(l-r) Adam Alper, Mike De Vries, and Gianni Cutri, with Kirkland & Ellis. Litigators of the Week: How This Kirkland & Ellis Team Turned a $6B Threat Against Its Client Into an $855M Jury Verdict
"This team had done trials all over the country before COVID-19, but this was a new experience," said Kirkland's Adam Alper of the Southern District of New York's courtroom pandemic precautions.
October 30, 2020 at 07:30 AM
7 minute read
What started nearly five years ago with a demand that Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. pay punitive damages in "an amount of a multiple" of $6,135,791,000, the company's reported net worth at the time, ended this week with Cognizant's opponent hit with an $855 million trade secret jury verdict.
A Kirkland & Ellis team led by Mike De Vries, Gianni Cutri and Adam Alper turned the tables on Syntel Sterling Best Shores Mauritius Ltd., who in 2015 sued Cognizant and TriZetto, a provider of insurance claims processing software which Cognizant purchased in 2014. Prior to the deal, Syntel provided customization and technical support for TriZetto customers and Syntel sued for breach of contract after it was sidelined. But the Kirkland team meticulously made the case that it was Syntel that had misappropriated TriZetto trade secrets and infringed TriZetto copyrights.
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