Welcome to another installment of our Litigation Leaders series showcasing the litigation department heads of the country's biggest law firms. This month, we're featuring Hector Gonzalez, who chairs the global litigation practice at Dechert. 

Based in the firm's New York office, Gonzalez has a wide-ranging practice that includes complex commercial and securities litigation, white collar defense and related civil and administrative matters.

Lit Daily: Tell us a little about yourself—beyond what's in your law firm bio.

Hector Gonzalez: When I was 5 years old, my family and I moved to the U.S. from Cuba. I grew up in Queens with a rich multicultural experience. My parents' sacrifices in uprooting their family to come to this country provided me with vast opportunities; I was the first person in my family to attend college!  

With a keen interest in law enforcement, I eventually pursued a law degree. The study of law was appealing as it allowed me to not only focus on personal achievement, but to approach a profession with a broader purpose.  

Early in my career, I served as an assistant district attorney in the Appeals Bureau of the Manhattan District Attorney's Office. I also served as an assistant U.S. Attorney in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, serving as the chief of the Narcotics Unit and twice receiving the Department of Justice's Director's Award for Superior Performance. 

In addition to my practice, I have also been active in several non-profit organizations. For example, I served for 15 years on the board of New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, a non-profit civil rights organization that focuses on health justice, disability rights and environmental justice. Another non-profit where I was able to effect change is the New York City Civilian Complaint Review Board, which is an independent mayoral agency that investigates charges of police misconduct. I served as board chairman for four of the six years, and felt I made valuable contributions to the rule of law.

 

How big is your litigation department and where are most of your litigators concentrated geographically?

Currently our litigation headcount is 365 lawyers. Our largest presence is along the northeast corridor, with a concentration in New York, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. (We certainly give Amtrak a lot of business!)  

London serves as our European base with almost 20% of our overall litigation team. We do also have strong teams in Chicago, throughout California and in Paris. Our practice is further enhanced by lawyers in Asia and the Middle East, giving us a true global presence.  

Our experience and work transcend our physical locations though, and we often have partners move to other geographies to support clients. For example, we have two U.S. white collar partners in our London office, and one of those is a former AUSA, very rare in the U.K.

In what three areas of litigation do you have the deepest bench? (I know it's tempting to list more, but please just name three)

We have so many great practices and lawyers it's hard to narrow down; I would say:

White Collar, Compliance and Investigations: Our team is global with nearly a third of our lawyers practicing outside the U.S. Collectively we've been involved in investigations in over 85 countries. 

Our roster includes a double-digit number of former assistant U.S. attorneys, including the former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, David Kelley, and former acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, Vince Cohen. Many others served in government roles and we continue to recruit with an eye toward that type of experience. 

Several recent additions include Anthony Kelly, the former co-chief of the Enforcement Division's Asset Management Unit at the SEC; Andrew Boutros, a former AUSA; and the former Philadelphia City Solicitor, Sozi Pedro Tulante, who was also an AUSA and has a fascinating background having come to the U.S. as a refugee from Zaire in the 1980s.

Product Liability and Mass Torts: In mid-2018 Sheila Birnbaum, Mark Cheffo and Doug Fleming moved their practice, which included over 20 lawyers, to Dechert from Quinn Emanuel, bolstering an already great group of PLMT lawyers. Despite the group being incredibly busy, the integration has been seamless.  

We've had many opportunities to collaborate with the clients they brought, and they've brought an expanded skill set and new perspective to existing clients. This is one of the largest groups Dechert has ever integrated. Over and above their financial contribution, they are the nicest, most congenial people we could ask for as colleagues. I'm proud of the success of this integration!

Antitrust:  At Dechert the antitrust practice is part of the litigation group.  We have great lawyers in both the U.S. and Europe. While we do a lot of work with our transactional partners who are private-equity focused, we are often called upon to do the antitrust work in large public deals.  

The most prominent recent matter was the CVS $70 billion acquisition of Aetna, completed by Mike Cowie and Rani Habash. As the largest health care services transaction in history, the antitrust implications were closely examined by the DOJ, Congress, state attorneys general, state departments of insurance, and many private groups. It shows what a great reputation the partners have and how strong their relationship is with CVS.  

Further expanding our antitrust litigation bench, Shari Ross Lahlou, Global Competition Review's 2018 "Litigator of the Year", also joined the practice.  Finally, no mention could be made about the group without giving a nod to DAMITT, the Dechert Antitrust Merger Investigation Timing Tracker; even the FTC refers to it. 

As head of the department, what are some of your goals or priorities?

Growth, diversity, junior partner development, pro bono contributions to our communities, and making sure the litigation group is well positioned to leverage the firm's global footprint.  

Because of my own multicultural experience, Dechert's diversity initiative has always been important to me. I am the former Dechert diversity committee chair and continue to dedicate a significant portion of my time to our firm's diversity efforts. Creating and supporting an inclusive workforce is important to our partners and clients, and key to the strategic growth of the firm.  

I am also focused on the stewardship of Dechert. We have had a bit of fun with this and created the Litigation Team Stewardship Award, the "Stewie," which is passed from partner to partner celebrating those who act as good stewards of the firm through service to clients, partners, or to the firm as a whole. 

The Stewie plaque moves from partner to partner as acts of stewardship occur and we then recognize each winner in the Dechert Docket, our internal litigation newsletter. 

What do you see as hallmarks of your firm's litigators? What makes you different?

We have a deep and experientially diverse bench, providing clients with unique perspectives and solutions. Our lawyers have built a track record of major litigation wins, setting precedent and addressing complex issues in landmark cases for clients in diverse areas and industries.

While we enjoy winning cases in the public domain, we prefer to protect clients from facing public scrutiny and media attention. Our litigation strategy focuses on bringing practical business advice to our clients while avoiding costly litigation. For example, we work hand in hand with our transactional partners to proactively identify any areas of risk and craft winning strategies with a focus on the "what ifs." This brings true value to the client.

How many lateral litigation partners have you hired in the last 12 months? (Please mention names). What do you look for in lateral hires? 

In the last 12 months we've brought in eight lateral partners spanning five offices on three continents. You can see our diversity efforts paying off as 50% of these laterals are women. This is on top of the product liability team who joined in mid-2018, as well as a number of other great laterals over the past few years. We are proud to be a destination for amazing lawyers.  

Starting with the most recent:

Andrew Boutros (Chicago) joined from Seyfarth Shaw—former AUSA—white collar

Sozi Pedro Tulante (Philadelphia) joined from the Philadelphia City Solicitor's Office—former City Solicitor—former AUSA—white collar

Shari Ross Lahlou (Washington, D.C.) joined from Crowell & Moring—antitrust 

Simon Fawell (London) joined from Sidley Austin—financial litigation and arbitration

Robin Nunn (Washington, D.C.) joined from Davis Wright Tremaine—consumer financial services litigation

Maria Sit (Hong Kong) joined from Davis Polk—white collar

Anthony Kelly (Washington, D.C.) joined from the SEC—Co-chief of the Enforcement Division's Asset Management Unit—asset management litigation

Michelle Bradfield (London) joined from Dentons—international arbitration

In terms of what we look for, cultural fit is very important, as well as added value to our clients. This is pretty apparent when you look at the skillset, experience and practices our recent laterals have brought to Dechert.

What were some of your firm's biggest in-court wins in the past year? 

Wins include a victory in a Second Circuit appeal involving a major news organization; a $171M unanimous jury trial verdict for two funds in the New York Supreme Court; and we've enjoyed significant achievements on behalf of a California client in a hotly contested litigation in the Delaware Supreme Court.

In the life sciences space we won a number of victories related to the nationwide opioid litigation; a significant victory as a federal judge in Pennsylvania shaved off numerous tort and breach of warranty claims brought by plaintiffs over a birth control device; a complete defense verdict in a jury trial in federal court in Los Angeles for a health care client; and, as mentioned, Dechert overcame very entrenched opposition to the CVS/Aetna deal.

We've had a number of wins for international clients, achieving complete dismissal of all claims against a U.K. client in the Commercial Division of the New York Supreme Court; securing a landmark alter-ego decision against the Republic of Moldova in the Southern District of New York; a great win in D.C. District Court for a sovereign wealth fund; a better than expected result for a Spanish company in the Southern District of Texas. 

Our international arbitration group successfully represented Colombia in its first investment arbitration at the World Bank's International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, which was quite exciting.

And finally, we've had some great pro bono wins, the most significant involved the Pennsylvania Innocence Project clearing a man convicted of murder in 1993. This is our second successful case in partnership with the Pennsylvania Innocence Project. Life changing, to say the least.

Can you give an example or two of tactics that exemplify your firm's approach to litigating cases? 

When it comes to our approach to trials specifically, the most important thing a trial lawyer must do is to earn, and keep, the jurors' and the court's trust. Everything we do in trial is focused around this objective. Here are a few examples of how we go about this:

Know the audience. We work hard to truly understand what matters to our audience. In a jury trial, for example, we develop thematic trial presentations based exclusively on the things that matter to our jurors. 

Always be honest and sincere. People can tell when a lawyer doesn't really believe what he or she is saying. They certainly will figure it out if the lawyer is misleading them. We make sure everything we tell the court and the jury is 100% correct. And we do not say things that we do not truly believe.  

Be enthusiastic and passionate. We convey passion for our case and excitement to have the opportunity to share our client's story.

Keep it simple. When we think we can win based on one or two arguments, we limit our case to those arguments. We resist the urge to throw every argument into the mix because that detracts from the sincerity and impact of our main points. This is especially true when representing a defendant—"fall back" positions sound like excuses for bad conduct.

We also keep our openings, closings, and direct and cross examinations short and simple. We make the most important points using language, graphics, and examples that people relate to and understand. Then we sit down. Points are lost when a lawyer drones on and on. 

Where are you looking to build or expand in the next year?

We grow in response to client needs and in support of the firm's geographic footprint. We continually pursue lawyers who mirror those industries and specialties while providing a good cultural fit. 

The financial services, life sciences, and manufacturing industries are sectors we continue to focus on.  Around 50% of the firm's clients are in the financial services sector, which are incredibly complicated cases, needing very smart and sophisticated lawyers. New York, Washington, D.C., California and London continue to be the geographies our clients are most active in.

See our prior 2019 Litigation Leaders profiles: