Litigator of the Week Runners-Up and Shout-Outs
Runners-Up this week include litigators at Davis Wright Tremaine, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, Gupta Wessler, Latham & Watkins, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, Steptoe, Sullivan & Cromwell and Susman Godfrey.
January 31, 2025 at 08:25 AM
7 minute read
A joint trial team at Davis Wright Tremaine and Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr helped Apple and director M. Night Shyamalan beat back more than $81 million in copyright claims in a lawsuit stemming from the Apple TV+ show “Servant.” Filmmaker Francesca Gregorini claimed the first three episodes of the show infringed on the copyright for her film, “The Truth About Emanuel,” which screened at the Sundance Film Festival. Both feature a mourning mother who treats a doll as if it were her dead child, as well as a caregiver who goes along with the fantasy. Federal jurors in Riverside, Calif., found this week that the plaintiff failed to show that the defendants had access to the film before the episodes of the show were created. The Davis Wright Tremaine team was led by partner Nicolas Jampol and included Cydney Swofford Freeman, both of whom handled witnesses at trial, as well as lead associate Meenakshi Krishnan, associates Carl Mazurek, Adrian Vallens, Farrah Vazquez, Alex Cadena, Sam Lachman and Sam Turner, counsel Courtney DeThomas, paralegals Ben Planchon and Adrianna Gutierrez and legal secretary Sam Ho. The Wilmer team was led by Brittany Amadi, who handled opening and closing statements, and included partners Joseph Mueller and Louis Tompros, special counsel Heath Brooks, counsel Natalie Li, firmwide manager-trial services Lanta Chase, legal secretary LaShawn Davenport and senior support specialist Lenise Jennings.
Deepak Gupta of Gupta Wessler led the team representing Uber Sexual Assault Survivors for Legal Accountability and the Nevada Justice Association in a challenge to an Uber-backed ballot initiative designed to cap contingency fees at 20% in civil cases in the Silver State. The Nevada Supreme Court struck down the proposition this week, finding its description “legally insufficient,” “misleading” and “confusing.” Gupta’s co-counsel included Alex Velto and Nathan Ring of Reese Ring Velto and Steven Silva of Nossaman.
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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.
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