You might call it a literary success.

Susan Kohlmann, managing partner of Jenner & Block's New York office, secured a shutout win for the stepdaughter of John Steinbeck in the latest installment of a long-running legal feud over book rights that has divided the late author's progeny.

The $13.15 million verdict delivered last week by a Los Angeles federal jury, on one hand, seems unlikely to mark the end of the battle. But for Kohlmann and her client, Waverly Scott Kaffaga, it closes a critical chapter and brings moviegoers closer to seeing Steinbeck's literature come to life on screen.