Litigator of the Week Runners-Up and Shout Outs
Runners-up this week include Willkie Farr & Gallagher, Sidley Austin, and Sullivan & Cromwell.
October 22, 2021 at 07:25 AM
4 minute read
Our first runners-up this week are Joseph Baio and James Dugan of Willkie Farr & Gallagher who landed a $44.7 million verdict for Larry Lawson, the former CEO of Spirit Aerospace Systems, in his compensation dispute with the company. After a three-week in-person bench trial in June, U.S. District Judge Eric Melgren in Wichita, Kansas, this week wrote that he didn't buy Spirit's affirmative defense — a claim that the former CEO violated a non-compete provision in his retirement agreement by serving as a consultant to Elliott Associates and participating in a proxy fight involving Arconic Corp., a company that Spirit claimed was its competitor. The Willkie trial team, which won the full amount of damages claimed, also included senior associates Meryl Governski and Ravi Chanderraj.
A trial team at Sidley Austin gets runners-up honors this week for winning the first trial at the Delaware Court of Chancery to consider whether a corporate board can refuse to put potential directors up for election when certain disclosures aren't made in a nomination notice. Following an expedited Zoom bench trial, Vice Chancellor Joseph Slights III last week found the board of Vancouver, Washington-based biotech company CytoDyn didn't breach company bylaws or act unfairly when it declined to put a slate of five proposed directors on its ballot despite the fact their notices were filed by the applicable deadline. The Sidley trial team representing CytoDyn's board was led by litigation partners Andy Stern, Alex Kaplan and Isaac Greaney and included associate Charlotte Newell.
Also getting the nod as runners-up this week are Steve Holley and Matt Porpora of Sullivan & Cromwell who added to the firm's string of victories for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. Last week Judge David Allen of the 3rd Circuit Court in Wayne County, Michigan, dismissed tort claims General Motors brought under Michigan law against FCA as a result of payments FCA officials made to certain officers of the United Auto Workers. Allen found the complaint provided "a captivating narrative examining the actions of over a dozen characters spanning over a decade," but GM couldn't show "that any of defendants' actions caused it any harm." Holley and Porpora previously beat back a high-profile multi-billion RICO suit GM brought in federal court based on similar allegations in July 2020.
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Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
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