It was hailed as the “Battle of the Sweeteners” in headlines. The companies that make Equal and Splenda squared off in a Philadelphia courtroom over Splenda’s slogan, “Made from sugar, so it tastes like sugar.” Merisant Worldwide, Inc., the maker of Equal, tapped 37-year-old Kirkland & Ellis partner Gregg LoCascio to lead the trial team seeking to prove that its rival’s tagline was misleading. By all accounts, LoCascio’s cross-examination of key witnesses from Splenda’s maker, Johnson & Johnson subsidiary McNeil Nutritionals, LLC, had set his client up for victory. But the two companies settled confidentially just as jurors asked for a whiteboard and a calculator to compute damages. Though details of the settlement remain confidential, Merisant’s top in-house lawyer is free to praise the Kirkland team’s efforts. “Kirkland put together a team of young, energetic, and creative lawyers,” says Merisant general counsel Jonathan Cole. “When you compare their results against their ages, it speaks volumes.”
Kirkland has a crew of partners under 50 who can lead litigation. Los Angeles partner Luke Dauchot, 46, won a $226.3 million jury verdict for clients in a case involving spinal screws. Gregory Arovas, 40, helped win an ITC case for Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. and Motorola, Inc. LoCascio argued an appeal before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on behalf of Siemens Corporation and others affirming a noninfringement judgment on optical scanners used by the U.S. Postal Service. For all the success achieved by youth, though, in the last year IP veterans William Streff, Jr., 58, and Robert Krupka, 58, scored impressive Markman hearing results for clients Denso Corporation and Limelight Networks, Inc., respectively.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law are third party online distributors of the broad collection of current and archived versions of ALM's legal news publications. LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law customers are able to access and use ALM's content, including content from the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, Legaltech News, The New York Law Journal, and Corporate Counsel, as well as other sources of legal information.
For questions call 1-877-256-2472 or contact us at [email protected]
