team behind this matter also included John Curley and Miriam Manber. This same team, along with Bradley Nash, also acted on a case, led by Regal, for this same client in an insurance coverage litigation filed by Syngenta in Delaware Superior Court against various insurance companies that issued primary and excess insurance policies to Syngenta’s corporate predecessors in the years 1971-1986—providing over $800 million in coverage—for losses arising from long-tail personal injury exposure claims made against Syngenta arising out of the manufacture and sale of Paraquat pesticide products by Syngenta and its predecessor companies. The firm’s labor and employment capacity is largely run by Damian Cavaleri, who has an active docket of matters for a novel and varied roster of clients. Cavaleri led a case for Cosmax USA and Nu-World against plaintiffs, who are a contract manufacturer specializing in beauty products, who brought an action upon the client’s breach of a contract in an attempt to recover approximately $2 million owed pursuant to the contracts. The client asserted counterclaims related to several alleged agreements that it claims were breached and resulted in lost profits as well as other damages, including fines from major retailers. Manber also works with fellow future star Helene Hechtkopf on a labor and employment matter for the New York MTA, a longtime mainstay client for the firm.

Holwell Shuster & Goldberg is widely and duly revered as among the preeminent litigation boutiques both in New York City’s congested market and nationally. Peers and clients stand united as admirers of the firm’s approach and litigation acumen. One client cheers the firm’s “client service, talent, bench strength, advocacy, professionalism and strategy.” A New York contemporary meanwhile voices respect for Holwell Shuster’s “top-to-bottom culture,” noting “a level of litigation excellence from the senior people to the up-and-comers, just a strong command and dedication.” Another peer notes, “They are really getting a lot of high-level [leading insurance carrier] Chubb work now, and that’s a nice feather in their cap.”
     Continuing to serve at the forefront of the firm’s team, founding partner Michael Shuster year after year cements his position further as a complex commercial authority, including landing himself a coveted position among Benchmark’s Top 100 Trial Lawyers in America. Among the most active of Holwell’s litigators, Shuster continues to offer representation to regular client Visa in numerous complex and long-running antitrust matters, both in the class-action and opt-out capacities. In the opt-out cases, the country’s leading merchants are challenging credit and debit card rules that go to the heart of the industry and seeking billions of dollars in damages, pre-trebling. Meanwhile, a putative equitable relief class on behalf of all merchants across the nation is seeking broad-ranging changes to Visa’s business model. In September 2018, the defendants reached a historic $5.6 billion settlement with one of the putative classes of merchants. An appeal was briefed in 2020 and argued in 2022, and in March 2023, the Second Circuit of New York upheld the now $5.6 billion antitrust class-action settlement with more than 12 million retailers. In March 2024, the defendants reached another historic settlement with a nationwide certified class of merchants seeking injunctive relief. The settlement would resolve all claims for injunctive relief for all merchants and bring to a close class claims pending since 2005. Shuster also currently serves as nationwide lead trial and appellate counsel to Chubb Limited in all of the several insurance cases filed by pharmaceutical titans, such as those of AmerisourceBergen, McKesson, and Rite Aid, as they seek insurance coverage from Chubb under unprecedented theories in connection with the widely reported opioid liability litigation currently unfolding in jurisdictions around the country. Shuster is supported on the matters by partners Blair Kaminsky and Daniel Sullivan. One client weighs in, “Michael Shuster is an excellent trial attorney who is supported by the legal expertise of Blair and Daniel.” Another specifies, “Daniel Sullivan is a well respected insurance defense attorney handling complex legal issues involved with the opioid declaratory judgment litigation for Chubb. Dan prepared successful legal briefs, prepared, deposed, and cross-examined corporate and expert witnesses, preserved and argued appellate issues, and made compelling arguments during hearings, motions, and at trial.” Priyanka Timblo and Brendon DeMay won a $101 million jury verdict for London Luxury against Walmart in a lawsuit alleging that Walmart wrongfully cancelled its contract to purchase more than $500 million in personal protective equipment, or “PPE,” the demand for which skyrocketed at the peak of the COVID pandemic but eventually waned. “That’s a great look for them, and for the firm,” asserts a peer. “You don’t see too many other firms giving 40-something-year-old partners their $100 million jury trials!”

In another COVID-adjacent matter, Greg Dubinsky represents former New York governor Andrew Cuomo, who was being investigated by an ethics commission regarding allegations of ethics breaches committed while publishing his book American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic. In September 2023, a New York Supreme Court justice commission unconstitutional. Dubinsky also served as lead counsel for the National Basketball Association in an antitrust suit brought by a person denied the opportunity to qualify as a player agent. The plaintiff in this case claimed that the NBA and the league’s players union violated the antitrust laws by barring him from taking an online exam for individuals attempting to be player agents.

Kasowitz Benson Torres is a maverick litigation shop that has built its reputation as a formidable force, largely due to its trial-ready strategy for litigation. Leading up to trial, clients witness the team’s approach in action. “Their services were excellent with respect to understanding the issues involved in the case and worked to ensure the best outcome,” extols one. Another addresses the firm as “extremely commercial, risk based and pragmatic. [They have a ] Strong sense of where to put energy and focus. They are very legally sound and strategic. They offer practical solutions to their clients, both on legal and non-legal aspects.” Although, as one peer stresses, “Kasowitz does a lot of high-risk plaintiff work,” the firm offers a comprehensive array of litigation services on the plaintiff and defense sides of the “V.” While the firm is certainly not a conventional “big-law” firm, it is not a boutique either – indeed, the firm’s footprint is densely concentrated throughout the country through 10 offices, strategically located in New York, Washington, DC, Miami, Atlanta, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Silicon Valley, San Francisco and Newark, NJ.
     While the firm’s bench is expansive in terms of practice areas and generational headroom, few would dispute the firm’s center of gravity being founding partner Marc Kasowitz, a New York-based generalist commercial trial lawyer with an unflinching approach to litigation and a history of representing a colorful and diverse roster of clients. “Marc had the grit and vision to forge that firm,” declares a peer. “If you work there, you have to be willing to work at ‘his’ firm – it’s a benevolent dictatorship, and he is very clear about this, to be fair. But he’s a great businessman – great in the boardroom and great in the courtroom. He has a reputation for being more aggressive than he really is – he’s very smart and knows when to be aggressive and when to pull back.” Kasowitz has been representing Pilgrim’s Pride in a criminal price-fixing investigation by the DoJ– Antitrust Division relating to the sales of broiler chicken products, after the then-current CEO of Pilgrim’s and another former Pilgrim’s employee were indicted for alleged price-fixing. Kasowitz continues to represent Pilgrim’s in cooperating with DoJ’s ongoing criminal investigations into the poultry industry. Kasowitz also works with Mark Ressler and antitrust authority Sheron Korpus are representing Teva Pharmaceuticals in its three separate actions involving antitrust, securities and white-collar crime. Korpus is also representing Byju’s, an Indian-based educational technology giant, in a battle over control of a US affiliate of Byju’s after a lender accused the affiliate of defaulting on a $1.2 billion debt and shuffling hundreds of millions of dollars out of the business.
     Stephen Tountas, a securities specialist, operates in both the prosecutorial and defense capacities. As a plaintiff, Tountas filed five separate direct securities fraud actions on behalf of Public Employees’ Retirement System of the State of Mississippi, Catalyst Mutual Funds, Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance, Privet Capital and Boeing Company Employee Retirement Plans against Valeant Pharmaceuticals. He is also defending the former CFO of Eros Int’l, in connection with a putative securities class action arising from a series of alleged misrepresentations between July 2017 and August 2021 regarding Eros’s financial condition, the accuracy of its public financial statements, and the integrity of its accounting practices. 
     Younger team members of Kasowitz have generated healthy levels of acclaim as well. Ronald Rossi is called “responsive and knowledgeable” by a client, who goes on to elaborate, “Ron is an extremely experienced litigator. His sense of how to value claims gives invaluable perspective for clients.” Jason Shortis praised by a client as ”extremely intelligent and knowledgeable. He maintains a firm grasp of the matter (internal alleged money-laundering case involving 1MDB) for over eight years and is very clear in coordinating the services of counsel overseas.” An appreciative client testifies on behalf of Christine Montenegro’s counsel services: “She was extremely knowledgeable and communicative. As a result of her work on the issues that we had, we had a very favorable outcome.” White-collar-focused star Jonathan Algor is cheered by a client for his “great communication and helpful explanations.”
     While the bulk of the firm’s firepower is domiciled in New York, Kasowitz’s California presence has been steadily building as well. Dan Saunders, a white-collar, commercial and employment practitioner with a particular emphasis on the entertainment industry, is called “great in arbitration and litigation in general,” according to a client. “He gives very strong opening and closing arguments, well researched and prepared examination. He has incredible presence, very engaging and gives very well-presented arguments.”

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.

Kirkland & Ellis has steadily risen from its roots in Chicago (where it remains a dominant brand) to become an international powerhouse. “Kirkland is a very formidable firm – [they have] a lot of talent. They have a lot of really solid people. There’s just something ‘cool and tough’ about them that you just can’t touch.” One of the larger and more comprehensive litigation capacities, Kirkland stands out as a firm that that boasts bench strength and high-level appointments in virtually every area of practice it offers, which include (but are not limited to) securities, antitrust, product liability, appeals, intellectual property, white-collar and investigations, commercial litigation, and bankruptcy, with the last being an area in which the firm is particularly dominant. “In bankruptcy, it’s Kirkland every day – they have to be at the top,” insists one peer, himself a leader in this practice. “I would specifically point to Mike Slade as a leader here – he takes some of the hardest bankruptcy cases around.”

     Kirkland is also noted for housing several leaders in the trial law specialty. To that end, perhaps the biggest news is the 2023 return to Kirkland of James Hurst, a famed and prolific Chicago-based trial luminary noted for prodigious courtroom acumen who took a multi-year hiatus. Hurst represented Abbott Laboratories and its affiliate, Abbott Molecular., in a lawsuit alleging gender and race discrimination brought by an African-American female and former employee of Abbott. Hurst prevailed on the clients’ behalf in September 2023. Another of the firm’s marquis trial lawyers, DC’s Mike Brock(who has been consistently ranked as one of Benchmark’s Top 100 Trial Lawyers since its inception in 2014) led a team along with Chicago’s Leslie Smith and Anne Sidrys representing 3M Company and its subsidiary Aearo Technologies in product liability litigation concerning 3M’s allegedly defective dual-ended Combat Arms Earplugs. In 2021, the Kirkland team secured a complete defense verdict in the second and fifth bellwether trials in this massive and headline-grabbing litigation. Operating from the firm’s Los Angeles and San Francisco offices, all-purpose commercial litigator Mark Holscher is another of the firm’s trial stars – one who makes his debut on the Top 100 list this year. A local candidate on this list testifies, “Mark is terrific. He’s now on the plaintiff’s side and become a thorn in the side of entertainment studios.” Holscher is representing Stable Road Acquisition in a purported consolidated securities class action arising from a merger, as well as an SEC action involving the CEO and founder of the merger candidate entity.

    Domestically, Kirkland has exhibited a remarkable level of growth in its New York office in particular. Kirkland came into this market and started knocking over furniture and not asking permission, just taking it,” quips one contemporary, summing up the firm’s explosive growth in the city. “We do a lot of work with them, and they send us work. They can’t be adverse to most of the private-equity firms that matter, but they have become an utter juggernaut in the New York market. More than anyone, they are responsible for the cultural shift in New York firms – there is a poaching war going on between them and some ‘white-shoe’ firms that I’m sure are historically not used to having their dominance challenged!” Many credit Sandra Goldstein, a litigation powerhouse and “straight shooter,” for this phenomenon. “Sandra has not only a terrific reputation but a sizeable book of business,” states one peer. “She has a carousel of securities and Delaware-related litigation on the go. But she also benefits from having the Kirkland machine and a great team that is coming under her and, at this point, with her – people like Stefan Atkinson, Rachel Fritzlerand Matthew Solum. They are all junior to Sandra but absolutely critical and playing major roles.” A peer elaborates, “Stefan Atkinson is a young guy that is very strong in Delaware.” The duo of Golstein and Atkinson prevailed in affirming a judgment entered in favor of Constellation Brands in a case in which Mexican beer brand Modelo brought suit against Constellation, the holder of a perpetual license to use the Corona and Modelo trademarks on “Beer” in the US, alleging that Constellation’s new Corona Hard Seltzer and Modelo Ranch Water products fell outside the scope of the license because hard seltzers are not beer. A peer insists, “You’ve got to look at [the New York office of] Kirkland harder for securities work! Just at the moment they’ve got GrubHub. Jeld-Wen. Six Flags. Honeywell…shall I go on?”Solum in particular is identified as “a securities star in the making,” with one peer stating, “We are seeing him everywhere and not just in one specific type of securities case, either. He’s got M&A work, derivative work, class actions, you name it.” Solum represents Avalara and certain of its former directors in putative securities class action arising from Vista Equity Partners’ $8.4 billion take-private acquisition of Avalara. Solum also represents Avalara in a related petition brought by Avalara against dissenting shareholders to determine the fair value of shares. Another New York partner, in the intellectual property space, Dale Cendali represented Take-Two Interactive Software in a copyright infringement lawsuit brought by a tattoo artist related to the depictions of NBA players LeBron James, Danny Green and Tristan Thompson in Take-Two’s  popular NBA 2K video game series. Take-Two designs each of the NBA players’ avatars with an eye toward realism, which requires including the players’ real-world tattoos on their virtual avatars in NBA 2K. The plaintiff claimed that the inclusion in NBA 2K of six tattoos he inked on these three NBA players amounted to copyright infringement. At trial, the Cendali and her team argued (among other things) that the inclusion of these nearly imperceptible tattoos in the massive video games is de minimis, a fair use, and covered by a license from LeBron James. In April 2024, the jury returned a verdict of no infringement.

While Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel has been a mainstay of the New York legal community since its inception, it has, in recent years, expanded in a modest and measured fashion, starting with an office in Silicon Valley, and moving full steam in to the DC market by storm with its auspicious acquisition of prized local shop Robbins Russell, incorporating a deep team of celebrated practitioners across several practice areas. “That’s a big deal,” sums up one local peer, voicing the general consensus. “Robbins Russell was a classic DC firm and now the platform has given both sides many new opportunities.” Key among these new recruits is appellate “dynamo” Roy Englert, a frequent visitor to the Supreme Court and an authority in the practice. Englert is “all appeals, all the time,” and respected by a vocal percentage of the leading figures in the DC appellate community. “Roy is fantastic,” testifies one peer. “He brought an amicus in a case we are working on, and we were very impressed.” Gary Orseck is another recruit with fluency in appeals, as well as a broad-based commercial, securities and white-collar practitioner. “Gary is a tremendous lawyer,” extols a peer. “He has a really good sense of judgment and is a great writer.” Orseck’s achievements exemplify these ringing endorsements; he defended United Health Services’ officers and directors in a derivative suit alleging securities fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, and other claims, relating to alleged improper patient-admission practices at the client’s affiliated behavioral-health facilities throughout the country. The claims were dismissed in 2019 but went to appeal In December 2021, at which point the parties resolved the matter, originally valued at more than $1.5 billion, on the basis of non-monetary reforms regarding corporate compliance. In a similar matter, Orseck leads a team defending Community Health Systems and certain of its affiliates and former officers against fraudulent transfer, breach of contract, illegal dividend, and related claims brought by the Litigation Trustee for the QHC Litigation Trust. The Litigation Trustee seeks to avoid, among other things, a $1.2 billion transfer from QHC to CHS in connection with a 2016 spinoff transaction. The DC group comes with some youth factor to balance out the senior talent; future star William Trunk is part of Orseck’s team on the aforementioned Community Health matter, and Ariel Lavinbuk comes equipped with a practice that encompasses commercial litigation as well as a bankruptcy element, an area for which Kramer Levin, through its New York office, has historically been seen as Tier 1. 

     The bankruptcy practice has earned plaudits from fellow leaders in the area. “It is run by Ken Eckstein and Tom Mayer, who are great in court, great at deals, and just great at bankruptcy everywhere,” declares one peer, who further attests, “I see them all the time and they give me and anyone else a run for the money.” Eckstein leads a team that, for the past three years, has served as lead bankruptcy counsel to represent the Ad Hoc Committee (AHC) of 10 state attorneys general, six municipalities, and the Plaintiffs Executive Committee in the multidistrict litigation and a federally recognized Native American Tribe in the ongoing bankruptcy saga of embattled opioid manufacturer Purdue Pharma. White-collar crime is another field in which Kramer Levin boasts an unanimously lauded roster. “The Kramer Levin team actually does trials! That’s rare in the white-collar world, and these are actually for some very high-profile individuals,” marvels one peer. Barry Berke is an undisputed leading presence. He was recently thrust into the limelight when he was called into service as special counsel to the Judiciary Committee of the US House of Representatives in connection with its investigation and impeachment proceedings of Donald Trump, and as of February 2020, Berke returned to Kramer Levin with newly burnished credentials. Not that he needed them; even before this engagement, Berke has been routinely identified by peers as “absolutely one of the best,” with one elaborating, “Especially at his age point, he has some of the best experience you could ask for and credibility beyond question.” Clients agree; one calls Berke “a counselor, a litigator, and a strategist,” and goes on to assert, “No one is better.” While Berke’s profile in the community is undisputed, others in this group are making their mark. Dani James acted with Berke in representing Theodore Huber, a partner and analyst at Deerfield Management, in parallel actions brought by the US Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York and the Securities and Exchange Commission arising from Huber’s trading based on purportedly confidential government information relating to Medicare reimbursement for healthcare services. Both celebrated white-collar stars Berke and James represented biotech giant Amgen in a commercial litigation capacity in the client’s dispute with Novartis over the latter’s alleged breach of contract and tortious conduct arising out of the parties’ collaboration agreement to commercialize a migraine drug. On a counterclaim, Amgen alleged that Novartis breached the contract when it allowed its subsidiary to manufacture a competing migraine drug, and then actively concealed this from Amgen. The Kramer Levin team on this matter also included Norman Simon, who typically deals with cases involving the Lanham Act and false-advertising claims, niche areas in which Kramer Levin has been noted as being one of the few major players.
     The firm has recently developed a more “hard IP” practice, spearheaded by Dr. Irena Royzman, who is noted by peers to “occupy a definite presence in the pharma patent space.” Royzman has historically represented Janssen, and on behalf of this client sued several generic manufacturers under the Hatch-Waxman Act for infringement of patents protecting Symtuza, a treatment for HIV/AIDS. The action is in active fact discovery and claim-construction proceedings, and a bench trial is scheduled for October 2023. The IP area is bookended on the West Coast by Lisa Kobialka in the Silicon Valley office (opened in 2011). Kobialka, whose practice is primarily devoted to the tech space, brought patent infringement actions against Xerox and Ricoh relating to systems and methods covering various aspects of printers and/or copiers as well as their processes, performance and maintenance, and workflow management. 

     The firm upholds its dedication to labor and employment litigation, regularly representing high-profile clients in a variety of respects, particularly emphasizing – though not limiting itself to – highly sensitive and complex single-plaintiff employment disputes. No stranger to the public eye, employment law chair Kevin Leblang of New York is regularly active at the forefront of the most highly exposed disputes in employment litigation. Leblang currently defends Stifel in a sexual harassment lawsuit that has gained significant market attention. In 2022, the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act (EFAA) passed, leading the court to reverse its initial order to compel arbitration. Leblang has since appealed the decision to the Second Circuit. Leblang is routinely prepraing for trial. He is also active in discovery and pre-trial practice, defending Société Général in a sexual orientation and harassment lawsuit. Eliza Kaiser, also of the firm’s New York office, represents leaders across a variety of industries in disputes and investigations. Kaiser represented Facebook against a Department of Justice action that alleged that the company engaged in discriminatory hiring practices in the US in relation to its immigration policies. She negotiated a settlement with the DOJ as well as a parallel matter with the Department of Labor. Leblang and Kaiser’s fellow partner Robert Holtzman was recently engaged in three separate arbitrations on behalf of Natixis, all of which were successfully resolved.

Plaintiff shop Labaton Keller Sucharow (newly christened thus in 2024 from its former Labaton Sucharow name) is strategically placed in the financial district of New York as well as in Wilmington, Delaware and Washington, DC, where it is well poised to feed heartily on a steady diet of corporate disputes arising on Wall Street and in the Delaware Court of Chancery. As far as its prized securities practice, the firm remains at the top echelon, as a defense-side peer says, “Labaton is one of the few plaintiff firms that get the big, meaty securities cases and they litigate them.” The firm has also made inroads into the privacy space, with a number of partners delving into the practice. “It’s a whole new crew coming up there,” declares one peer.
     One such partner is New York’s Michael Canty, who is making significant strides in profile as of late. Canty served as co-lead counsel representing Public Employee Retirement System of Idaho in a securities fraud case against Alexion Pharmaceuticals and certain of its executives. The suit alleged that Alexion, a pharmaceutical drug company that generated nearly all of its revenue from selling the Company’s flagship drug, Soliris, made materially false and misleading statements and omissions principally connected to Alexion’s sales practices in connection with the marketing of Soliris. After years of vigorous litigation that commenced in 2019, the parties reached a $125 million settlement, which was affirmed in December 2023. Canty leads the trial representing Carpenters Pension Trust for Northern California and the Carpenters Annuity Trust Fund for Northern California, among others, in a securities class action filed against Allstate, the company’s CEO and its former President of Allstate Protection. The case arises from the company’s alleged growth strategy that ultimately led to relaxed underwriting standards which caused claims to increase.  Canty laid the ground before trial with several critical victories, including prevailing against the defendants’ motion to dismiss, class certification, and defeating the defendants’ motion to exclude the opinions of his experts. Finally, once again in December 2023, the parties received approval of a $90 million joint settlement. Carol Villegas is lauded for her “grit and talent” and denoted by a market peer as “the one who’s very prominent [at Labaton].”  Villegas serves as the youngest team leader in the firm’s history, spearheading the burgeoning Consumer Protection and Data Privacy Practice. In the privacy space, she serves as co-lead class counsel in their case alleging violations of privacy rights and related statutes against Flo Health, a women's health app developer that allows users to track data such as fertility and menstruation. While Villegas is trailblazing through the privacy and consumer protection litigation, she continues to be a pillar of the plaintiff-side securities bar.  Villegas and Canty are lead counsel to the Public Employees Retirement Association of New Mexico in a securities action against California’s utility provider, PG&E.
     Labaton has also been steadily building out its Delaware practice. This has largely been attributed to the efforts of Ned Weinberger, a partner who has made a splash in the Delaware market and has had the community talking. “Ned Weinberger has been killing it,” exclaims a peer, who goes on to elaborate, “Dell Class V was a milestone, a huge settlement. He’s gotten some pretty good wins. Just in terms of presence, aptitude and skills, I think he will keep the flag planted [in Wilmington.]” In the alluded-to Dell case, Weinberger served as co-lead counsel against controlling stockholders of Dell, alleging they had breached their fiduciary duties by expropriating billions of dollars in value from Dell’s Class V Stockholders. After hotly contested litigation, Dell agreed to pony up a $1 billion cash settlement in lieu of a trial.

A New York-based litigation boutique that has made a distinct impression on the legal landscape – including much larger community peers – Levine Lee has become a favorite of clients that have benefited from its steadfast counsel. One champions them as “persuasive advocates with good analyses.” Another testifies, “Levine Lee has been and is currently handling a major criminal securities fraud prosecution. They are master strategists and excellent brief writers.” Still another raves, “They give you personal attention, they are willing to dig in against the government, and they give you smart and practical advice. You feel like a client, not a commodity.”
     Both individual name partners, Kenneth Lee and Seth Levine garner their own respective accolades. “Kenneth is very experienced, [with] good judgment and [is an] effective litigator,” testifies one client. Lee is Lee is lead counsel to Stability AI, the creator of the generative AI text-to-image app known as “Stable Diffusion,” in two separate matters involving securities disputes with alleged founders of the company allegedly valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Lee also serves as lead counsel to Matthew Bromberg, a member of the Board of Directors of online-dating company Bumble in a major shareholder derivative action pending in the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware. The suit alleges that Bromberg, other Bumble directors, and various defendants associated with Blackstone breached their fiduciary duties to Bumble in conjunction with Blackstone’s public offering of $1 billion in Bumble stock in September 2021. Plaintiffs allege that the offering documents failed to disclose a decline in Bumble’s paying users, and that, when such decline was disclosed following the offering, Bumble’s stock price significantly declined. Clients also testify on Levine’s behalf. One confirms, “Seth Levine is at the top of his game, a master strategist who solves problems and knows the ins and outs of the federal courts in New York and New Jersey.” Another states, “He is very smart, [a] brilliant tactician, [with] lots of knowledge of the ins and outs of litigation of similar cases. You feel like your problems are his. He fights for his clients, he is passionate, smart and tenacious. You feel you could put your life, livelihood and reputation in his hands. In fact, my only suggestion to him is to take a deep breath every once in a while!” Levine served as lead counsel to the Dogecoin Foundation, the entity that develops, supports, and controls the intellectual property for the Dogecoin cryptocurrency, in a securities class action and RICO suit pending alleging $258 billion in damages on claims that Dogecoin, Elon Musk, and his company Tesla conspired to artificially raise the price of the cryptocurrency.  Levine achieved the dismissal of all claims against its client in this matter. Levine is also lead counsel to iAnthus Capital Holdings, a public cannabis company, in a securities class action as well as in a related, private opt-out action.  Levine previously secured dismissal of all claims in plaintiffs’ original complaints, and recently achieved complete settlements of both actions following amended complaints. Beyond the name partners, the firm is grooming its younger ranks. Chad Albert, who makes his debut as a future star in this edition, is playing a particularly active role in several of the firm’s high-profile matters.

A full-service firm with a national, and global, footprint, Loeb & Loeb provides a wide array of legal services through its six offices throughout the US and two in China. In litigation specifically, the firm has deep ties to the entertainment industry. “It’s really time to take a closer look at Loeb & Loeb,” advises one contemporary. “For entertainment litigation, they are really quite dominant. They have some strong connections there, some very high-profile clients.” Another insists, “They have one of the best trust-and-estates groups in the country, and this is going to be a crazy growth area.”

     Not surprisingly, much of this is serviced by practitioners in its Los Angeles office. A team of Loeb litigators, led by partner Jim Curry, represents CBS in litigation relating to the popular daytime television program, “Judge Judy,” including defending CBS against first-of-their-kind cases involving claims that a sale of a television library should trigger a “buy-out” of the profit participant’s interest. The Loeb team also previously defended CBS against a related case where a former agent and profit participant sought a declaration that Judge Judy’s salary is too high and should not be deducted as a profit participation. Curry and his team won the case on appeal of the granting of summary judgment to CBS. “Jim Curry does a lot of work that many entertainment lawyers don’t like to do, like accounting disputes and audit claims, which is when someone is a participant in a TV show or a film and they see the accounting sheet and the film or show is underwater, so they dispute the accounting.” David Grossman is defending Paramount Pictures against the estate of Truman Capote in a lawsuit in which the estate is claims that they own the rights to the 1961 film Breakfast at Tiffany’s. The suit involves complex copyright questions, including questions related to the granting of rights by the Estate to Paramount. Grossman is also defending NBCUniversal, actor Gary Oldman and Working Title Group against claims of breach of implied in-fact contract and interference brought by a writer alleging that material from his working scripts about Winston Churchill ended up in the film Darkest Hour without credit or compensation.

Grossman also defended Netflix and the creators of the Netflix hit television series Stranger Things, against a copyright infringement case in which the screenwriter and producer filed suit asserting, among other claims, that the show included elements from the writer’s undeveloped screenplays and in particular that the “Shadow Monster” was based on a character the plaintiff created. LA partners John Gatti and Lauren Friedrepresent Miramax and its related licensees, including Amazon and Walmart, among others, in a suit brought by a photographer that claimed to own the rights to an iconic photograph of Uma Thurman used in a poster for the movie “Pulp Fiction,” which Miramax produced. After decades of Miramax licensing the image, the photographer claimed for the first time in his 2020 lawsuit that he owned the photograph, that Miramax had no right to exploit the photo in any way, and that Miramax and each of its licensees were liable for copyright infringement. The Loeb team successfully secured an order that the photographer was late in filing any copyright registration, thereby limiting the alleged damages. Gatti and Fried also represent singer/songwriter Tracy Chapman in a copyright-infringement case based on rapper and songwriter Nicki Minaj’s sampling of Chapman’s works without permission. On summary judgment, the district court found triable issues of fact as to whether Minaj could be held liable on Chapman’s distribution claim and set a date for trial. Minaj subsequently agreed to pay Chapman the full amount of damages sought and judgment was entered in the federal court case in Chapman’s favor for nearly half a million dollars.
     Operating from the firm’s New York office, Barry Slotnick and Tal Dickstein

are defending rapper Roddy Ricch, as well as songwriters, music publishers and the record label, against a copyright infringement suit alleging that Ricch used part of songwriter Greg Perry’s 1975 soul song “Come on Down” in Ricch’s 2019 hit “The Box.” This same pair is defending a number of individuals and entities against copyright infringement claims brought by Chris Brown involving the rights to the motion picture Down For Life.

Since its inception, McKool Smith has established itself as a litigation force to be reckoned with, a reputation that continues today on the strength of its deep bench of trial lawyers that spans seven offices throughout the US (four in Texas, the state in which the firm saw its genesis.) Firm figurehead and founder Mike McKool has since departed, but the firm retains the name and its image as frequent and battle-tested denizens of the courtroom. “McKool is a real trial firm,” states one peer in summation. “Those people have trials in their DNA!” Another concurs, “The culture there is one that has long been imbued by giving their all in court.” Clients are equally appreciative of the firm’s approach. “They understand current trends in highly specialized areas of litigation. They identify risks and opportunities and guide towards meaningful resolutions.”
     A new litigation star making her debut in this edition, Jennifer Truelove, a versatile practitioner in the Marshall, Texas office who has demonstrated a particular flair for patent litigation, helped secure a $303 million patent-infringement verdict on behalf of Netlist against Samsung, with a jury finding Samsung willfully infringed three of Netlist’s patents related to computer memory technology. Netlist had previously licensed the patents to Samsung, but that agreement expired in 2020. After the license expired, Samsung continued to knowingly use semiconductor memory products that infringed Netlist’s patents. The verdict was announced in April 2023, following a jury trial. Truelove scored against Samsung again in April 2024, when, as co-counsel, she secured a patent infringement verdict for $142 million, including a running royalty on behalf of G+ Communications. In the Dallas office, David Sochia represents PARC in a multi-patent case against Facebook, Twitter, and Snap involving advertising and social media technologies. A peer in the patent space insists, “David Sochia – you’ve got to look closer at him!” Michael Fritz, also in Dallas, is touted for commercial and intellectual property litigation. Fritz is cheered by a client as “very thorough and a good communicator.” While the firm’s Lone Star State operations have a well earned legacy for patent work, that is not exclusively the focus of practitioners in these offices. “[Houston’s] John Sparacino is an outstanding attorney,” extols one peer. “And he does no patent work, to my knowledge – he’s doing bankruptcy work!”    
     McKool Smith has experienced substantial growth outside of Texas as well, both in practice-area breadth and in practitioner headroom. In New York, Christopher Johnson leads a team acting on behalf of HSBC, as trustee, in litigating coordinated cases that collectively seek repurchase of nearly $2 billion of defective mortgage loans. All cases survived motions to dismiss, and the parties subsequently reached tentative settlements in all cases between May and October 2023. Two other partners acting with Johnson on this case, Courtney Statfeld and Robert Scheef, are also earning their own favorable impressions from clients. “Courtney Statfeld is an excellent litigator with strong courtroom skills and great presence,” enthuses one peer. “She is also very good at distilling complex facts into clear, effective arguments.” Another client raves on Scheef’s behalf, “Rob Scheef has a masterful understanding of the RMBS litigation environment.  He offers thoughtful litigation advice beyond nuts and bolts, and he sees the entire picture.”
     Domiciled in the DC office, Alan Whitehurst is praised by a client as “a strategic thinker [who] possesses [an] outstanding blend of poised advocacy, technical skills, and tactical judgment. He is a strong advocate in IP litigation and is achievement oriented.”

With offices in New York, California, and Washington DC, Milbank has built a reputation in various complex litigation and arbitration practices. Its lawyers represent clients in a variety of disputes including bankruptcy, mergers and acquisitions, insurance, and white-collar investigations. Several recent hires have increased the firm’s antitrust presence and raised its prominence in the market.  

In the New York office, George Canellos represents companies and individuals in government investigations and disputes in federal and state courts. He represents BAM which operates Binance, a cryptocurrency trading platform in an action brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The SEC sought a temporary restraining order and asset freeze claiming BAM’s platform trades securities without being registered as an exchange. The Court did not grant the SEC’s request and the firm worked out an alternative solution that was agreeable to the Court and all parties. 

New to Milbank, Nola Heller is a frequently awarded attorney with a specialty in white-collar litigation. As the co-head of the New York office’s White Collar Investigations Group, she brings 20 years of experience as a former federal prosecutor and defense attorney. Clients describe her as “a real star” and “a brilliant lawyer.” Heller represented Thomas Whittle, a former partner at the accounting firm KPMG, who was convicted of wire fraud and conspiracy charges in 2019. Whittle testified as a cooperating witness in the case. He later received a sentence of time served. In 2024, Heller was able to convince the US Attorney’s Office to vacate all of Whittle’s convictions, clearing him of criminal wrongdoing.  

Fiona Schaeffer is an international antitrust lawyer in the New York office. Chair of the American Bar Association’s Section of Antitrust Law, she has advised the world’s largest companies on some of its most complex antitrust matters. Schaffer is one of the lead lawyers representing United States Steel (USS), which has received multiple proposals involving the merger or possible acquisition of the entire company. Currently, USS is evaluating its options.   

James Cavoli, who also works out of New York, focuses on white-collar cases and investigations. Clients say, “He is extraordinarily thorough, making himself an industry expert in any field he is investigating.” He joined Schaeffer as a lead attorney representing Natixis in a class-action suit concerning alleged price fixing of government bonds. They secured a favorable settlement for Natixis to end the litigation. 

In New York, Atara Miller focuses on federal and state court litigation of complex commercial matters and bankruptcy. She has built a specialized practice within the media and entertainment industry, advising on license negotiations with music users. Miller was one of the lead attorneys negotiating appropriate rates for music rights on behalf of Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI), a music-performing rights-licensing organization that distributes royalties to songwriters and music publishers. She secured a victory on behalf of BMI against concert promoters in a case that enables the songwriters, composers, and music publishers to earn more royalties when their copyrighted songs are performed at live concerts.  

New York’s Stacey Rappaport covers insurance and reinsurance, mergers and acquisitions, commercial disputes, and securities. She leads the defense of major insurance companies in class action and other litigation. In 2023, Ms. Rappaport successfully settled two major putative class actions on behalf of Lincoln National Life Insurance Company concerning cost-of-insurance rate adjustments.  

Dan Perry’s New York practice includes complex commercial litigation, real estate, and white-collar crime. He has extensive experience conducting arbitrations before a variety of domestic and international tribunals. Perry is one of the lead attorneys that represented the Universal Entertainment Company and its affiliate, Okada Manila Resort & Casino in the Philippines. The Delaware Court of Chancery declined to order Okada to close a merger with 26 Capital Acquisition Corp, a SPAC. Perry and his team uncovered that a hedge fund, retained to advise the casino, secretly invested in the SPAC. In the ruling, the judge cited those actions in favor of the resort and casino.  

Working out of the Washington, DC office, Adam Di Vincenzo is part of the firms growing antitrust practice. Di Vincenzo joined Schaeffer as lead counsel for SLB, a global energy technology company, in connection with its joint venture with Aker Solutions and Subsea7. The antitrust team successfully argued in multiple countries that competition would continue to be strong after the joint venture. The transaction closed in October 2023. Joining Di Vincenzo in DC is veteran antitrust attorney Richard Parker. Parker has connected with Schaffer as co-lead counsel for US Steel in the ongoing merger review process.

MoloLamken is a rare example of a litigation shop that has entrenched itself in three key geographic venues (New York, Washington, DC and Chicago) while remaining lean and nimble enough to qualify for “boutique” status. The firm’s name partners straddle the axis of trial and appellate counsel and maintain broad and diverse ranges of cases for an equally varied portfolio of clients. A peer offers in summation, “MoloLamken cover a lot of ground,” and further elaborates, “I’m actually seeing them doing a lot more plaintiff work!” Clients also offer glowing reviews. One raves, “Based on my experience, MoloLamken provided a comprehensive legal defense utilizing highly skilled attorneys with extensive experience and knowledge of the subject matter. They are highly professional lawyers who care about their clients and are highly motivated to achieve the best possible results for their clients.”

     New York’s Steven Molo, one of the firm’s founders, is considered “a visionary,” by peers, one of whom emphasizes, “He’s a trial lawyer! He goes to court more than many others on [Benchmark’s] list.” Molo and Washington, DC-based Eric Nitz represent plaintiffs in a misappropriation-of-trade-secrets case concerning an aircraft conversion program for the Boeing 777 jumbo jet. “Eric Nitz is extremely passionate about his work and thus his clients,” extols one such appreciative client. “He is extremely intelligent, knowledgeable, creative, and detailed oriented. And of course he is highly persistent to achieve the best possible outcome.” Molo led a team is serving as class trial counsel in a 10b-5 securities fraud stockholder class action against a company that transported oil developed from fracking in North Dakota to the coasts.  Shortly before trial, the class reached a settlement with the company’s officers and defendants for $14 million, nearly the entire remaining insurance policy balance.  The ensuing jury trial proceeded against one remaining defendant, and a favorable verdict was rendered in June 2022. Other members of this team included New York’s Sara Margolis and Robert Kry, who works from both the DC and New York offices. “Oh my God, Robert Kry is so good,” raves a peer. “You must recognize him!” Kry was lead appellate counsel seeking review of the dismissal of a securities fraud shareholder class action against Biogen and three of its executives. The allegations are that the defendants misrepresented the results of their clinical trial data for their Alzheimer’s drug by concealing portions of the data that showed that the drug was not in fact working. Upon the fraud being exposed, an advisory committee voted unanimously against the drug, and the company’s stock price plummeted, causing investors over one billion dollars in damages. In October 2023, the court of appeals reversed an earlier unfavorable decision and reinstated the plaintiffs’ claims in part. 

     Jeffrey Lamken, in the firm’s DC office, is an appellate specialist. A client cheers his “excellent writing and strong skills in oral presentation.” A DC peer quips, “Jeff is so known for IP appeals cases that I think he’s developed a real niche in that world. God help you if you want a Supreme Court case out of the Federal Circuit because I’m sure Jeff is going to go after it and most likely get it.” Although intellectual property might be a particular substantive area of concentration, Lamken represented The Humane Society of the United States before the Supreme Court in a successful defense of California’s Proposition 12 (drafted by the client in 2018), which forbids the sale within California of pork that comes from pigs housed in certain extreme conditions of confinement, against a constitutional challenge from pork industry groups.

     MoloLamken continues to enrich its talent ranks beneath the more senior name partners. New York’s Justin Ellis earns commendations from his peers, one of whom testifies, “I have partnered with Justin in a series of whistleblower complaints regarding fraudulent commercial mortgage-backed securities. [He’s an] excellent, hard-working attorney with a keen intellect and deep knowledge of the substantive area of work, namely securities litigation.” New York’s Ben Quarmby balances commercial and IP matters and is similarly championed by contemporaries. “I’m seeing Ben more and more, he’s doing really well in this space,” confirms one peer. A client buttresses this assessment: “Ben Quarmby is very clear and very reactive. He knows his subject perfectly.

Situated strategically in New York City, Morvillo Abramowitz Grand Iason & Anello has built a premier white-collar crime and investigations practice recognized nationwide as the “go-to” for both domestic and international clients. Its esteemed white-collar practice is complemented by capability in commercial and securities litigation, largely involving executives and cutting-edge issues, as well as employment-related litigation and high-profile and sensitive investigations. Former co-counsel and clients alike have praised its lawyers’ expertise and professionalism in and out of the court room. “They familiarize themselves deeply with the case and are always familiar with the details,” testifies a client. “They clearly address the challenges of the case; they clarify the legal situation; they are convincing in their strategy of approach; they know the strengths and weaknesses of a case; the pleadings are clear and persuasive; the views of the other side and the court are always present; they are quick when necessary; they have been successful in all cases so far, and there have been no surprising court decisions so far.” Another enthuses, “The Morvillo team is very down to earth and knowledgeable. They served an invaluable guide in navigating the opaque legal system while being business friendly and efficient. Their experience and legal knowledge significantly reduced my anxiety and stress on the legal side, but as importantly their compassion and understanding were even more valuable for me and my family.  They were always promptly available weekdays or weekends, regular or after hours.”
     Considering how sensitive the issues are that the firm deals with, many of its engagements are unsurprisingly of a confidential nature. However, certain appointments are not only public but very high-profile. This year, Elkan Abramowitz and Richard Albert represented of the former CEO of American Media, publisher of the National Enquirer, in connection with high-profile investigations relating to the Michael Cohen and Donald Trump prosecutions. The Morvillo pair obtained immunity for the client and prepared him for grand jury and trial testimony, including a week of trial testimony in the criminal trial in New York State centering on allegations relating to alleged hush-money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels. Robert Radick and Christopher Harwood lead the representation of a tech startup company and its CEO in connection with claims filed in New York Supreme Court by a former officer based on his termination and the forfeiture of his equity. The duo uccessfully litigated a motion to compel arbitration of the dispute, and currently representing the company and two of its executives, including its CEO, in the arbitration. Radick is championed by a client as “balanced, knowledgeable, realistic, smart, understanding and efficient.” About Harwood, a client raves “He is an outstanding personality who is always very convincing and can enter into a discussion at any time. He speaks very clearly, and his pleadings are clear and logically structured. It doesn't get any better than that. His presentation and his reactions in court are outstanding, always excellently prepared. He always addresses risks clearly. Telemachus “Tim” Kasulis, whose practice follows a similar trajectory as Harwood’s (the duo is humorously referred to as “The Fraud Twins”) is given a similarly glowing review by a client. “He is, above all, an excellent listener, a compassionate person, who understands the human nature of his clients and their family and deeply cares about them and the situation they are in. He is extremely smart, knowledgeable and very effective communicator.  His years of experience as a prosecutor gives him a unique perspective. Tim has been there for me, weekdays, weekends, regular or after hours.  My wife has incredible respect for Tim and his qualities.” Brian Jacobs, another young partner at the firm who has made great strides of late, is also involved in several securities-fraud cases. A client cheers Jacobs as “an extremely intelligent and thoughtful attorney,” and goes on to testify, “He has a deep knowledge of criminal law and is a go-to practitioner, particularly for criminal appellate work. Brian also possesses excellent judgment, is highly reliable, and is a pleasure to work with.” Karen King is addressed by a client as “a masterful strategist, [with] great communication, great research, team- and resource-management, great argument skills and writing. [She is] Great at managing client expectations and directing her team for seamless, flawless execution.”

Operating out of a single office in Manhattan, Patterson Belknap elicits resounding praise from a vocal contingent of peers and clients, the likes of which are usually reserved for a national firm. “We think very highly of them,” opines one peer, summing up the general consensus. “They are not showy or flashy, they are just solid all across the board. We could use more like them.” A client extrapolates on the firm’s overall approach through a glowing accolade: “They bring a potent combination of transactional and litigation expertise to the table to help clients achieve their objectives. Building on their knowledge of deal documents and judicial decisions, they are great strategists and excellent writers. They tell their client candidly when it has a weak position, rather than engaging in undue optimism.” The firm’s practice offering covers a diverse spectrum, spanning commercial matters, white-collar crime, antitrust, intellectual property, securities and false advertising claims, an area in which the firm is said to be one of the few major players. The firm’s hybrid model also affords it the freedom to take on cases in the plaintiff and defense roles. Patterson Belknap has also made headlines as of late for matters involving a more novel nature. 

     The firm, and namely Barbara Mullin, has been at the forefront of patent litigation as of late, with a series of Hatch-Waxman engagements for Janssen Pharmaceuticals, on which Mullin was lead trial counsel. She scored big for this client in a set of three consolidated actions against Mylan and is currently leading other cases against several other generic drug manufacturers. Peter Tomlinson led a team that secured a significant victory on behalf of the Baldwin County Bridge Company when a judge granted injunctive relief against the Director of the Alabama Department of Transportation due to alleged bad-faith conduct on the Director’s part. Josh Goldberg represents Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiary Ethicon in a multi-billion-dollar litigation concerning Johnson & Johnson’s acquisition of the robotic-assisted surgical device manufacturer Auris Health. The allegations, filed by the entity representing former shareholders of the acquired company, took issue with the contingency payments that were to be made if certain FDA clearance and sales milestones were hit. Said milestones were not hit. The case proceeded to trial in January 2024. Geoffrey Potter leads the charge on an anti-counterfeiting crusade for Gilead, taking to task over 100 defendants, including pharmaceutical distributors and pharmacies, who are alleged to be part of an international counterfeiting ring that trafficked counterfeits of Gilead-branded HIV medication throughout the US, putting patients at risk. The counterfeits included bottles of Gilead-branded HIV medication that actually contained entirely different medication inside, such as high-dose antipsychotics. The counterfeiting ring also trafficked Gilead-branded bottles with counterfeit patient instructions and counterfeit chain-of-custody documentation that fraudulently claimed that the bottles were sold through authorized channels. Patterson Belknap is also one of the few New York firms to have cornered the market on the false advertising niche, primarily through Steve Zalesin, a universally lauded partner in this capacity. Zalesin represents household names such as Johnson & Johnson, Coca-Cola and Hershey in numerous actions concerning a multitude of products.

Paul Weiss remains a brand name that is synonymous with blue-chip clients, and when these clients face extraordinary circumstances, the firm’s unassailable litigation team is a shortlisted crew in any conversation. “Paul Weiss sure has a whole lot of market share,” observes a peer. “They do great by their clients, and they are great at advising which cases to go all the way with and which cases to settle. The whole team is superb.” The firm’s litigation capabilities extend across virtually all major commercial practices, with star power at all levels within each of these, and the firm shows no signs of slowing in its agenda of recruiting and grooming this talent. Historically an East Coast powerhouse, the firm has since entrenched itself in the California market with the January 2021 addition of a San Francisco office, spearheaded by Melinda Haag and Walter Brown, two leaders in the white-collar area. Paul Weiss then followed with an office in Los Angeles, opened in 2024, with product liability specialist Kim Branscome installed in this outpost. “Kim made her bones on the talc cases for J&J,” testifies a peer. “I never tried a case with her, but I have read a few of her transcripts. She is known and respected in the products world, gets work.” The doubling-down on the West Coast was not the only recent development for the firm; a peer notes, “Paul Weiss is getting more involved in the employment area! [New York partners] Lisa Velasquez and Brette Tannenbaum are two people I would name for this, although Brette does a lot of other varied commercial work as well.”

     DC partners Bill Isaacson and trial lawyer Karen Dunn continue to draw acclaim for their antitrust work. The pair logged a March 2022 dismissal of an antitrust lawsuit filed by the DC Attorney General that challenged Amazon’s “fair-pricing” policy nationwide and then defeated the district’s post-trial motion for reconsideration and its motion to further amend its complaint in August. The case eventually wound up at the DC Court of Appeals, with oral argument taking place in December 2023. Appellate specialist Kannon Shanmugam is acting in the appeals capacity. “He’s amazing, really professional,” extols a peer on Shanmugam’s behalf. “He does a great job for his client and deserves the reputation he has.” Dunn and Isaacson, along with Jessica Phillips, also won a major bench trial victory in the District of Nevada on behalf of Oracle in a high-stakes, long-running copyright infringement dispute with Rimini Street. Issuing an extraordinary injunction order in July 2023, the court ordered Rimini to shut down its automated tools and issue and prominently post a 15-point press release in which Rimini discloses its alleged untruths to the public.
     New York’s Daniel Kramer and Audra Soloway, both stars in the securities capacity, logged another triumph for Amazon, and several current and former executives, in December 2023, when the Western District of Washington dismissed without prejudice a putative securities class action alleging that the defendants had defrauded investors in connection with statements made about Amazon’s relationship with third-party sellers and about the pace of growth in Amazon’s fulfilment distribution network. “Dan Kramer is really amazing,” raves a peer. “He’s got a great understated touch that is perfect for managing stressful borderline-crisis situations.” Kramer and Soloway also teamed up with Brown and Haag as trial counsel for Apple following the court’s denial of summary judgment in a securities fraud class action relating to a single statement by CEO Tim Cook on a 2018 earnings call concerning Apple’s business in China. Meredith Dearborn, another star in the firm’s San Francisco office, also was part of team. Dearborn lays claim to her own fan base in the securities community. “I like Meredith a lot,” asserts one peer, who goes on to confirm, “She worked with us on a case for [fintech and crypto entity] Ripple, and she impressed me. She’s young, maybe only 40, but is really poised for greatness.”
     In yet another Amazon engagement, a team composed of New York stars Roberto Gonzalez, Loretta Lynch and Jeannie Rhee were retained by the online retailing juggernaut in what is purported to be one of the largest publicly agreed-to racial equity audits to date. The audit analyzes the company’s overall policies, practices, programs and initiatives to determine their racial impacts on the company’s wage-earning employees.
     Enthusiasm for the always-championed New York securities star Brad Karp remains strong and shows no signs of abating. “Yes, Brad is still ‘the man,’” attests a peer. “You can expect that to be the case for a while yet. He’s in-demand, yes, largely due to his savvy, people-pleaser personality, but also because he really works hard for it.” Another peer supports this view: “He is still everywhere at once, still a hustler. One wonders if he sold his soul for this energy.” A team composed of Karp, Tannenbaum, Andrew Ehrlich and Lorin Reisner won a significant victory in April 2023 for The Blackstone Group and Blackstone Alternative Asset Management when a Kentucky Court of Appeals panel unanimously held that the Kentucky attorney general should never have been permitted to intervene in and revive a $50 billion derivative action in which the original plaintiffs were found to lack constitutional standing. The case was brought by a group of individual Kentucky public pension members in 2017, alleging that the Asset Management entity breached its fiduciary duties by unlawfully selling unsuitably risky custom funds of hedge funds to the pension agency, as well as engaging in a civil conspiracy among investment managers and trustees to conceal this.

With seven of its 12 global offices situated strategically throughout the US, Proskauer provides a wide range of services to clients across a broad spectrum of practices ranging from commercial to intellectual property, securities to white-collar crime and investigations, as well as its near-unparalleled status in specialty areas of employment, entertainment and sports law.
     The firm has also seen a pronounced spike in its bankruptcy profile, solidly on the strength of its mammoth appointment as lead outside counsel to the Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico, which was created to oversee the restructuring of Puerto Rico's finances, valued at $125 billion, in accordance with the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act (PROMESA.) The Board's mandate is to return Puerto Rico to fiscal health with access to the capital markets, and to initiate pro-growth reforms designed to generate a free flow of capital between Puerto Rico and the US. This long-running and sprawling action involves a team of Proskauer attorneys from numerous offices, including Boston’s Timothy Mungovan, New York’s Martin Bienenstock and Margaret Dale, and Los Angeles’ Michael Firestein, all of whom have played substantial roles in the manifold turns of action in this matter since its beginnings. Dale, a commercial litigator who has made a noted pivot to bankruptcy, is involved in several other Puerto Rico-related issues, primarily dealing with employee retirement issues. Mungovan, the firm’s Chair and immediate past head of litigation, has developed a vocal peer following. One extols, “I think he’s superb. He’s not just a figurehead – the guy is a seriously good lawyer, absolutely dynamite.”
      LA’s Bart Williams, not only one of the firm’s most celebrated trial lawyers but also the country’s, has been at the forefront of several milestone matters every year, with this one being no exception. “Bart is the driver of Proskauer’s litigation practice in LA,” insists a local peer. “His practice is just so spectacular, and what he says is very important.” Williams acted with LA’s Susan Gutierrez as trial counsel for Gilead Sciences, securing a landmark win in a $3.6 billion antitrust case on allegations that the pharmaceutical company struck an anticompetitive "pay-for-delay" patent settlement related to two of its HIV medications. In July 2023, a San Francisco jury delivered a full defense verdict following a six-week trial. Williams, along with swiftly rising New York star Lee Popkin, was also trial counsel for Monsanto in a jury trial that was scheduled to commence in March 2023 in San Francisco. The case was brought by an alleged former user of the Monsanto herbicide Roundup and his wife, who claimed that Roundup caused him to develop non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma. The matter settled favorably for the client on the eve of the trial. LA’s Shawn Ledingham, a future star with a burgeoning following, was also part of the team. “I think the world of him,” opines a peer, confiding, “I wish I could hire him! I think he’s going to be heard about in national cases in another five years.” Another LA-based future star, Vinay Kohli, a healthcare-focused partner, is cheered by a peer as “so underrated – more people need to be talking about him, including Benchmark!”
     Proskauer has been particularly active, and successful, in the antitrust capacity as of late. Chris Ondeck, co-head of the firm’s antitrust group and co-head of its DC office, scored big for Wayne Farms when, after nearly seven years of litigation, he secured a complete victory at summary judgment in the broiler chicken litigation, in which plaintiffs alleged that the top 21 chicken producers in the US, including the client, unlawfully agreed to work together to reduce the supply of chicken over a 10-year period as part of a two-hub conspiracy. Plaintiffs claimed damages valued at $45 billion in total. Wayne Farms is one of a small group of defendants that has not settled any part of the case, and instead proceeded to summary judgment. In June 2023, the court granted summary judgment in favor of Wayne Farms and six other defendants, with one additional defendant (who, while being represented by another firm, was not granted summary judgment) is scheduled to proceed to trial in September 2023. Ondeck also led a team that included Ledingham and two other antitrust partners, DC’s Colin Kass and LA’s Colin Cabral, to secure a landmark victory for Sanderson Farms against the same allegations. The Proskauer team defeated a damages claim totaling more than $7 billion, which, had the jury ruled against Sanderson, would have been automatically trebled.
     New York’s Brad Ruskin remains as active as ever in matters concerning the firm’s famed sports practice, with a carousel of cases on the go for various athletic leagues and associations. Ruskinis defending Major League Soccer (MLS) against a federal lawsuit brought by the North American Soccer League (NASL) 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. A trial has been scheduled for September 2024. Sandra Crawshaw-Sparks, who divides her time between New York and LA, helms another celebrated Proskauer pillar practice, entertainment litigation. Crawshaw-Sparks is defending Live Nation and Madonna in a class action alleging breach of contract and false advertising in connection with alleged late starts for shows in Madonna’s Celebration Tour.

Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan continues to reign supreme as the ubiquitous litigation juggernaut it set out to be upon its genesis. The firm name’s official subtitle of “Trial lawyers” makes no bones about its agenda, and the firm has fulfilled this boast with what has been observed as typical aplomb. The firm has placed as one of Benchmark’s Top 20 Trial Firms since that list’s inception, and no fewer than four of its attorneys have consistently been recognized in Benchmark’s Top 100 Trial Lawyers in America, an enviable percentage. “If you’re in the litigation game, not only do you know Quinn Emanuel but you are seeing them, and chances are good that you’re seeing them a lot. They just perennially acquire talent,” is how one peer sums up the firm’s dominant position, further confirming, “I know I certainly do. If I’m out with fellow litigators, they are sure to come up in conversation – I’m forever going, ‘Ah, I knew you were going to bring them up!’” With offices in New York, DC, Boston, Miami, Chicago, Houston, and in several venues throughout California, the firm’s geographic footprint has grown to further showcase its bench depth. The firm leaves no stone unturned when it comes to litigation services either; nearly every practice area is touched on by its expansive roster of partners, with particular pockets of strength in the areas of bankruptcy, white-collar crime, antitrust, intellectual property and commercial litigation. “Subject-matter expertise is down to each individual – but either way Quinn breeds you to fight in court, period.”

The firm has historically found itself in the national headlines for its role in milestone cases, and this year was no exception. Stephen Swedlow, a Chicago-based partner, led a team that recently obtained judgments against the US government in precedent-setting litigation from July 2020, recovering $3.7 billion for health insurance companies under the Affordable Care Act concerning the “risk corridors” created by the act. This eye-popping sum is even more remarkable considering that it was on a contingency basis. On the strength of this, Swedlow not only makes his debut as a litigation star in this edition of Benchmark, but also wins a coveted position among the Top 100 Trial Lawyers. Another consistent placer on the Top 100 Trial Lawyers list, New York’s Michael Carlinsky led long-time client AIG to a February 2022 victory (which also made the news) by getting a policyholder’s claim for $27.5 million worth of coverage tied to a settlement with the State of Texas denied. Carlinsky and his team argued that the policyholder had structured a settlement with the State of Texas for Medicaid fraud in a fashion that was intentionally designed to mask a contract case, which would allow for coverage. Yet another Top 100 Trial Lawyer, Los Angeles’ Bill Price is viewed favorably by several other candidates on this privileged list. “I think the world of him, he’s the best,” offers one peer, summing up the general consensus. Price’s recent client list includes Elon Musk, for whom Price scored in December 2019 in the defamation case brought against him by one of the rescuers of 12 children trapped in a cave in Thailand, after Musk referred to him as “pedo guy” following an online spat. Just weeks later, Price logged another win, in the plaintiff capacity, in an IP case in which he represented the California Institute of Technology in a patent dispute with Apple. Price chalked up a whopping $1.1 billion verdict for his client.

The firm’s bankruptcy practice is viewed by peers in the restructuring capacity as “one of those rare instances where they have actual bankruptcy trial lawyers, as opposed to just corporate or hybrid restructuring people.” This same peer elaborates further on the flinty approach employed by these practitioners, which include Susheel Kirpalani – a near-constant mention: “These are the bomb throwers, the people you think of when you’re going, ‘Who do I call when I need a rabid dog?’”
While the firm is certainly better known for its trial-level work, its appellate work – and particularly that of New York-based luminary Kathleen Sullivan – has also prominently featured in newsworthy matters. In December 2021, Sullivan, along with future stars Rollo Baker and William Adams, scored when they persuaded the Delaware Supreme Court to uphold a trial court decision allowing client Mirae Asset to walk away from a $5.8 billion deal to buy luxury hotels based on the seller’s breach of an “ordinary course” covenant. This decision, delivered via an en banc ruling, upheld what is reported to be only the second decision ever from the Court of Chancery allowing a buyer to back out of a merger.

Since its inception in February 2018, New York’s Selendy & Gay has been one of the most talked-about firms in New York and beyond. Founding partners Philippe Selendy and Faith Gay, both venerated stars with Quinn Emanuel before launching this venture, have built a firm that encapsulates “diversity” in both its roster of partners as well as the varieties of work it takes on. It has emerged as a leader in securities (often in the plaintiff capacity), commercial, and appellate disputes, as well as novel public interest matters. The team of 13 seasoned litigators has been lauded for their “trial acumen, innovative courtroom strategies, and reputation for success” as voiced by a competitor. The firm is also one of the only majority women-owned firms of its status in the nation. 
     Gay and co-managing partner David Elsberg are lead counsel pro bono to the families of the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in the Remington Outdoor Company chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings in Alabama federal court. The shooter used a Bushmaster brand AR-15 made and marketed by Remington. The team secured favorable terms for the families in the Remington debtors' bankruptcy plan, including a mechanism to allow the families and other tort claimants to continue their litigation efforts against Remington. The families have since filed notices with the bankruptcy court that they intend to proceed with their litigation efforts in Connecticut, where the families also brought wrongful death claims against Remington, and a trial is scheduled for next year. Gay, along with co-managing partner Jennifer Selendy, represent McKinsey & Company against claims by AlixPartners founder Jay Alix in a series of high-profile and high-stakes objections and motions brought by Alix in bankruptcy courts across the nation. Fellow founding partner Philippe Selendy and appellate specialist Caitlin Halligan (formerly a star with Gibson Dunn) are part of the lead counsel team appointed by a New York federal judge as interim lead counsel in what has been called a “blockbuster” bitcoin market manipulation case against Bitfinex and Tether. The team beat out two other sets of legal teams vying for lead plaintiff appointment in the proposed class action. The putative class action alleges that the controllers of the cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex falsely represented that their purportedly stable cryptocurrency Tether was backed by US dollars in order to control the price of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in a market-manipulation scheme that cost investors hundreds of billions of dollars. 

Sidley Austin occupies a prestigious position that has grown far beyond its Chicago roots and blossomed into a full-service international powerhouse. “They really cover the waterfront,” declares a peer, speaking to depth and breadth of the firm’s practice portfolio. “They have some great people across almost every area.” While the firm has grown to global stature, it is still considered primarily for its national footprint, particularly in its offices in LA and San Francisco, Dallas, DC and New York, as well as the aforementioned Windy City. The firm is also cheered for its approach to litigation; one peer testifies, “I’ve recently had good experiences with Sidley. They are not only good litigators but there’s also an ethic there across the board. You can tell how they lean, they’re very polite, and I value that. I view that as someone you want to work with. You know, we’re in litigation, but we don’t have to be doing battle all the time.”
     The firm’s DC office, already considered one of its strongest, made a significant augmentation in 2024, when it lured Greg Williams and Richard Smith to its ranks from Wiley Rein. “Greg and Richard were at Covington [& Burling] before – they seem to be moving in parallel! They are both great, and that’s a nice boost for [Sidley.]” Williams’ hire has been viewed as a strategic enhancement to the firm’s international arbitration and litigation practice, which has historically been regarded as one of the country’s most seasoned. The firm’s DC office is also home another Covington alumnus, Jennifer Saulino, a product liability star who makes the remarkable three-pronged debut in Benchmark as a litigation star, one of the Top 100 Trial Lawyers in America, and one of the Top 250 Women in Litigation on the strength of some considerable credentials and peer review. “Jennifer belongs in the top league,” insists another peer on the Top 100 Trial Lawyers list. “She’s versatile and great on her feet in court, where she spends a lot of time.” Saulino obtained a major victory on behalf of Roundup herbicide manufacturer Monsanto in a product-liability trial alleging that Roundup was linked to the plaintiffs’ injuries. In March 2024, the plaintiffs voluntarily dismissed their case with prejudice, unable to prove that Roundup was the cause of their alleged injuries. The judge accepted the dismissal with prejudice and discharged the jury. The DC office is also home to not only the firm’s but the country’s top appellate luminaries, Carter Phillips. “I often forget to mention him, not because he’s not still killing it, but just because I take it as such a given,” states a peer. Phillips secured a major victory when the Second Circuit affirmed a judgment against Lynn Tilton and her companies for breaching her fiduciary duties to TransCare and conducting an actual fraudulent conveyance. Phillips argued the appeal and led the briefing team. DC’s William Levi is namechecked as the next generation of appellate firepower. “Will came into a case we had involving Microsoft, and he was the lead on the legal issues team. He’s not a trial lawyer, but he’s a great appellate counselor. He can write a brief on the fly that tells the judge the facts with common sense.”
     Based in the New York office, Eamon Joyce, who makes the leap from future star to litigation star in this edition, recently successfully settled the last of a series of putative class action cases, which began in 2014, involving allegations that Kimberly-Clark Corporation’s flushable wipes are not in fact flushable. In a series of cases filed around the country, plaintiffs (consumers and municipalities) alleged the claims of “flushable” and “sewer-and-septic safe” on the packages for Cottonelle and other Kimberly-Clark brand flushable wipes were false and misleading. In the firm’s San Francisco office, Sarah Brody is routinely championed by peers in securities capacity. “I’m a big fan of Sarah,” declares one, “and she’s got a great practice. She has had a lot of cases involving startups – there are a lot of them in the Bay Area – that go public…and then they fail. Sarah has had a sweet spot with that.” In the labor and employment practice, Wendy Lazerson is praised by a client as “very experienced, smart, and knowledgeable, who diligently and thoughtfully represented our interests.” In the Los Angeles office, Debra Pole has long been acknowledged as a product liability trial lawyer. “She’s still a rockstar,” enthuses a peer. “She still commands the room.”

With 21 offices throughout the US, Europe and Asia, Skadden has long been a totem of excellence in the global legal community as a full-service one-stop shop. While its capabilities span a wide spectrum, litigation is a key pillar. “Skadden has so much deal flow,” observes a peer, “that an equally strong litigation bench is essential. [Skadden] certainly has that to spare.” Virtually all of the firm’s domestic offices house an ample grouping of litigation stars, with peers noting that Skadden has strategically doubled down on the Los Angeles market as of late. “LA is a dynamic market right now, and it is increasingly the tip of Skadden’s litigation spear.”
     The observation of the firm’s bench strength in LA can arguably be best exemplified by the recent hire of Manuel Cachán, who boasts a proven trial lawyer pedigree. “He was a ‘must-get’,” quips a peer. “Skadden really scored there. He’s going to be trying the biggest and most important cases.” While Cachán, who earned his stripes at revered LA boutique Munger Tolles as well as a stint at Proskauer, is a multifaceted business litigator, he has most recently minted himself a pole position in the product liability area. “People like Manuel and [New York-based trial star] Allison Brown, they go across the country and just try cases all the time,” testifies one peer and opponent. “They have some subject-matter expertise, which is a lot of product liability, but they can try anything. I just tried a case against Manuel, and he beat me!” The duo of Cachán and Brown led a multi-firm trial team to secure a landmark complete defense verdict on behalf of Monsanto concerning claims that its Roundup weed-killer product caused lymphoma. Brown also led a trial team that secured a unanimous defense verdict in March 2024 on behalf of Johnson & Johnson and Ethicon in a case alleging personal injuries resulting from two pelvic mesh medical devices and seeking millions of dollars in damages.
     Skadden is also known for its blue-ribbon securities practice, mainly operating from New York. Jay Kasner has long been a leading figure in this area and continues to be. A peer marvels, “Jay is still humming along strong! He still shows up and delivers the goods like someone half his age. I don’t know how he does it.” Perhaps more remarkably, Kasner has demonstrated his prowess with newer and more novel industries like cryptocurrency. He recently represented Coinbase, who was sued in March 2022 by plaintiffs who alleged that the client operates as an unregistered securities exchange because 79 digital assets traded on the platform are actually securities. The plaintiffs sought to rescind their transactions and to recover monetary damages, as well to force Coinbase to register as a national securities exchange or broker-dealer. In February 2023, the claims were dismissed in their entirety, with prejudice. While Kasner remains the firm’s most seasoned securities partner, others are quickly becoming the names of the next generation. Scott Musoff has become particularly prominent in terms of visibility and activity. “Scott Musoff is awesome,” extols a peer. “[He’s the] nicest guy in the world, easy to work with, and still relatively young.” The duo of Kasner and Musoff were enlisted to replace existing counsel representing theme park entity Six Flags and certain directors and offices, who were faced with a class action alleging the company and the defendant officers issued false and misleading statements concerning the progress and accounting for certain Six Flags-branded theme parks to be built in China. The Skadden pair triumphed for the client in June 2023. This same pair, along with LA partner Peter Morrison, is also representing Hawaiian Electric Industries and certain of its current and former officers in a putative securities class action filed in California, also concerning allegations of false and misleading statements. A peer insists, “Peter Morrison has really come into his own and is increasingly taking the lead.” Morrison, along with LA future star Winston Hsiao, successfully defended venture capital firm Tulco, along with its founder, in a federal securities class action. A New York team of Susan Saltzstein and Patrick Rideout scored on behalf of Johnson & Johnson in a case concerning a shareholder’s proposal that J&J's shareholders adopt a bylaw requiring individual arbitration of securities class actions against the company and its officers or directors. A peer explains on Saltzstein’s behalf, “I’m seeing a lot of new 10b-5s securities class actions that are alleging companies failed to disclose #MeToo issues at the management or executive level, issues with individuals that would clearly have a material impact on the company’s value. When these things go public and people demand scalps to be claimed, and those scalps are of the guys who publicly run the company…there are allegations of failure to have policies in place, proper compliance, etc. I know Susan Saltzstein had a bunch of these cases in the defense role. She is perfect for them.” Rideout has developed his own fan base as well. “If I had a bet-the-company case of any kind that had a likelihood of going to trial, that’s who I’d call,” insists a peer. “He is a problem solver and a no-nonsense litigator but has a sense of humanity to him that I find gets lost in a lot of those large, complex cases of the type that he gets involved in.”
     Skadden has seen an increased level of activity in other areas as well. New York’s Timothy Nelson and Julie Bedard, who works out of the firm’s New York and São Paulo offices, are noted standouts. Both are experienced and active with tribunal matters such as ICC and ICSID. The firm also scored a key recruit in the antitrust arena, James Fredericks, who joined the DC office after decades acting as a prosecutor with the DoJ. A peer in this capacity advises, “Look into him! He’s only been with the firm about four weeks so far [as of spring 2024] but this is a major feather in Skadden’s cap.”

Sullivan & Cromwell boasts a pedigree as one of the most revered legal brands on the global stage. A towering full-service firm, with concentration on the East and West Coasts through its offices in New York, Washington DC and two offices in California – Palo Alto and Los Angeles. While its offerings extend beyond litigation, Sullivan & Cromwell’s dispute-resolution depth and acuity is called into service by some of the firm’s biggest blue-chip clients. “When people talk about law firms to someone who’s not a lawyer, often they will just randomly throw out ‘Sullivan & Cromwell’ as an example because the name carries that much weight, like Coca-Cola or Apple,” marvels one peer. “We should all be so lucky.” Speaking to the firm’s A-list client base, another peer quips, “Goldman Sachs has them on speed-dial. S&C has that premium work on lockdown.”
     Supporting this assertion, Sullivan & Cromwell scored a win for this client in August 2023 when the Second Circuit Appeals Court reversed the certification of a class of Goldman Sachs shareholders in a case dating back to the 2008 financial crisis and alleged conflicts of interests in Goldman Sachs investment vehicles relating to subprime mortgages. Plaintiffs claimed that those alleged conflicts contradicted generic statements made by Goldman Sachs about its corporate principles and conflicts management procedures, which had supposedly inflated the price of Goldman Sachs stock. Robert Giuffra, a mainstay of the New York office, provided lead counsel. “Bob Giuffra is high-energy and fast, but savvy” observes a peer. “He knows when to try a case and he also knows how and when to pull back. I’ve seen judges get stunned by his courtroom abilities – like, who has this much stamina? So you almost get thrown off guard when you see how measured and reasonable he is. Maybe it’s a tactic – if so, it works.”
     In what is perhaps the firm’s most high-profile engagement of the past year, a team led by James Bromley(and also including Jacob Croke) is leading efforts at FTX, as Chapter 11 debtor, to investigate the events that led to the company’s embattled crypto entity’s collapse, assist government authorities in their probes and organize hundreds of potential litigations to recover assets. To date, the firm team has helped identify and recover $7.4 billion in liquid assets for FTX and has identified other potential claims that FTX could bring. This appointment is remarkable not only due to the highly scrutinized nature of the client and the claims involved, but also more generally due to the firm’s pronounced elevation in the bankruptcy practice. “Ten years ago, even five years ago, Sullivan & Cromwell was not known for bankruptcy, and they didn’t seem like they wanted to be,” asserts a peer, “but wow, now they are on the bankruptcy map in a big way. After that, I expect there will be more [work for the firm.]”
     Sharon Nelles is another multifaceted brand-name New York partner who generates near-unanimous accolades. “Sharon is pretty universally loved, and for good reason,” states one appreciative peer. “Great personality, no ego. Although her demeanor is almost the opposite of Bob Giuffra – she seems so relaxed and easygoing that I think it takes people off guard when they see how ready for the fight she is.” Nelles won the dismissal with prejudice of all claims in a putative securities class action brought against Cronos Group and several of its executives by plaintiffs who alleged that Cronos’s public statements concerning its revenues and accounting compliance were fraudulent. Anne Marie Ostrager straddles white-collar criminal work and employment defense work. Ostrager represented JPMorgan in obtaining the dismissal, affirmed on appeal, of a lawsuit alleging state securities and common law claims in connection with a syndicated loan arranged by a group of banks led by JPMorgan for Millennium Laboratories. In August 2023, the Second Circuit ruled for the banks across the board, unanimously dismissing plaintiff's state law securities claims, concluding securities laws didn’t apply to the syndicated loan transaction, and in a separate summary order, dismissing all common law claims.
     Sullivan & Cromwell has also been making notable advancements in the intellectual property space. Patent star Garrard Beeney acted with Dustin Guzior in representation of Columbia University in securing a unanimous verdict in its favor in a two-week patent infringement jury trial against NortonLifeLock in the Eastern District of Virginia. Beeney also acted with Marc DeLeeuw in representing Ocado Group. The pair secured a December 2021 trial win before the Chief Administrative Law Judge of the ITC in a patent dispute with its competitor, Autostore. In March 2022, the Commission unanimously affirmed Ocado's victory at trial and terminated the investigation in its entirety. In June 2022, Ocado scored another win against AutoStore, convincing a panel of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board to invalidate three of four claims of AutoStore’s patent that was at issue in the earlier ITC investigation.

     Beyond the firm’s blue-ribbon New York financial-institution focus, other offices and practices have been equally robust. Renata Hesse is the co-head of the firm’s antitrust group, working out of both its DC and Palo Alto offices. Hesse has been especially active the healthcare space as of late. She advised long-time client Amgen in relation to its $27.8 billion acquisition of Horizon Therapeutics, and also advised Seagen on its $43 billion merger with Pfizer.

Historically known as an “old-line Houston firm” (and still a dominant force in that metropolis), within fairly short order Susman Godfrey has reinvented itself as a litigation juggernaut with national ambitions, which it has fulfilled through its offices in New York, Seattle, and Los Angeles. These offices, while newer, have quickly become key players in their respective markets due to each being populated by high-level trial talent juggling a hybrid of plaintiff and defense commercial, antitrust, securities and intellectual property litigation with exceptionally high stakes.

Susman is universally revered for its dedication to a prized culture – developed and fostered by founding partner and (since-deceased) trial lawyer extraordinaire Stephen Susman – that grooms the “elite corps” of litigation. Peers acknowledge the firm’s strategic expansion with typical admiration. “Susman Godfrey is a like a litigation boutique that has gone haywire - in a good way! They didn’t just grow for the sake of adding headcount. They put fabulous people in all stations.” Eschewing market trends, the firm marches to the beat of its own drum. One peer marvels: “Susman Godfrey is so innovative! They really bring the best of breed in terms of skills, and it’s top-to-bottom. It’s not just a bunch of old guys. Their younger people are every bit as impressive.” Another confirms, “It’s always fun litigating against Susman Godfrey. Then it’s real, then it’s more traditional court work, more hand-to-hand combat, as opposed to the paper pushing and procedural distractions you get from other firms.” Clients are equally effusive in their praise for the firm. One testifies: “They prepared for trial from day one and [they] dedicate a team of exceptionally talented and highly intelligent attorneys to each matter. They achieved greater success [in our case] than anyone could have predicted at the outset.” Another cheers the firm’s “strong understanding of relevant cases that supported our case to be able to leverage research; strong customer service; great depo[sition] prep so I always felt comfortable going in front of a judge or in my depositions, and great relations within the courthouse.”

No stranger to high-profile, newsworthy cases that regularly log headlines in the legal publications, Susman Godfrey landed front-and-center in the middle of a case few could ignore even outside the legal community: the representation of Dominion Voting Systems as trial counsel against Fox News in a defamation lawsuit, initially valued at $1.6 billion, alleging that Fox and the other defendants gave life to a manufactured storyline about election fraud to boost ratings and propagate the lie that the 2020 Presidential Election was rigged, among a series of other false statements about Dominion. The Susman team, composed of New York’s Stephen Shackelford, Houston’s Justin Nelson, and Los Angeles’s Davida Brook, landed a milestone victory in April 2023, securing a $787 million settlement on Dominion’s behalf. This win proved a watershed moment for defamation cases of this variety, sending shockwaves throughout the legal, political and news and entertainment landscapes. The case follows similar matters filed against other figures alleged to have played a role in these fraudulent election claims, such as Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell, Mike Lindell (MyPillow CEO), and others.

The firm’s groundbreaking courtroom action for the year certainly doesn’t end with Dominion. New York trial evergreen Bill Carmody is co-lead counsel representing a class that filed a massive action against Google for misrepresenting its privacy settings when users employ “incognito mode.” This lawsuit, valued at more than $5 billion, cleared a major hurdle in 2021 when a judge denied Google’s motion to dismiss. The case is ongoing, with a jury trial set to begin in November 2023. Houston’s Vineet Bhatiasecured a favorable award for the client, Flutter Entertainment, in November 2022 when an arbitrator nearly doubled the exercise price of Fox Corporation’s option to acquire 18.6% of Flutter’s portfolio company, FanDuel Group. This high-stakes arbitration resulted from Fox’s assertion that it should be entitled to the same purchase price as Flutter paid for its share of FanDuel in December 2020, which would have come out to $2.1 billion, with an implied company valuation of $11.2 billion. The arbitration took place over several weeks in the summer of 2022, with the arbitrator finding that Fox’s payment must be based on a substantially higher FanDuel valuation of $20 billion as of December 2020, plus an additional 5% interest per year. At the time of the decision, this equated to a valuation for FanDuel of $22 billion and an option exercise price of $4.1 billion for Fox – nearly twice the amount that Fox argued it should be required to pay. New York’s Jacob Buchdahl is lauded by one client as “exceptionally smart and innovative, great on his feet in court. [He] Exudes confidence, is trustworthy, [and is] a great team leader.” Buchdahl represented an initial seed investor in a case that has been described as one of “stock theft” involving the unicorn South American start-up Rappi. The client was allegedly all but denied his ownership of more than 600,000 shares, valued at tens of millions of dollars, and was prevented from participating in a lucrative 2019 tender offer. Buchdahl filed suit in Delaware Chancery Court, seeking a declaratory judgment that the client was the true owner of shares of Rappi in dispute. After obtaining a denial of the defendants’ motions to dismiss, Buchdahl then overcame a motion for summary judgment and prepared to go to trial in September 2022. The case settled on the weekend before trial was scheduled to commence, with the client receiving the bulk of his shares.

Based in the firm’s Los Angeles office, Kalpana Srinivasan is hailed as someone who has “done a tremendous job building out that office, particularly in IP and plaintiff work.” Srinivasan represents Caltech – the California Institute of Technology – in pursuing its seminal wi-fi patents for infringement against Samsung’s mobile and other devices. The case is scheduled to be tried in September 2023 in the Eastern District of Texas. “I’ve seen Kalpana quite a bit,” confirms a peer. “She is very good on her feet.”

Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz operates out of its one and only office, in New York, but the firm’s prestige is undeniably national, and increasingly international, in scope. “Everyone knows Wachtell, or knows about them, and for very obvious reasons. They are masters at what they do.” The “what they do” is a reference to the firm’s famed M&A dispute practice, which, coupled with its transactional corporate practice, has allowed Wachtell to do nothing short of corner a market. “Wachtell has decided that they want to pivot to doing work that is strictly focused around public company M&A work – that is where you get the premium work.” One peer marvels, “Increasingly, when I look at Wachtell, I am stunned by the growing level of diversity. I’m seeing a lot more international arbitration, which was never considered Wachtell’s forte, but with cross-border deals falling into dispute, [the firm’s services] are more in demand.” The firm has also been particularly active in the bankruptcy space – for which Emil Kleinhaus receives near-universal plaudits – and remains busy in the white collar and investigations area as well, which has historically been the domain of John Savarese, still the firm’s dominant partner in this area.

William Savitt, one of the firm’s most celebrated and universally revered partners (he was perhaps the youngest partner to score a “Hall of Fame” award at the Benchmark Litigation awards in 2022), continues to sustain a record-breaking streak of milestone litigation work, particularly in Delaware. Savitt led a team (which also included Sarah Eddy, Ryan McLeod and Anitha Reddy) which was engaged by Twitter in June 2022 to enforce its $44 billion merger agreement with Elon Musk. After the Wachtell team secured a steady stream of pre-trial wins, Musk unconditionally reversed course, and the deal closed in October 2022 on its originally agreed terms. “That was the most comprehensive corporate trial of the year,” ventures a peer, “and it ended in complete capitulation for Elon.” Further burnishing his unassailable reputation for courtroom acuity, Savitt, along with Eddy, triumphed on appeal for Boardwalk Pipeline Partners, the defendant in a Delaware corporate dispute that had been soundly beaten at trial in late 2021, with an eye-popping judgment of $700 million logged against it. Savitt and Eddy scored a stunning reversal upon appeal in December 2022, wiping the record-breaking decision off the books entirely. “This was the largest class action ever in Delaware,” asserts a peer. “The Wachtell team were litigating as much against the trial judge as they were the lawyers on the other side. They were able to pick their way through the facts and present a challenging legal argument.” Although younger, both Reddy and Eddy have their own admirers in the litigation community. “These are the future leaders of their fiduciary duty and corporate governance practice,” declares a peer. Reddy has “tremendous ability with clients and is taking on more cases as first chair,” and Eddy “rose to be Chief of Appeals, which is a big deal. She has really emerged as one of Wachtell’s top-flight civil litigators, and she can write great appellate briefs.”

Elaine Golin leads a team representing Cardinal Health in the corporate governance capacity, regarding its litigation exposure resulting from the opioid epidemic, which has threatened many entities in the pharmaceutical distribution industry with bankruptcy. Golin and her team managed a complex derivative and class-action docket and then engineered an unprecedented and innovative global resolution for the entire industry with a coalition of state attorneys general. The settlement promises to put the vast bulk of litigation risk behind the industry, likely saving several companies from bankruptcy, while guaranteeing settlement payments for those affected by the opioid crisis. A peer marvels, “The way they not only won, but shepherded this for the entire sector, was unbelievable!” A team consisting of Savitt, Eddy and Jonathan Moses – another Wachtell mainstay – represented Brad Pitt in his dispute with Angelina Jolie concerning their rosé wine-producing entity, acting on matters stemming from Europe as well as domestically.

Founded in 2015 as Walden Macht & Haran, this new New York boutique Walden Macht Haran & Williams underwent a substantial name and branding update this year, adding Milton Williams’ name to the masthead. The firm has distinguished itself as a small, nimble firm whose respective partners boast “Big Law” as well as in-house counsel credentials. The firm has won the praise and respect of other in-house counsel as well as peers, who are often with much larger and historically entrenched firms. One client testifies, “They served as my counsel in a SLAPP lawsuit filed against me. They were awesome. They have incredible legal minds. I knew I was in very good hands. They were extremely communicative and kept me informed every step along the way and they also made sure I understood my rights and responsibilities.” A peer also offers plaudits: “I sought guidance from Walden Macht on whether and how to bring an SEC whistleblower claim, where the whistleblower was a lawyer and sought to blow the whistle on his client. The whistleblower was my client, and we added Walden Macht to the team because of their expertise in this area. They are an excellent litigation shop, both civil and white-collar criminal.  Our matter was unique and complex, and they handled it well.” Williams, who balances white-collar work with employment law, was previously in-house counsel at Time. He is commended by a client as “upfront, clear, and [someone who] sets expectations well.” Jim Walden, along with Georgia Winston, represented WarnerMedia Direct, who filed suit against Paramount Global, MTV Entertainment Studios, and South Park Digital Studios for breach of a licensing contract, as well as other business torts. Under the contract, HBO Max had exclusive streaming rights to air episodes of South Park, including three seasons of new episodes, on its streaming platform. WarnerMedia alleges, among other claims, that Paramount tortiously interfered with WarnerMedia’s contract for exclusive rights to South Park episodes in order to steer the program content to its own new Paramount+ platform to fuel growth. Jeffrey Udell is championed by a client, who raves, “Jeff is Incredibly smart and communicative. He's just a fucking rockstar. I knew I was in good hands after our first meeting and over five years he has just delivered every single day. What a great lawyer!”

A global business firm, Willkie Farr & Gallagher has been steadily increasing its litigation profile in both market share and a literal headcount/geographic footprint sense. “A few years ago, I would have said Willkie was a great business firm with a small but good litigation bench,” offers a peer. “Not anymore! They have really doubled down on litigation of late, and it seems to really be working. They are now in several key markets and building several practice areas to rival others.”  While its core strength in the US has historically been New York (and remains so), the firm has branched out and developed other domestic locations as well; it opened a Chicago office in 2020, officially planting its flag on the Midwest legal landscape, continued developing its DC resources, and has doubled down on its expansion in California, where it now has three offices (Palo Alto, San Francisco and Los Angeles.) “The biggest disrupter in the LA market recently has been Willkie Farr,” quips a peer in observation of the firm’s build-out of that office. “I feel like anything that’s not nailed down, they’re trying to take!”
     Willkie’s bet on California has paid dividends; the firm has attracted star partners in each office. In Los Angeles, that office’s managing partner Alex Weingarten is a peer favorite. “Alex is the real deal. He represented Jamie Spears [father and former conservator of Britney], and I thought he did a very good job with that,” opines one peer. “Alex was at Venable before moving to Willkie,” states another peer, who goes on to confide, “I was trying to get him to come here! He’s a terrific litigator who has some high-profile entertainment clients. [He’s] Unbelievable!” Weingarten represents The Chosen, Inc. producers of the popular television series, The Chosen. The client is engaged in an arbitration against a licensor of the series Angel Studios.  Angel Studios has dramatically exceeded the scope of its licensed use of the series and is using its affiliation with the client to improperly promote its unrelated content.  An arbitration hearing was commenced in March 2024. Acting with Weingarten on this matter is Kori Bell, a white-collar-focused partner with an avid peer following of her own that the firm lured from LA boutique Larson in 2023. Weingarten also represents Fitness Technologies, a software company servicing enterprise fitness boutiques, in its lawsuit against a concerning claims, among other things, the rival has engaged in an scheme to exclude competitors from the industry, including the use of exclusive contracts and non-competes. In San Francisco, Simona Agnolucci, identified by peers as “a real player,” acted with Benedict Hur in leading Google to a March 2024 defense against allegations of violating New York and Minnesota privacy laws by improperly retaining consumer streaming video rental data, such as rental history and personal identification, beyond the legal limits. Agnolucci also acts with Jonathan Patchen in representing Ever.Ag., a  provider of technology, services, and intelligence platforms to the US dairy industry, in a hotly contested trade secret dispute against a Canadian startup competitor that has asserted antitrust counterclaims against the client, alleging that Ever.Ag has illegally monopolized the market for data services for milk producers and processors in the US through anticompetitive contracts and acquisitions of competitors. A peer also insists, “Let’s talk about [San Francisco-based IP-focused future star] Barrington Dyer – he’s great!”
     In the New York office, the firm continues to enjoy esteemed positions in the insurance and securities spaces. In the former practice, Christopher St. Jeanos represents AIG, which has a major role in current and expected future coverage disputes arising from the opioid lawsuits. There are now 15 active litigations against 13 different policyholders. “He’s a stand-up lawyer,” insists a peer, “and I think he’s only in his mid-40s! My litmus test when it comes to dealing with counsel is ‘Are you just a paper tiger?’ And Chris is not – he’s the real deal.” Securities partner Tariq Mundiya is representing Zayo founder, CEO, and Chairman Dan Caruso in an action arising out of a $14.3 billion buyout of Zayo by a consortium of equity co-investors. Plaintiffs claimed that Caruso breached his fiduciary duties by steering the sales process towards an acquirer so he could capture upside through a roll-over of his stock and remain as CEO post-merger. They further alleged that the company’s board was aware of the CEO’s actions and did not properly oversee his actions to maximize stockholder value and that Caruso was liable for making misleading disclosures and omissions in a proxy statement recommending that stockholders approve the merger. Another securities partner, Todd Cosenza represents several current and former Board Members of Wells Fargo & Company in a civil RICO action. The plaintiff is a business owner who contends that he was injured when about $1.3 million of three of his companies’ funds were deposited into unauthorized deposit accounts and then withdrawn without authorization.
    Craig Martin, Chairman, Midwest, joined Willkie in 2020 from Jenner & Block and has continued to build out the firm’s Windy City office. Martin’s practice encompasses a wide spectrum of commercial litigation, white-collar work, intellectual property, and pro bono human rights issues.

With a network of international and domestic offices, WilmerHale has built a reputation as a global powerhouse. Nationally, the firm’s original mainstay in Boston continues to secure near-unanimous recognition in litigation, and the New York, DC and California offices have further bolstered the firm’s top-tier standing. It is lauded for its litigation capabilities nationwide, particularly antitrust, white-collar, securities and appellate, as well as intellectual property, one of the firm’s most notable practices.

Boston-based trial lawyer Bill Lee is of the most accomplished litigators in intellectual property. He continues to add to his enviable list of milestone patent wins, which have earned him a long-standing reputation in the practice area. In these high-stakes cases, he is well known for his distinguishing ability to translate his encyclopedic knowledge into comprehensive arguments that sway judges and juries. Lee and Denver’s Mary “Mindy” Sooter obtained a damages-less win for Comcast in a patent infringement lawsuit brought by NextStep. Last September in Delaware, the federal jury found in favor of the client on two of the challenged patents, and returned a “doctrine of equivalents” infringement verdict on the last patent. Sooter and Lee secured the zero-dollar victory with a granted motion to preclude the plaintiff’s damages case.

In the appellate arena, Lee also obtained positive results working with appellate expert Seth Waxman of the DC office. The duo represented Abbott Laboratories and AbbVie against the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) before the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. The FTC filed a case alleging that the lawsuits filed by AbbVie against Teva and Perrigo were shams, thus violating the FTC Act. The District Court granted summary judgment in favor of the FTC, which AbbVie appealed. The Third Circuit in parts affirmed, reversed, and vacated the District Court’s decision. Notably, the appellate court held that its lawsuit against Teva was not a sham, and the court vacated the disgorgement award. On the Perrigo matter, the Third Circuit upheld the District Court decision that the suit was objectively baseless, which Lee and Waxman challenged in a petition for certiorari that was denied. However, in a complete victory, the FTC dropped the entire case.

Waxman serves as chair of the firm’s appellate and Supreme Court litigation practice, with, as one peer notes, “an army of talent behind him”. Such talent includes Noah Levine, who represented the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) in a putative class action challenging non-judicial foreclosures in Rhode Island, arguing that the client and co-defendant violated the Due Process Clause as plaintiffs also argued that the defendants should be considered government actors. The District Court rejected both arguments, dismissing the complaints. On appeal, the First Circuit upheld the decision, securing a win for the client.

In New York, commercial litigator Hallie Levin obtained a win for T-Mobile in a five-day bench trial before the Delaware Court of Chancery. The trial arose from a settlement agreement between T-Mobile and Cox Communications that concluded a patent infringement case. In the agreement, Cox agreed that should it begin offering retail customers wireless services, it would be done in accordance with a wholesale wireless agreement with Sprint, which T-Mobile acquired. Cox and another mobile network later entered into a wholesale wireless agreement, and sued the client last January, arguing that the provision was unenforceable. Acting on behalf of T-Mobile, Levin filed counterclaims and requested an injunction to enforce the exclusivity obligation. The District Court found that Cox had breached the agreement and the provision was enforceable. The court issued an injunction preventing Cox from offering mobile services with any other operator.

On the West Coast, Sonal Mehta is continuously recognized as a top-tier litigator in the IP space, especially for her role representing titans of the life sciences and technology industry. Recently, she represented Ionpath, a venture-backed start-up by three Stanford professors who sought to commercialize their technology for biological tissue analysis, against competitor Fluidigm. The Northern District of California, in an accelerated patent “showdown” procedure, ruled Ionpath did not infringe the “showdown” claims. After the decision, Fluidigm dismissed its interference with contract claims, and later the plaintiff dismissed the rest of the claims in its appeal. The matter closed confidentially.

Sanford Heisler Sharp continues to be a formidable opponent to management-side labor and employment litigators, even garnering their praises for the sophisticated and oftentimes complex cases. “I look at what they’re doing – I think that they bring a lot of really interesting cases – sets a tone for what the new issues are going to be,” declares an opposing peer. The firm has achieved widespread, national recognition in a variety of labor and employment regards, distinguishing itself across markets. As a plaintiff-side law firm, Sanford Heisler has organized a diverse and strategic network of offices, including New York, Maryland, DC, California, Georgia and Tennessee.

     While employment litigation is the firm’s primary focus, Sanford Heisler is also dedicated to representing victims of crime and civil rights offenses. Renowned trial lawyer recognized as a Top 50 Labor & Employment Litigator and chairman of the firm, David Sanford has been the lead lawyer representing the brother of murder victim, Hae Min Lee in his appeal of the Baltimore City circuit court’s decision to vacate the conviction of the alleged murderer. The case has received significant attention as the subject of both a 2014 podcast and an HBO documentary. Sanford and the team – comprised of Andrew Melzer, Kevin Sharp, and Jeremy Heisler, among others – challenged the hearing, contending that it violated Maryland’s statutory and constitutional crime victims’ rights, which would have afforded the family adequate notice and opportunity to participate in the proceedings. Sanford’s motion for full appeal was granted and the Appellate Court granted the team’s motion to remand the case to the circuit court, following a successful oral argument.

     Melzer and Heisler both practice out of the New York office. Melzer additionally represents plaintiffs alleging unlawful deductions from drivers’ tips, failure to provide adequate meal periods, and failure to pay for work performed during said periods. The lawsuit further alleges that the drivers were misclassified as independent contractors. Heisler worked alongside DC litigator Kate Mueting representing Donna Kassman as class representative in a lawsuit filed against KPMG. Mueting, serving as lead lawyer on the case, filed the action to remedy the company’s systemic discrimination related to pay, promotions, and pregnancy, and hold the company accountable for alleged failure to properly investigate and resolve complaints. Mueting and Heisler secured a $10 million settlement on the Equal Pay Act claims. Tennessee’s former Chief Judge Sharp and DC-based chairman of the firm, Sanford, are representing a class of former African American Deput US Marshals and Detention Enforcement Officers in their lawsuit against the US Marshals Service, asserting alleged race discrimination claims against the Service, including candidates who were not hired. The EEOC administrative judge approved and certified the class, and the team has been engaged in discovery since the 2017 order.

     In New York, Russell Kornblith leads a Title IX class action against Harvard on behalf of female students in the Anthropology Department. The case alleges claims of sexual harassment and retaliation. The duo prevailed against Harvard’s motion for summary judgment and motion to dismiss earlier this year. His casework `over the last year also includes an ERISA action filed individually and as a representative of a class of employees working at the consulting firm West Monroe Partners. Kornblith’s clients allege that the company and its executives used layoffs and other avenues to cash out shares of former employees in their ESOP. The case is active in litigation after he prevailed against the opposing counsel’s motion to dismiss. Alexandra Harwin has also taken action against 401(k) mismanagement, filing breach of fiduciary duty claims under ERISA on behalf of 200,000 UnitedHealth Group employees and plan participants. Harwin obtained class certification and a settlement conference is set to occur this year. On the employment side of her practice, she is lead counsel representing Graham Chase Robinson in a case against Robert De Niro and Canal Productions, his corporate entity. The lawsuit alleges claims of hostile work environment and retaliation. Harwin is actively gearing up for trial.

New York’s Michael Palmer is leading the case on behalf Siddarth Breja, former Senior Vice President of JUUL, alleging whistleblower retaliation against the company after he complained about unlawful practices. Co-chair of the firm’s whistleblower and qui tam practice group H. Vincent McKnight provides strategic specialty knowledge and assistance on the case.

     Hailing from the San Francisco office, Danielle Fuschetti serves as the firm’s co-chair of the discrimination and harassment practice group. In that area, she is the lead lawyer representing an individual plaintiff against Xilinix, a pioneer in adaptive computing and leader in the semiconductor industry. The lawsuit alleges sex-based pay disparities, hostile work environment, and sex discrimination claims, in addition to alleged intellectual property theft of marketing materials. Fuschetti is actively litigating the case and seeks declaratory and injunctive relief, unjust enrichment damages in connection to the IP and trade secrets theft, which is estimated to be roughly $350 million, in addition to other damages and affirmative relief. In addition to discrimination claims, Fuschetti is also involved in 401(k) mismanagement litigation. She is a member of the team as class counsel and represents individual plaintiffs in an action against Walgreens. The plaintiffs, who are participants in Walgreen’s $10 billion 401(k) plan, alleged that the company failed to remove a set of ten target retirement date funds that underperformed in their investment benchmarks. Fuschetti obtained a settlement of $13.75 million. Currently, other cases on her docket are against large nationwide companies including JUUL and Oracle, both of which are actively being litigated. Fellow San Francisco litigator Felicia Gilbert successfully resolved a gender discrimination and retaliation lawsuit filed on behalf of a former engineer against tech giant Honeywell represented by a nationally recognized labor and employment-focused law firm. Baltimore’s Deborah Marcuse is recognized by Benchmark Litigation as a Top 50 Labor & Employment Litigator for her recent work.