Virginia

Firm overview

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

Hunton Andrews Kurth’s skilled litigators focus on strategy over tactics, developing plans that are mindful of each client’s business and legal goals. Since its founding more than 100 years ago, Hunton Andrews Kurth has been a business-focused firm, an approach that continues in today’s litigation climate. The team of more than 400 litigators draw upon decades of experience to handle all aspects of disputes with the goal of achieving successful results whether in the boardroom or a courtroom. Most importantly, Hunton Andrews Kurth collaborates with clients to develop strategies that are comprehensive in scope and aligned with their needs.

Litigation Overview:

Hunton Andrews Kurth has one of the top litigation teams in the country, having litigated and/or arbitrated in each of the 50 states and in many foreign countries. Our diverse team has the collective knowledge, skill, and experience necessary to help businesses identify and manage potential risks, respond to existing or threatened litigation, and pursue resolution in any venue. Hunton Andrews Kurth attorneys are admitted to the American College of Trial Lawyers and listed in ranking guides such as Chambers USA and Benchmark Litigation, and we are named as one of the “most feared firms in litigation” by BTI.

Our lawyers regularly handle litigation matters in the energy, financial services, healthcare, construction, aviation, consumer products and retail industries. We pride ourselves on our ability to tailor our strategy to the needs of the client’s specific situation. Our commercial litigation docket regularly includes class action defense, commercial contract disputes, white collar defense matters, administrative matters and investigations, and appeals in state and federal courts.

We serve as national or worldwide coordinating counsel for many of our clients. We are engaged by corporations and other large entities across a broad range of matters – from providing advice and counsel about business disputes and torts to civil litigation, trial and appeal, when necessary. We are often engaged in “bet-the-company” cases, complex commercial disputes, multidistrict litigation and coordinated state law proceedings, as well as class actions. Our lawyers have the experience to handle cases that involve multiple adversaries in federal and state courts across the nation and abroad.

Updated Aug 2022

Firm overview

Akerman LLP is a top 100 U.S. law firm recognized among the most forward thinking firms in the industry by Financial Times. Its more than 700 lawyers and business professionals collaborate with the world’s most successful enterprises and entrepreneurs to navigate change, seize opportunities, and help drive innovation and growth. Akerman is known for its results in middle market M&A and complex disputes, and for helping clients achieve their most important business objectives in the financial services, real estate, and other dynamic sectors across the United States and Latin America.

Commercial Litigation: Akerman offers a leading trial team that includes litigators across the United States. We represent a diverse range of clients across numerous sectors—and we have particular strength in the financial services, private equity and mergers and acquisitions, insurance, real estate and construction, health and life sciences, and energy sectors. Akerman lawyers regularly appear before judges and arbitrators in class action, securities, white-collar, fraud and recovery, product liability, intellectual property, employment, bankruptcy, and general business matters.

Appellate: With a bench that includes one of the largest groups of former appellate judges in the United States, Akerman’s appellate practice is a national powerhouse with demonstrated success in handling appeals related to complex commercial litigation. Akerman team members frequently assist trial lawyers during all phases of litigation, preserving errors for appeal, drafting motions and responses, and providing strategic advice on the best approach for seeking relief on appeal. We also represent clients in highly specialized administrative appeals involving high-profile issues, and we promote their interests through amicus curiae briefs when they are not a party to an appeal but have a substantial interest in the outcome.

International Litigation & Arbitration: Akerman has a long record of accomplishment in resolving complex multijurisdictional disputes. Our team represents multinational, foreign, and domestic corporations and individuals before U.S. federal and state courts, as well as in arbitration proceedings before a wide range of international arbitral bodies in multiple jurisdictions. Akerman litigators help clients successfully address conflicts in a broad range of sectors, including general commercial disputes, power and energy, construction and engineering, and banking and finance, among many others. Our highly responsive, multilingual team works in tandem with experienced local counsel to provide seamless resolution to disputes throughout Latin America, as well as in Europe, Asia Pacific, Africa, and the Middle East.

Employment Litigation: Akerman’s national, multidisciplinary team helps clients navigate claims brought before state and federal agencies and boards as well as trial and appellate courts throughout the United States. Our lawyers regularly defend employers in all types of employment litigation, including complex class-action discrimination cases and collective action wage and hour matters. We also represent employers in connection with administrative charges and audits, and have successfully negotiated and supervised numerous settlements with the U.S. Department of Labor.

Updated Sep 2022

Firm overview

Full-service IP firm: Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, LLP is one of the world’s largest firms focusing exclusively on IP. It is a true one-stop shop for all IP matters, with experts in every area of IP and every technology. A comprehensive approach to clients IP needs and Finnegan’s mega-boutique size underpin its year-to-year, decade-to-decade pre-eminence in IP litigation across all industries and tribunals.

Global presence: The firm’s offices in the United States, Asia, and Europe practise all aspects of patent, trademark, copyright and trade secret law. Its multinational team represents clients on IP issues relating to U.S. and European patent and trademark law, international trade, portfolio management, the Internet, cybersecurity, e-commerce, government contracts, antitrust and unfair competition.

Industry and technical expertise: Finnegan offers full-service IP legal and technical experience in virtually every industry and technology: biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, biologics and biosimilars, combination products, chemicals, oil and gas, electronics, semiconductors, computers and software, FinTech, Internet of Things (IoT), automotive, aerospace and aviation, industrial manufacturing, consumer products, food and beverage, outdoor recreation, sports and fitness, digital health, medical devices, clean energy and renewables, robotics, textiles, artificial intelligence (AI), and 3D printing.

IP-focused talent: With Finnegan’s practice centred on intellectual property, the firm is positioned  to create economies of scale and focus all resources on providing the best tools and teams for clients. In the past five years, Finnegan filed over 650 IP-related district court cases. The firm’s team is comprised of over 250 litigators, including career trial attorneys. Over 300 of Finnegan’s legal professionals hold degrees in scientific disciplines (more than 60 hold PhDs). Over 225 professionals are registered to practise before the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), European Patent Office (EPO), the German Patent and Trade Mark Office (DPMA), the UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO), and the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO).

ANDA litigation: Since being involved in the very first ANDA litigation, Finnegan has been a leading firm representing innovative pharmaceutical companies before federal district courts and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Our successes derive from a deep bench of experienced and technically sophisticated attorneys who understand the long-term plans of innovative pharmaceutical companies as well as the legal particularities of ANDA litigation under the Hatch-Waxman Act and the nuances of pharmaceutical patent law. Over the last five years, our attorneys have represented more than 20 brand companies in almost 400 ANDA litigations involving revolutionary drugs such as Brilinta®, Farxiga®, Relistor®, Jublia®, Aptiom®, Injectafer®, and Abilify®. We consistently have 150+ ongoing ANDA litigations every year, providing counselling and litigation services in a range of technologies such as antibodies, automated DNA sequencing, diagnostics, imaging agents and other research tools, molecular mechanism infringement claims, and protein therapies.

International Trade Commission (ITC) litigation: When it comes to ITC litigation, Finnegan was litigating IP cases at the ITC long before it became the popular forum it is today. Litigating in the ITC presents a unique challenge—litigating a technologically complicated case in a short period of time, in a pressure-packed forum that can make or break the commercial success of the products at issue. At the ITC, summary determination is rare, and approximately 45 percent of Section 337 cases go to trial, all in front of an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ), not a jury. So when choosing a firm to litigate in the ITC, trial experience in the ITC is of paramount importance. In the past five years, Finnegan attorneys have been involved in nearly 10 percent of Section 337 cases. Over 150 of the firm’s attorneys have litigated at the ITC. Finnegan also has practitioners with ITC experience in the chemical, pharmaceutical, and mechanical fields. Our attorneys have even tried ITC cases involving design patents and trademarks. During the past two years, more than half of all ITC cases have involved electrical and IT-related technologies and semiconductors; Finnegan has more than 80 lawyers and over 20 professionals who have at least one degree in electrical engineering, computer science, or some other related form of specialized technology.

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