Litigator of the Week Runners-Up and Shout-Outs
Litigators at Sidley Austin capped a 24-case winning streak for Aspen American Insurance Co. in COVID-19 business interruption litigation with no case surviving past a motion to dismiss.
November 22, 2024 at 08:25 AM
7 minute read
First up are Yvette Ostolaza, Penny Reid and Yolanda Cornejo Garcia of Sidley Austin, who helped Aspen American Insurance Co. secure a ruling in Connecticut Superior Court dismissing a lawsuit brought by a group of dentists’ offices seeking business interruption coverage for government-mandated shutdowns during the pandemic. Last week’s decision on personal jurisdiction grounds caps a remarkable 24-case winning streak the firm has for Aspen in business interruption litigation, with none of the cases proceeding past a motion to dismiss. The Sidley team representing Aspen has also included counsel Robin Wechkin, senior managing associate Mitchell Alleluia-Feinberg and managing associate Tayler Bragg.
James (Jim) Rouhandeh, Antonio Perez-Marques and Lara Samet Buchwald and their team at Davis Polk & Wardwell secured a significant win for Exxon Mobil Corp. in a tax dispute with the federal government. In a decision made public this week, U.S. District Chief Judge David Godbey in Dallas found that the company was entitled to take certain interest expense deductions stemming from a partnership with the State of Qatar to develop and market valuable minerals in the North Field, an offshore gas field roughly the size of Qatar itself. The court will determine the amount of the tax refund and statutory interest due to Exxon in further proceedings. The Davis Polk team also included associates Sean Stefanik, Kyra Macy Kaufman, Kamali Houston, Kathleen Lewis, Alyssa Metcalf and Kaitlin Campanini, legal assistant Angela Quach, former counsel Andrew Gehring and Gerard McCarthy, former summer associate Aoife Bennett and former legal assistants Benjamin Halle and Jakob Kim, with co-counsel at Holland & Knight including Mary McNulty, Lee Meyercord and Meghan McCaig.
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View AllLitigators of the Week: A Directed Verdict Win for Cisco in a West Texas Patent Case
With DEI Rollbacks, Employment Lawyers See Potential For Targeting Corporate Commitment to Equality
7 minute readMoFo Associate Sees a Familiar Face During Her First Appellate Argument: Justice Breyer
Trending Stories
- 1Data Disposition—Conquering the Seemingly Unscalable Mountain
- 2Who Are the Judges Assigned to Challenges to Trump’s Birthright Citizenship Order?
- 3Litigators of the Week: A Directed Verdict Win for Cisco in a West Texas Patent Case
- 4Litigator of the Week Runners-Up and Shout-Outs
- 5Womble Bond Becomes First Firm in UK to Roll Out AI Tool Firmwide
Who Got The Work
J. Brugh Lower of Gibbons has entered an appearance for industrial equipment supplier Devco Corporation in a pending trademark infringement lawsuit. The suit, accusing the defendant of selling knock-off Graco products, was filed Dec. 18 in New Jersey District Court by Rivkin Radler on behalf of Graco Inc. and Graco Minnesota. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Zahid N. Quraishi, is 3:24-cv-11294, Graco Inc. et al v. Devco Corporation.
Who Got The Work
Rebecca Maller-Stein and Kent A. Yalowitz of Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer have entered their appearances for Hanaco Venture Capital and its executives, Lior Prosor and David Frankel, in a pending securities lawsuit. The action, filed on Dec. 24 in New York Southern District Court by Zell, Aron & Co. on behalf of Goldeneye Advisors, accuses the defendants of negligently and fraudulently managing the plaintiff's $1 million investment. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Vernon S. Broderick, is 1:24-cv-09918, Goldeneye Advisors, LLC v. Hanaco Venture Capital, Ltd. et al.
Who Got The Work
Attorneys from A&O Shearman has stepped in as defense counsel for Toronto-Dominion Bank and other defendants in a pending securities class action. The suit, filed Dec. 11 in New York Southern District Court by Bleichmar Fonti & Auld, accuses the defendants of concealing the bank's 'pervasive' deficiencies in regards to its compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act and the quality of its anti-money laundering controls. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian, is 1:24-cv-09445, Gonzalez v. The Toronto-Dominion Bank et al.
Who Got The Work
Crown Castle International, a Pennsylvania company providing shared communications infrastructure, has turned to Luke D. Wolf of Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani to fend off a pending breach-of-contract lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 25 in Michigan Eastern District Court by Hooper Hathaway PC on behalf of The Town Residences LLC, accuses Crown Castle of failing to transfer approximately $30,000 in utility payments from T-Mobile in breach of a roof-top lease and assignment agreement. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Susan K. Declercq, is 2:24-cv-13131, The Town Residences LLC v. T-Mobile US, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Wilfred P. Coronato and Daniel M. Schwartz of McCarter & English have stepped in as defense counsel to Electrolux Home Products Inc. in a pending product liability lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 26 in New York Eastern District Court by Poulos Lopiccolo PC and Nagel Rice LLP on behalf of David Stern, alleges that the defendant's refrigerators’ drawers and shelving repeatedly break and fall apart within months after purchase. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Joan M. Azrack, is 2:24-cv-08204, Stern v. Electrolux Home Products, Inc.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250