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The Problem With the Smart Lawyering Behind Alibaba's IPO

May 07, 2014
Clever lawyers can find ways to surmount almost any obstacle. That doesn't mean they always should, writes Susan Beck.
3 minute read

Uniloc Wields Antipiracy Patent in New Batch of Lawsuits

May 07, 2014
Uniloc USA Inc., an accused patent troll best known for winning a $388 million verdict against Microsoft in 2009, is looking for more returns from its most prized IP asset.
2 minute read

Patton Boggs to Pay Chevron $15M in Retreat From Ecuador Fight

May 07, 2014
Capitulating to claims that it backed a fraudulent lawsuit against Chevron Corporation, Patton Boggs agreed Wednesday to pay the oil giant $15 million and to give up its stake in a $9.5 billion Ecuadorean environmental judgment.
4 minute read

Cadwalader Appeals $17M Malpractice Award Over Proxy Fight

May 06, 2014
The firm was socked with a $17.2 million damages bill this week, after a judge refused to toss legal malpractice claims brought by Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder. But Cadwalader's lawyers at Cravath immediately lodged an appeal, signaling that the 3-year-old case may be far from over.
2 minute read

Second Circuit Strikes Down Mammoth UBS Class Action

May 06, 2014
A long-running securities class action against UBS AG finally bit the dust on Tuesday, courtesy of an appeals court decision that further limits the extraterritorial reach of U.S. securities laws.
3 minute read

Cote Delivers More Bad News for Banks in NCUA Cases

May 06, 2014
Like the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which sued banks that sold mortgage-backed securities to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the National Credit Union Administration has so far compiled a winning record in cases against banks that sold MBS to credit unions that later failed.
3 minute read

Jury Foreman Explains Apple-Samsung Verdict

May 05, 2014
For the eight-member panel, the deposition of a Google Inc. lawyer buttressed Samsung's argument that it was caught in the crosshairs of a larger fight between Apple and Google.
4 minute read

Baker & Hostetler Beats Back Attack on Cape Wind Project

May 05, 2014
An "obdurate band of aggrieved residents of Cape Cod and the islands," backed by billionaire William Koch and represented by Jenner & Block, were rebuffed again in their latest attempt to block a massive offshore wind farm.
3 minute read

Davis Polk Knocks Out Suit Over Facebook IPO Profits

May 05, 2014
Legal battles over Facebook's May 2012 IPO continue to dog the company and its bankers. But Davis Polk chipped away at the litigation on Friday, defeating an investor lawsuit alleging that Facebook's underwriters improperly earned $100 million in so-called short-swing profits.
4 minute read

Judge OKs $280 Million Deal to End JPMorgan Class Action

May 05, 2014
Two years after the Second Circuit revived investor claims against Goldman Sachs in a key case over mortgage-backed securities, the decision continues to haunt defendants—and pay dividends for MBS plaintiffs.
3 minute read

Asus, Round Rock Ink Deal to End Patent Fight

May 04, 2014
Round Rock Research, the patent licensing company founded by former Kirkland partner John Desmarais, netted a confidential settlement last week with longtime target ASUSTeK Computer Inc.
3 minute read

Apple Asks Second Circuit to Boot Antitrust Monitor

May 04, 2014
Apple's court-appointed antitrust monitor, Michael Bromwich, recently reported that his relationship with the company has improved. But Apple still wants him gone, as the tech giant made abundantly clear in its opening appellate brief seeking Bromwich's removal.
3 minute read

Jury Awards Apple $119.6 Million in Mixed Verdict

May 02, 2014
A jury determined that Samsung must pay Apple $119.6 million for patent infringement, a fraction of the nearly $2.2 billion that Apple sought in the latest round of the companies' protracted patent battle.
4 minute read

Oracle, SAP Set to Brawl Over Damages in Landmark Copyright Case

May 02, 2014
In its long-awaited appeal, Oracle has tapped Quinn Emanuel's Kathleen Sullivan to argue that a jury's $1.3 billion verdict should be restored.
8 minute read

Kasowitz Gets Green Light to Challenge Goldman's ABACUS Win

May 02, 2014
A year after dismissing the case, an intermediate appeals court in New York has agreed to let ACA Financial Guaranty Corp take its long-running fraud case against Goldman Sachs & Co. to the state's highest court.
3 minute read

Dynegy, Carl Icahn Dodge Securities Class Action

May 01, 2014
Dynegy Inc.'s 2011 restructuring provoked the ire of a bankruptcy examiner, but it hasn't proven fertile ground for a securities class action spearheaded by Levi & Korsinsky.
2 minute read

Hagens Berman Accuses Google of Building Mobile Search Monopoly

May 01, 2014
An antitrust suit filed Thursday alleges that Google took control of smartphone searching through secret agreements with its Android partners.
3 minute read

Litigator of the Week: Stephen Tillery of Korein Tillery

May 01, 2014
It's more than a little unusual for an intermediate court to undo a high court decision. But Tillery's $10 billion battle with Philip Morris is no ordinary case.
4 minute read

New York Stock Exchange Pays $4.5M to Settle SEC Charges

May 01, 2014
In the latest in a series of suits against stock exchanges, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced an enforcement action against the New York Stock Exchange and two affiliated exchanges for failing to establish and follow certain mandatory rules.
2 minute read

Banks Beat Long-Running Missouri Mortgage Class Actions

May 01, 2014
When Missouri passed a new law governing second mortgages back in 1979, the goal was to limit the burden of high-interest loans on borrowers. But after plaintiffs lawyers discovered the law more than a decade ago, it produced a predictable byproduct: class action litigation.
3 minute read

Rajaratnam Can't Dodge Tamil Tigers Terror Funding Claims

April 30, 2014
A judge delivered more bad news to disgraced hedge fund titan Raj Rajaratnam this week, refusing to dismiss an Alien Tort Statute case alleging that he and his father provided financial support to a Sri Lankan terrorist group.
3 minute read

Covington Wins Another Shot to Beat 3M Disqualification Bid

April 30, 2014
With an eye on both its reputation and its wallet, Covington & Burling has spent two years fighting a judge's ruling that the firm betrayed a former client, 3M Company, by suing it on behalf of the Minnesota attorney general.
3 minute read

Patent Case Confounds Justices on Last Day of Argument

April 30, 2014
The U.S. Supreme Court muddled its way through what several justices described as a confusing patent case on Wednesday, but they did not seem to mind.
5 minute read

Supreme Court Patent Rulings Shift Reform Debate

April 30, 2014
Two U.S. Supreme Court decisions that give district courts more leeway in awarding attorney fees to prevailing parties in patent suits are being used as ammunition by opponents of patent reform.
5 minute read

Judge Rakoff Dings Picard in Madoff Avoidance Actions

April 29, 2014
Irving Picard's efforts to spread money among Bernie Madoff's Ponzi victims hit a snag this week, when a judge ruled that Picard must present more potent allegations in order to proceed with so-called avoidance actions against entities like Societe Generale and UniCredit that handled Madoff funds.
2 minute read

Apple-Samsung Lawyers Fire Final Salvos

April 29, 2014
As their latest patent trial drew to a close Tuesday, lawyers for Apple and Samsung took a stab at answering a question that's perplexing some observers: Why are they still going at it?
4 minute read

Hulu Can't Shake Video Privacy Class Action

April 29, 2014
The video streaming company may be liable for transmitting personal user information to Facebook, a magistrate judge ruled.
5 minute read

Gibson Dunn Stymies DOJ in Trial of Reverse Merger Exec

April 29, 2014
Claims of rampant fraud among Chinese companies that won backdoor listings on U.S. stock exchanges have sparked regulatory scrutiny and a raft of class actions. But this week the Department of Justice suffered a mistrial in one of its first criminal cases targeting a reverse merger company executive.
3 minute read

Supreme Court Newbie Scores in Patent Fee-Shifting Case

April 29, 2014
Octane Fitness v. Icon Health and Fitness, one of two highly anticipated patent rulings issued by the Supreme Court on Tuesday, doesn't just make it easier for judges to award attorney fees to the prevailing party in infringement cases. It also vindicates Octane's decision to stick with a lawyer who'd never before set foot inside the high court.
3 minute read

Gibson Dunn, Kilpatrick Beat Back Patent Assault on Game Makers

April 28, 2014
A judge tossed an Acacia Research subsidiary's infringement claims against Zynga, Electronic Arts, and two other defendants, ruling that the concept of charging players for mid-game purchases is an abstract idea that can't be patented.
3 minute read

Federal Circuit Patent Ruling Disrupts Apple-Samsung Trial

April 28, 2014
Judge Lucy Koh gave each side an hour to contend with a new claim construction for Apple's "quick links" patent.
3 minute read

Oil Companies Win Appeal in Battle Over Toxic WWII Site

April 28, 2014
Federal Circuit Judge Evan Wallach ruled that the government can't escape as much as $100 million in cleanup costs related to fueling the Allied victory in World War II.
4 minute read

S&C Knocks Out Novell v. Microsoft, This Time for Good

April 28, 2014
Nearly 15 years ago, Sullivan & Cromwell's David Tulchin signed on to defend Microsoft against an avalanche of claims that it stifled competition to promote an illegal monopoly for Windows. Now the last of the cases has finally reached a dead end at the Supreme Court.
3 minute read

Apple Looks to Appeals Court as E-Books Trial Looms

April 27, 2014
Apple and its lawyers at Gibson Dunn got some rare good news in the ebooks price-fixing litigation on Friday, when the Second Circuit signaled that it may weigh in on the merits of the case before a scheduled trial on damages.
2 minute read

Patent Holders Rush to File New Cases Ahead of Rule Change

April 25, 2014
A fee-shifting provision in the patent reform bill prompted patent holders to bring a flood of new patent cases on April 23—one day before the rules would retroactively go into effect.
2 minute read

Apple Wins, Posner Loses in Smartphone Patent Appeal

April 25, 2014
The Federal Circuit tore up big chunks of Judge Richard Posner's explosive pretrial ruling in the Apple-Motorola smartphone litigation, particularly his decision that almost all of the damages evidence from both sides was inadmissible.
4 minute read

Libor Case Against Barclays Gets a Second Life

April 25, 2014
In a setback for Barclays and defense lawyers at Sullivan & Cromwell, Boies Schiller and Dechert, the Second Circuit on Friday revived part of a securities class action targeting the bank over its role in alleged Libor manipulation.
3 minute read

Quinn Emanuel Wins $283 Million Verdict for ViaSat

April 25, 2014
After an impressive two weeks of deliberation, a federal jury in San Diego returned a verdict on Thursday that Space Systems/Loral infringed on patents belonging to Quinn Emanuel client ViaSat Inc.
3 minute read

Litigators of the Week: Michael Williams and Harold Barza of Quinn Emanuel

April 24, 2014
The duo's client complained that 3M Company stole his work, patented his technology, and then sued him for allegedly infringing it. Now it's 3M's turn to complain, after a judge socked the company with a $26 million judgment this week.
4 minute read

Fed Up With Apple, Judge Paves Way for July E-Books Trial

April 24, 2014
Judging from U.S. District Judge Denise Cote's latest decision, tempers haven't cooled since she ruled last summer that Apple is liable for violations of antitrust laws.
3 minute read

Tech Companies Ink Deal to Exit 'No-Poach' Case

April 24, 2014
A month before trial, Google, Apple, Intel Corp. and Adobe Systems Inc. have reached a settlement with workers who accused the tech giants of conspiring to drive down wages by not hiring each other's employees.
4 minute read

Ninth Circuit Yanks Apple Power Cord Settlement

April 24, 2014
Theodore Frank of the Center for Class Action Fairness argued the deal, approved by former U.S. District Judge James Ware, was a bigger boon for plaintiffs lawyers than for consumers.
3 minute read

Patent Plaintiff eDekka Beefs Up Texas Litigation Campaign

April 24, 2014
Apple and a handful of other companies are fighting back against claims that they infringe a single 22-year-old patent that purportedly covers online shopping cart functions. But the cases—and the settlements— are piling up.
2 minute read

Appeals Court Mostly Upholds Bingham Win in REIT Sale Suit

April 23, 2014
The court ruled Wednesday that broker-dealer David Lerner Associates didn't violate federal securities laws in connection with the sale of five real estate investment trusts with a combined value of $6.8 billion.
2 minute read

SEC Charges Ex-Nvidia Manager With Insider Trading

April 23, 2014
Chris Choi of San Jose passed confidential earnings information to a friend, who then sold it to a hedge fund manager, the agency alleges.
2 minute read

Keker Scores for Google in GeoTag Patent Fight

April 23, 2014
Google won a ruling that it doesn't infringe Geotag's crown jewel patent, easily one of the most litigated patents in U.S. history. But the ruling arrives too late to help hundreds of Google customers that have already succumbed to Geotag's parent litigation machine.
3 minute read

Second Circuit Revives RICO Case Against R.J. Reynolds

April 23, 2014
A unanimous Second Circuit panel ruled that 26 European countries can sue RJR for an alleged scheme in which criminal organizations used cigarette smuggling to launder money earned in the European narcotics trade.
4 minute read

3M Docked $26 Million Over Conduct in TransWeb Patent Case

April 22, 2014
A federal judge in New Jersey put 3M on the hook for millions of dollars that TransWeb LLC spent on attorneys at Quinn Emanuel—plus millions more for good measure.
3 minute read

Mitsubishi Loses Appeal in Chip Design Case

April 22, 2014
Davis Wright Tremaine partner Martin Fineman argued that a Mitsubishi representative breached a non-disclosure agreement with his chip designer client.
3 minute read

Aereo Case Prompts Supreme Court Debate on TV, Technology

April 22, 2014
The upstart technology company Aereo Inc. forced the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday into a wide-ranging debate not just about the future of television but also the fate of cloud computing and other innovations.
4 minute read

SAP, Versata Clash Over Endgame in $391 Million Patent Fight

April 22, 2014
Versata's lawyers at McKool Smith are accusing SAP of postponing the inevitable in a long, hard-fought battle over software patents.
4 minute read

Sixth Circuit Nixes Ford Win in EEOC Telecommuting Case

April 22, 2014
Amid a crush of recent litigation failures, the EEOC scored a victory on Tuesday against appellate hotshot Eugene Scalia of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, reviving a case that a dissenting judge warned could backfire dramatically on employees.
3 minute read

Judge Tosses $124 Million Fraud Suit Over Twitter IPO

April 21, 2014
Simpson Thacher partners Bruce Angiolillo and Jonathan Youngwood made quick work of the case, which was filed by two investment firms claiming that Twitter duped them into propping up the company's pre-IPO valuation.
3 minute read

Sidley Clears Way for Tellabs Trade Secrets Case

April 21, 2014
Did Fujitsu Ltd. steal trade secrets by stealthily purchasing and inspecting a rival's product? Thanks to a ruling for Tellabs in Chicago federal court, we're one step closer to finding out.
3 minute read

High Court Snubs Exxon in New York City MTBE Case

April 21, 2014
Bancroft's Paul Clement argued that leaving the city's $104.7 million verdict against Exxon in place could open up "whole new arenas for abusive and speculative litigation." The U.S. Supreme Court apparently didn't find the situation quite so dire.
4 minute read

High Court Heavyweights Girding for Aereo Battle

April 21, 2014
The U.S. Supreme Court on April 22 will hear arguments in American Broadcasting Cos. v. Aereo Inc. — what some observers have called the most important copyright challenge to reach the high court in a decade.
5 minute read

Judge Finds Inconsistencies in Younger Rajaratnam's Indictment

April 18, 2014
Still facing a June 17 trial date on claims that he engaged in insider trading alongside his older brother Raj Rajaratnam, Rengam Rajaratnam may have caught a minor break on Friday with a ruling that could help narrow the indictment against him.
2 minute read

The Dam Breaks: Investors Take Aim at Herbalife

April 18, 2014
Amid reports that Herbalife is under criminal investigation, the securities plaintiffs bar has finally pounced on the controversial nutritional supplements company.
3 minute read

Missiles Fly in HTC's War on Niro Firm

April 18, 2014
HTC Corp.'s brawl with patent powerhouse Niro, Haller & Niro over the firm's alleged role in inequitable conduct before the U.S. Patent and Trade Office shows no signs of abating.
6 minute read

Lululemon Missteps Don't Amount to Fraud, Judge Rules

April 18, 2014
The company's see-through pants fiasco and similar blunders can't serve as the basis for a securities fraud class action against Lululemon, a judge in Manhattan confirmed on Friday. The ruling is a victory for defense teams at Weil and Paul Weiss.
2 minute read

Scheindlin Defies Second Circuit in Alien Tort Case

April 17, 2014
Manhattan U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin ruled that South African apartheid victims can seek compensation from three Fortune 100 companies under the Alien Tort Statute, directly contradicting a Second Circuit ruling in another ATS case. 
3 minute read

Litigators of the Week: Matthew Moore of Latham & Watkins and Robert Angle of Troutman Sanders

April 17, 2014
Moore and Angle won a ruling this week that promises to stem an assault by patent powerhouse Intellectual Ventures against a group of major banks.
3 minute read

Medtronic Accused of 'Scare Tactics' in Heart Valve Case

April 17, 2014
According to lawyers for Edwards LifeSciences at Paul Weiss, Medtronic is resorting to "hyperbolic claims" to counter an injunction against heart valves found to infringe Edwards' IP.
5 minute read

Sidley Renews Pitch for China in Vitamin Makers' Appeal

April 16, 2014
With two Chinese companies facing a $157 million price-fixing verdict, the Chinese government is reasserting its position that the litigation should never have gotten off the ground because the defendants were acting at its behest.
4 minute read

Justice Alito Re-Enters Two Key Business Cases

April 16, 2014
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito Jr. will participate in two cases set for argument next week in which he had previously recused himself.
2 minute read

Patton Boggs Taps White-Collar Pro Abramovitz in Chevron Fight

April 16, 2014
Famed criminal defense attorney Elkan Abramowitz will help the beleaguered firm battle claims that its lawyers engaged in fraud while trying to enforce a $9.5 billion environmental judgment against Chevron Corporation.
3 minute read

A Busy Two Weeks for SCOTUS as Adjournment Draws Nigh

April 16, 2014
Lying, streaming and phoning top the April argument docket of the U.S. Supreme Court as the justices enter the homestretch of the October 2013 term.
7 minute read

Former SEC Lawyer Speaks Out on Agency's Failings

April 16, 2014
An investigation of the SEC's case against Goldman Sachs revealed James Kidney as a rare voice willing to criticize his own agency. After a retirement speech last month that made waves on Wall Street and in Washington, Kidney elaborated on his concerns in an extensive interview.
11 minute read

Kaye Scholer Scores Verdict in IP Row Over Airplane Parts

April 15, 2014
Thanks to a quick jury verdict that could be worth tens of millions of dollars for their client, lawyers at Kaye Scholer are claiming a major victory in a Delaware patent case that nearly fizzled out three years ago.
2 minute read

With IPO Underway, Arista Fires Back at Founder's Suit

April 15, 2014
Lawyers at Wilson Sonsini argue Silicon Valley billionaire David Cheriton fabricated claims to interfere with Arista's IPO.
3 minute read

Samsung Experts Take Aim at Apple Patents

April 15, 2014
Apple patents covering universal search, slide to unlock and quick linking features are all invalid, Samsung witnesses insisted Tuesday.
3 minute read

Citing SCOTUS, Judge Revives Madoff Feeder Fund Claims

April 15, 2014
Predictions that the Supreme Court's ruling in Chadbourne & Parke v. Troice would affect Bernie Madoff litigation proved correct this week, when a judge revived claims against one of Madoff's so-called feeder funds, Tremont Group.
3 minute read

Winston Cements $503 Million Win in Battle of Tycoons

April 14, 2014
Winston & Strawn's W. Gordon Dobie scored the half-billion dollar win for Israeli businessman Alexander Gliklad in a long-running fight with billionaire industrialist Michael Cherney.
2 minute read

Google Engineers Take Stage in Apple-Samsung Trial

April 14, 2014
A trio of Google engineers testified Monday in Apple and Samsung's latest trial over smartphone and tablet technology, sending the message that they came up with the Android operating system all on their own.
3 minute read

Jenner Takes Aim at Google in Authors' Copyright Appeal

April 14, 2014
Some think the Second Circuit has already signaled its approval of Google's effort to digitize the world's books, albeit indirectly. After seven years of crusading against Google's project, the Authors Guild has tapped a new legal team and asked the court for a straight answer.
3 minute read

Judge Halts Use of Life Saving Heart Valve in Patent Fight

April 14, 2014
Medtronic's valve leads to "better outcomes with a lower risk of death," Judge Gregory Sleet of Delaware concluded, but it steps on a rival's patent.
5 minute read

Sidley Dents SEC's 'Conflict Minerals' Rule in D.C. Circuit

April 14, 2014
In the latest legal assault on government regulations promulgated under Dodd-Frank, the court ruled that the SEC can't force a company that uses minerals from the Democratic Republic of Congo "to confess blood on its hands."
3 minute read

Whistleblower Barred from Double-Dipping Against Verizon

April 11, 2014
An appeals court has tossed a False Claims Act case against Verizon Communications Inc., ruling that the suit is barred by an earlier case in which the same whistleblower netted a big settlement. Wilmer Hale Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr advised Verizon.
3 minute read

Robbins Geller Faces Off with NHL Over Head Injuries

April 11, 2014
Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd made a clumsy entrance into litigation over concussions in pro sports, filing a class action complaint against the National Hockey League that included a few attention-grabbing typos and factual errors.
3 minute read

Judge Nixes Trade Secrets Charges Against Palo Alto Networks

April 11, 2014
Firewall engineer Qiang Wang waited too long to sue over the alleged breach of a non-disclosure agreement, U.S. District Judge William Alsup ruled.
3 minute read

'Blunt' E-mails Dog Intel in Pentium 4 Class Action

April 11, 2014
With trial set for May, a judge in California has tentatively denied the company's eleventh hour bid for summary judgment.
7 minute read

Credit Card Companies Narrowly Escape Antitrust Class Action

April 10, 2014
Somewhat grudgingly, a federal judge in New York tossed claims that American Express, Discover and other companies used meetings organized by lawyers at Wilmer and Ballard Spahr to cook up a conspiracy to preempt consumer class actions.
4 minute read

AlixPartners Sues Consultants Poached by McKinsey & Co.

April 10, 2014
The lawsuit, filed in Delaware Chancery Court by Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher and Richards Layton & Finger, accuses former AlixPartners managing directors Eric Thompson and Ivo Naumann of breaching their employment agreements and stealing trade secrets.
2 minute read

Chinese Solar Firms Can't Escape Solyndra's Attack

April 10, 2014
A federal judge in Oakland cleared the way for an antitrust suit accusing three Chinese companies of flooding the U.S. market with cheap solar panels.
3 minute read

Litigator of the Week: Gerald Maatman Jr. of Seyfarth Shaw

April 10, 2014
When the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission accuses his clients of discrimination, Maatman doesn't just defeat the government's claims. Instead, he has a knack for shining a light on the EEOC's own practices, embarrassing the agency and vindicating employers in the process.
4 minute read

Sixth Circuit Slams EEOC in Kaplan Bias Case

April 09, 2014
Not only did the EEOC base its case on flawed methodology, the court ruled, but the agency employs the same hiring practice that it claimed Kaplan was using to discriminate against minorities.
2 minute read

JPMorgan Can't Dodge Online Payment Patent Claims

April 09, 2014
When inventor Lakshmi Arunachalam gets involved in patent cases, strange things can happen. But one of her latest cases quietly cleared a hurdle this week, leaving JPMorgan Chase & Co. facing claims that it infringed patents by letting its customers pay bills online.
4 minute read

Lawyers Face Tough Audience in Apple-Motorola Patent Brawl

April 09, 2014
Exasperated with endless smartphone litigation, a Federal Circuit panel didn't mince words with Quinn Emanuel's Kathleen Sullivan and E. Joshua Rosenkranz of Orrick.
6 minute read

Trial Looms in Former IP Client's Case Against Baker Botts

April 09, 2014
Did Baker Botts betray one of its clients by sharing its secrets with a rival and hiding its duplicity? Or is the law firm a victim of attempts by an unsuccessful company to blame its failings on others?
6 minute read

Latham Scores for Amazon in Rovi Patent Fight

April 08, 2014
Despite the efforts of Durie Tangri's Mark Lemley, Rovi Corporation hit another dead end Tuesday in its litigation campaign against the digital TV industry. But rather than raising the white flag, in the wake of its defeat Rovi was threatening a follow-up case involving new patents.
2 minute read

Apple Settlement Comes Under Fire at Ninth Circuit

April 08, 2014
A Ninth Circuit panel seemed likely to reject a 2012 class action settlement, and a $3.1 million fee award, that was approved by former U.S. District Judge James Ware.
4 minute read

Lanier Says $9B Actos Verdict Sends Message to Takeda, Lilly

April 08, 2014
Even though it's likely to shrink dramatically, famed trial lawyer W. Mark Lanier says the eye-popping verdict blows away all those he's won before.
4 minute read

Plaintiffs Cry Foul in Credit Suisse Securities Class Action

April 08, 2014
When damning internal emails were unsealed last month in a securities suit against Credit Suisse, The New York Times wasn't the only one who took notice. Plaintiffs lawyers pursuing a separate mortgage-backed securities class action also snapped to attention, and on Monday they accused Credit Suisse of failing to disclose the documents in their own case.
3 minute read

Teva Asks High Court to Block Generics Ahead of Copaxone Ruling

April 07, 2014
Teva Pharmaceuticals v. Sandoz could usher in a new era of deference to trial judges in patent cases. But Teva's lawyers reminded the Supreme Court on Monday that there's real money at stake in the case as well.
3 minute read

Perseverance Pays Off for Paul Hastings in DuPont Secrets Case

April 07, 2014
Paul Hastings still has a ways to go if it hopes to vindicate client Kolon Industries in its trade secrets battle with DuPont Co. But Kolon's big appellate win last week has clearly boosted the spirits of its defense lawyers.
4 minute read

Viacom Intern Case Moves Ahead as Employers Eye Second Circuit

April 07, 2014
Another employment class action brought on behalf of unpaid interns cleared a hurdle when a federal judge in Manhattan conditionally certified an FLSA class action against Viacom Inc.
4 minute read

Companies Losing Ammunition in High Tech 'No Poach' Case

April 07, 2014
U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh will allow testimony that the alleged anti-recruitment conspiracy cost class members more than $3 billion in lost wages.
4 minute read

SEC Records Reveal Divisions over Goldman Sachs Probe

April 07, 2014
In the Abacus case, the Securities and Exchange Commission secured a $550 million settlement from Goldman and a civil fraud verdict against former Goldman VP Fabrice Tourre. But one senior SEC lawyer thought the agency wasn't aggressive enough, newly released transcripts show.
8 minute read

International Arbitration Heavyweights Debut Global Boutique

April 06, 2014
Billing itself as the world's first global arbitration boutique, Three Crowns is being launched Monday by a sextet of top international arbitration lawyers from Freshfields, Covington & Burling, Shearman & Sterling and Jones Day.
4 minute read

Plaintiffs Firm Accuses KBR of Silencing Whistleblowers

April 04, 2014
Thanks to some aggressive litigating by Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto, regulators and legislators are reportedly looking into whether military contractor KBR Inc. silenced whistleblowing by requiring employees to sign confidentiality agreements.
4 minute read

Court OKs Attack on DataTern Patents by SAP, Microsoft

April 04, 2014
After DataTern accused dozens of SAP and Microsoft customers of patent infringement, the two companies sprang into action and used declaratory judgment actions to knock out DataTern's patents in 2012. The Federal Circuit blessed that tactic on Friday, but with some reservations.
4 minute read

Court Revives Samsung Antitrust Suit Against Panasonic

April 04, 2014
The Ninth Circuit reversed a decision that found Samsung waited too long to file its suit accusing Panasonic of using patents to stomp competitors.
4 minute read

SAP Shuffles Legal Line-Up to Fight $391 Million Judgment

April 04, 2014
SAP has brought on Weil Gotshal's Edward Reines to argue that a 2013 decision from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board shields the softwar giant from having to satisfy a $391 million judgment.
7 minute read

Litigator of the Week: Erin Murphy of Bancroft

April 03, 2014
Like her mentor Paul Clement, Erin Murphy of Bancroft PLLC now knows what it's like to deliver the winning argument in a polarizing U.S. Supreme Court case.
4 minute read

Cigarette Makers Launch New Bid to End Engle Woes

April 03, 2014
Tobacco companies facing thousands of smoker lawsuits in Florida filed their ninth batch of U.S. Supreme Court petitions last week, claiming the Florida courts are trampling on their constitutional rights in the so-called Engle progeny litigation.
5 minute read

Anadarko Inks $5.15 Billion Deal to End Tronox Cleanup Woes

April 03, 2014
The settlement follows a major courtroom victory last year by Kirkland's David Zott and his client, litigation trustee John Hueston of Irell & Manella.
3 minute read

Concepcion Hobbles Plaintiffs in California Arbitration Fight

April 03, 2014
California's highest court suggested Thursday that it's in no mood to buck the U.S. Supreme Court, and that it will instead overrule a 2007 decision that blocked employers from enforcing class action waivers in arbitration agreements.
4 minute read

Kolon Escapes $919 Million Verdict in Battle With DuPont

April 03, 2014
The Fourth Circuit reluctantly vacated DuPont's $919 million trade secrets win against Kolon Industries in a fight over Kevlar, handing a big win to appellate ace Paul Clement of Bancroft PLLC and cocounsel at Paul Hastings.
3 minute read

Madoff Feeder Fund Tremont Group Dodges Investor Suit

April 02, 2014
The ruling, which also dismisses claims against Tremont parents Oppenheimer and Mass Mutual, is a loss for attorneys at Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy, who based their complaint partly on an exclusive jailhouse meeting with Madoff in 2009.
2 minute read

N.Y. Court Won't Revive Cerberus Suit Against Paul Hastings

April 02, 2014
Ableco Finance, a financing unit of Cerberus Capital Management, has hit a dead end in a malpractice lawsuit alleging that Paul Hastings bungled the terms of a $125 million deal in 2008.
3 minute read

After Class Action Shut-Out, Wal-Mart Plaintiff Clears a Hurdle

April 02, 2014
At least one more woman will be able to proceed with employment discrimination claims against Wal-Mart Stores Inc., thanks to a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. On Monday the Fifth Circuit reversed a lower court and held that Texas resident Stephanie Odle's individual claims aren't time-barred.
3 minute read

Divided Court Strikes Total Limits on Campaign Contributions

April 02, 2014
In another major blow to the regulation of money in elections, a sharply divided U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday struck down federal limits on the total amounts individuals may contribute to candidates and political committees.
5 minute read

News Corp, Murdoch Beat Investor Claims Over Hacking Scandal

April 01, 2014
With help from Skadden, News Corp. and its CEO, Rupert Murdoch, have dodged a proposed securities fraud class action over the company's phone-hacking scandal—at least for the time being.
3 minute read

Lawyers Strike Some Familiar Notes in Apple-Samsung Openings

April 01, 2014
Morrison & Foerster partner Harold McElhinny largely stuck to themes that have worked for Apple with two previous juries, while Samsung lawyer John Quinn made some adjustments.
3 minute read

GE Unit Loses Bid to Sink Megabucks Mortgage Suits

April 01, 2014
Rejecting defense arguments by Jenner & Block, a Paul Krugman-quoting federal judge in Connecticut refused to toss claims brought by MoloLamken and Ropes & Gray over more than $4 billion in mortgage-backed securities.
4 minute read

HP Reaches $57 Million Deal to End Class Action Over WebOs

April 01, 2014
Hewlett-Packard shocked investors when it pulled the plug on the company's much-touted WebOs operating system and signaled a wholesale shift in business strategy. Now HP and its lawyers at Morgan Lewis and Gibson Dunn have agreed to a $57 million settlement to make investor claims over the episode go away.
3 minute read

JPMorgan, Dimon Can't Shake London Whale Class Action

March 31, 2014
Did Jamie Dimon engage in securities fraud when he downplayed the London Whale trading scandal as a "tempest in a teapot"? Thanks to a ruling issued on Monday, we could eventually see a ruling on that question—or a settlement to make it go away.
2 minute read

Chevron Judge Green-Lights Fraud Claims Against Patton Boggs

March 31, 2014
Patton Boggs received some unwelcome but hardly surprising news on Monday, when a judge allowed Chevron Corporation to pursue claims that lawyers at the firm made misrepresentations to judges and engaged in other misconduct while enforcing a $9.5 billion environmental judgment against the oil giant.
4 minute read

Supreme Court Struggles for Clarity on Software Patents

March 31, 2014
Clarity and consensus seemed beyond the U.S. Supreme Court's reach on Monday as the justices struggled to decide whether software and computer-dependent inventions are eligible for patents.
5 minute read

Morgan Stanley Exec Takes Top Job at Litigation Funding Upstart

March 31, 2014
William Strong, co-CEO of Morgan Stanley's Asia-Pacific operations and a member of the bank's global management committee, will take the helm at Longford Capital on May 1.
2 minute read

Judge: SCOTUS 'First Sale' Ruling Can't Derail Lexmark Patent Case

March 31, 2014
The Supreme Court clarified a murky area of the law—and dished out bad news for copyright holders— when it ruled last year that copyright owners can't block U.S. resales of "gray market" products that are manufactured and first sold abroad. Some importers would like to see the same logic extended to products protected by U.S. patents, but so far the courts haven't been willing to oblige.
4 minute read

Supreme Court Moves to Pin Down Rules for Software Patents

March 28, 2014
For the third time in four years, the Supreme Court on Monday will set out to distinguish patent-eligible inventions from mere abstract ideas. This time the court will be doing it in the context of computerized business methods, and that has Silicon Valley lawyers paying extra attention.
6 minute read

Jury Returns Mixed Verdict in Reynolds Infringement Case

March 28, 2014
Reynolds Consumer Products and its lawyers at Jones Day have won a trade dress infringement verdict against competitor Handi-Foil Corp for willfully infringing its well-known aluminum foil packaging. But the company struck out on several parallel claims.
2 minute read

Carrier IQ Plaintiffs Defeat Arbitration Push by Phone Makers

March 28, 2014
A federal judge in San Francisco rejected a motion to compel arbitration based on contracts consumers had signed with their carriers.
3 minute read

Judge OKs Conspiracy Claim in Silicon Valley 'No Poach' Suit

March 28, 2014
A jury should decide whether Google, Apple, Intel and Adobe conspired to drive down employee wages through non-solicitation pacts, U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose ruled Friday.
3 minute read

MBS Class Action Continues to Haunt Goldman

March 28, 2014
Having twice dismissed the case without prejudice, a federal judge is now allowing discovery in a class action against Goldman Sachs, which is accused of duping investors in a $780 million mortgage-backed security. Sullivan & Cromwell is advising Goldman.
3 minute read

Skadden Win in Bank of America Case May Undercut DOJ's Strategy

March 27, 2014
A U.S. magistrate judge's recommendation to dismiss claims that Bank of America defrauded investors in a mortgage-backed security may weaken the Department of Justice's efforts to use a statute known as FIRREA.
2 minute read

Labor Lawyers Predict NLRB Fumble on Football Decision

March 27, 2014
Labor lawyers are skeptical that a decision by a National Labor Relations Board official in Chicago giving football players at Northwestern University a green light to unionize would survive judicial scrutiny.
4 minute read

Litigator of the Week: Orin Snyder of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher

March 27, 2014
Paul Ceglia claimed in a 2010 lawsuit that Facebook's founder promised him a 50 percent stake in the company. Now Ceglia's fighting criminal fraud charges for bringing the case, and Snyder's relishing a slam-dunk victory.
4 minute read

Tech Companies Attack Plaintiff Expert in 'No Poach' Case

March 27, 2014
At a hearing Thursday, U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh said she was underwhelmed by experts on both sides of the case, which is set for trial in May.
3 minute read

Sidley's Phillips Knocks Out Verdict in Cornwell Contract Row

March 27, 2014
More than a year after best-selling author Patricia Cornwell won a $50.9 million jury verdict against her financial advisers, Sidley's Carter Phillips persuaded a judge that a do-over is required. But Cornwell's lawyer, Joan Lukey of Ropes & Gray, isn't ready to declare the verdict lost.
4 minute read

Bank of America Deal Is Latest Triumph for FHFA, Quinn Emanuel

March 26, 2014
The Federal Housing Finance Agency's legal assault on Wall Street moved closer to a merciful end for the banks on Wednesday, when Bank of America retreated to the tune of $9.5 billion.
2 minute read

Time to End the Waiting Game in Second Circuit Citigroup Case

March 26, 2014
It took U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff just six weeks to reject Citigroup's $285 million settlement with the SEC. So why is the Second Circuit taking so long to decide whether Rakoff was right?
3 minute read

Supreme Court Rookie Scores With Lexmark Ruling

March 25, 2014
Tuesday's Supreme Court decision in Lexmark v. Static Control didn't just expand the ranks of companies with standing to bring Lanham Act claims. It also vindicated Static Control's decision to let a young, newly minted Bartlit Beck partner handle the oral argument.
3 minute read

POM Reverses Class Certification on Health Claims

March 25, 2014
POM Wonderful LLC scored a rare win on Tuesday in its battle over health claims tied to its pomegranate juice after a federal judge decertified a nationwide class of consumers.
2 minute read

Actress Says Google Is Flouting Order on Anti-Islamic Film

March 25, 2014
In an emergency motion, the lead lawyer for Cindy Lee Garcia claims Google isn't even trying to comply with the Ninth Circuit's take-down order and should be sanctioned.
5 minute read

Wilmer's Waxman Strikes Out in Rajat Gupta Appeal

March 25, 2014
It's starting to look like all the appellate hired guns in the world can't dent the Manhattan U.S. attorney's undefeated record in insider trading trials.
3 minute read

FINRA Arbitrator Allegedly Faked Background, Law License

March 25, 2014
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority—the securities industry-funded Wall Street regulator and investment arbitrator—has weathered its share of storms over the last couple years. Now another one is brewing, and it's a doozy.
3 minute read

CDO Manager Borrows From Rajat Gupta's Playbook in SEC Fight

March 24, 2014
Wing Chau, who's been in hot water with the Securities and Exchange Commission since last year, now says the agency is violating his constitutional rights by using its administrative machinery—and not the federal courts—to press its case.
4 minute read

U.S. to Join Supreme Court Showdown on Patent Eligibility

March 24, 2014
The Supreme Court on Friday granted the U.S. solicitor general permission to participate in oral arguments next week in Alice Corp. Pty. Ltd. V. CLS Bank International, giving the government a voice in one of the most closely watched patent cases of the year.
3 minute read

The Global Lawyer: The Noose Tightens on Chevron Litigation Backers

March 24, 2014
Chevron's case against online poker magnate Russell DeLeon over his funding of the Lago Agrio pollution case is gaining traction. Any funder or lawyer involved in the business of enforcing foreign judgments would be wise to pay attention.
6 minute read

Former FBI Director Mueller Joins Wilmer

March 24, 2014
Former Federal Bureau of Investigations Director Robert Mueller III has joined Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr as an equity partner, the firm said Monday.
2 minute read

Kirkland Defeats Whistleblower Suit Against Pfizer

March 21, 2014
A federal judge on Friday dismissed claims by a sales representative that Pfizer paid kickbacks to doctors and promoted Felctor, a patch used to treat acute pain, for off-label uses.
3 minute read

Credit Suisse Settles MBS Claims With FHFA for $885 Million

March 21, 2014
The odds of seeing the Federal Housing Finance Agency go to trial this year in its litigation campaign against Wall Street got a lot slimmer on Friday, when Credit Suisse AG became the latest defendant to throw in the towel.
3 minute read

Another Court Tosses Jury Verdict Against Johnson & Johnson

March 21, 2014
For the second time this year, appellate lawyers at O'Melveny & Myers wiped out a huge jury verdict against Johnson & Johnson and subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceuticals over their marketing of the antipsychotic drug Risperdal.
3 minute read

Litigator of the Week: Michael Rhodes of Cooley

March 20, 2014
Data-mining class actions against Silicon Valley's tech heavyweights will be raging for years. But plaintiffs lawyers looking for a big payday are facing a major new obstacle after Rhodes' victory this week for Google Inc.
3 minute read

Plaintiffs Accuse BP of Accessing Confidential Claims

March 20, 2014
Lawyers in the $9.2 billion Deepwater Horizon settlement are accusing BP PLC of accessing confidential information about individuals and businesses that have filed claims for oil spill damages.
2 minute read

Patent Ruling Highlights Pressure on Plaintiffs

March 20, 2014
Should patent plaintiffs be held to the same heightened pleading standards that other litigants have had to adopt since the Supreme Court's rulings in Twombly and Iqbal?
4 minute read

ITC Weighing Patent Jurisdiction Over Digital Products

March 20, 2014
The U.S. International Trade Commission is expected to decide this week whether it has jurisdiction over infringing products that are in digital rather than physical form.
7 minute read

Big Law Defectors Score $85M Verdict in Google Patent Trial

March 20, 2014
When Greg Dovel and Jeff Eichmann left prestigious law firms to become contingency fee plaintiffs lawyers, some of their Harvard Law School classmates were left scratching their heads. But no one was second-guessing their career path this week, when the duo won a big verdict in a patent case against Google Inc.
4 minute read

Gibson Dunn Lodges $32 Million Fee Request in Chevron Case

March 19, 2014
The request—made two weeks after Chevron scored its biggest win yet in the case—represents just a tiny fraction of Chevron's legal costs in its battle with Steven Donziger and his Amazon clients.
3 minute read

Cooley Wins Ruling Nixing Class in Gmail Privacy Litigation

March 19, 2014
U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh found questions about users' consent to Google's scanning too individualized to proceed in broad classes.
4 minute read

Government's Insider Trading Net Snags Simpson Thacher Clerk

March 19, 2014
The SEC and federal prosecutors in New Jersey charged Steven Metro, a managing clerk at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, along with a Morgan Stanley stockbroker, with taking part in a $5.6 million insider trading scheme involving some of Simpson Thacher's star private equity clients.
10 minute read

Credit Suisse Class Action Ruling Could Spell Trouble for Banks

March 19, 2014
Plaintiffs lawyers at Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll moved a step forward this week in a securities class action alleging that Credit Suisse duped investors into buying mortgage-backed securities backed by shoddy home loans.
5 minute read

Artist Richard Prince Settles Landmark Fair Use Case

March 19, 2014
In the third big copyright settlement announced this week, famed "appropriation" artist (and Boies Schiller client) Richard Prince inked a confidential deal to resolve claims that he ripped off works by photographer Patrick Cariou.
3 minute read

Google, Viacom End Long-Running Copyright Feud

March 18, 2014
Rather than continue to duke it out in the latest appeal, Viacom and Google's YouTube inked an out-of-court settlement in their precedent-setting copyright fight over video uploads.
3 minute read

Federal Circuit OKs $12 Million Fee Award in Qualcomm Patent Case

March 18, 2014
A damning e-mail helped Cooley's Steven Strauss establish that a Hughes Hubbard client went after Qualcomm despite having "no case."
3 minute read

Beastie Boys Settle Copyright Fight Over GoldieBlox Video

March 18, 2014
After attracting top IP lawyers at Orrick and Durie Tangi in its tussle with the Beastie Boys over a viral video, toymaker GoldieBlox is apologizing and paying up to make the case go away.
2 minute read

Texas Roots Don't Help Plaintiff in Intel Patent Fight

March 18, 2014
Patent licensing company Stragent built a dog park and a community garden in East Texas, among other charitable endeavors. But when the moment of truth arrived in a patent infringement case Stragent brought against Intel, jurors sided with defense lawyers at Perkins Coie.
2 minute read

Winston & Strawn Hits NCAA With Suit over Players' Pay

March 17, 2014
Will Jeffrey Kessler of Winston & Strawn upend the business of college sports?
3 minute read

Family Gives Up Disputed Patent, Ending Trial With Boies' Client

March 17, 2014
A pair of pro se litigants surrendered a patent that they allegedly snatched from law firm files, ending their splashy trial with famed litigator David Boies.
4 minute read

BP Takes Spill Settlement Appeal to Full Fifth Circuit

March 17, 2014
BP on Monday petitioned the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit to review a three-judge panel's decision to uphold the Deepwater Horizon oil spill settlement.
2 minute read

The Global Lawyer: The Supreme Court Sides With the Arbitrators

March 17, 2014
By favoring BP Group this month in its battle with Argentina, the Supreme Court sided with arbitrators over judges, with the U.S. arbitration industry over its rivals, and with the international investment system over scofflaws.
5 minute read

Kasowitz Takes Aims at Insurers for MBIA Legal Fees

March 17, 2014
Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman guided MBIA Inc. through many of its legal battles stemming from the financial crisis. Can the firm now help MBIA recoup millions of dollars in legal fees from its insurers?
3 minute read

Court Makes Going-Private Deals Tougher to Challenge

March 14, 2014
The Delaware Supreme Court dismissed a suit alleging that MacAndrews & Forbes enriched itself at the expense of shareholders when it took over an affiliate in 2011, marking a win for defense lawyers at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom and Willkie Farr & Gallagher.
3 minute read

Federal Circuit Revives Patent Case Over Google's Street View

March 14, 2014
Two former Caltech students claim Google steps on technology they invented more than a decade ago.
2 minute read

Treehouse Sets Off Flurry of Suits Against Keurig

March 14, 2014
Following in Treehouse Food's footsteps, Grant & Eisenhofer has sued Keurig Green Mountain, accusing the single-serve coffee brewer of scheming to monopolize the market. Several others, including McKool Smith and Motley Rice, have filed similar suits in recent days.
3 minute read

Secret Takedown Order in YouTube Case Sets Off Frenzy

March 14, 2014
The way Ninth Circuit Chief Judge Alex Kozinski has handled the dispute over "Innocence of Muslims" has made the case a lightning rod—even on his own court.
8 minute read

Lions Gate to Pay $7.5 Million for Misleading Investors

March 13, 2014
The Securities and Exchange Commission found that Lions Gate, advised by Wachtell Lipton, gave its shareholders misleading information about a major stock transaction that was designed to thwart corporate raider Carl Icahn's takeover bid.
2 minute read

Former Eastern District of Texas Judge Nails Win for Akin Gump

March 13, 2014
Charles "Chad" Everingham's knowledge of the litigation hot spot helped Akin Gump client LBDS Holdings Company secure a $24.4 million jury award on its contract claim and $760,000 on a trade secrets misappropriation claim against ISOL Technology Inc.
2 minute read

Litigator of the Week: Rollin Chippey II of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius

March 13, 2014
Chippey not only helped secure a $520 million verdict for firm client Asahi Kasei Pharma, but also successfully blocked an appeal by high-priced counsel from Quinn Emanuel that drew formidable amicus support from the business community.
3 minute read

Boies Points to McDermott File Room in Patent Theft Suit

March 13, 2014
Palo Alto-based Theranos, represented by David Boies, accuses a father and son of patenting an idea swiped from the firm's files.
5 minute read

Attorney Fee Award in Patent Case Doesn't Extend to Appeal

March 13, 2014
After winning $6 million in fees from trial judge, Becton Dickinson loses bid to collect more on appeal.
2 minute read

Cooley, Fenwick Beat Back LendingTree Patent Claims at Trial

March 12, 2014
The online lending exchange LendingTree, a subsidiary of Charlotte, N.C.-based Tree Inc., struck out on Wednesday in a patent infringement trial against the Internet companies Nextag, Zillow and Adchemy.
2 minute read

Pro Se Patentees to Fight David Boies in San Jose Trial

March 12, 2014
Father-and-son inventors accused of stealing their idea from law firm files say their money ran out after three years of scorched earth litigation so they must represent themselves.
7 minute read

Judge Tosses Transocean Class Action Ahead of Supreme Court Appeal

March 12, 2014
In a case of awkward timing, a judge on Tuesday dismissed a securities class action against Transocean Ltd. on the basis of an appellate decision that the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to consider reversing just the day before.
3 minute read

Judge Fines Ex-Goldman Trader Tourre but Nixes SEC Injunction Bid

March 12, 2014
Though mostly siding with the SEC, a federal judge refused to enjoin Fabrice Tourre from future securities violations, concluding that such "obey-the-law" injunctions are of dubious value and noting that the SEC has apparently never enforced one against an investment banker.
4 minute read

Chinese Investment Giant Dodges N.Y. Securities Class Action

March 11, 2014
A federal judge in Manhattan dismissed a class action lawsuit alleging that a unit of Chinese state-owned CITIC Group facilitated securities fraud on the part of Puda Coal.
2 minute read

Federal Circuit Hands a Quick Win to DNA Tester Promega

March 11, 2014
But the panel has not yet ruled in a related dispute over a $52 million infringement verdict that pits Weil Gotshal partner Edward Reines against Wilmer's Seth Waxman.
4 minute read

Another Patent Setback for Myriad Genetics

March 11, 2014
Myriad Genetics Inc. failed to convince a federal court to block a competitor from selling its own genetic tests while another patent-infringement case is pending.
4 minute read

EEOC Botched Bias Case Against Jewelry Giant, Judge Rules

March 11, 2014
Yet another judge has dismissed employment discrimination claims brought by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on the grounds that the agency ignored the unique duties it owes to its litigation targets.
3 minute read

Uniloc Suffers Setback in East Texas Patent Fight

March 11, 2014
Accused patent troll Uniloc has asserted its patents against dozens of tech companies. Now a small software company and its New England lawyers are claiming an outsized victory against Uniloc in the Eastern District of Texas—and saying the win will help other Uniloc targets as well.
3 minute read

Federal Circuit Affirms Acacia Loss in 'Abstract' Patent Case

March 10, 2014
The Federal Circuit on Monday cemented a defense win for a coalition of data storage companies facing patent infringement claims from a subsidiary of Acacia Research Corporation. Durie Tangri's Clement Roberts argued the case for all three defendants: EMC Corp., NetApp Inc., and Quantum Corporation.
2 minute read

S&P's Retaliation Claim Against Government Gets Hearing

March 10, 2014
A federal judge in California will hear arguments on Tuesday about whether to grant discovery involving evidence allegedly indicating that the DOJ filed its $5 billion lawsuit against Standard & Poor's in retaliation for its downgraded credit rating of the United States.
3 minute read

Supreme Court to Weigh Time Limits for Securities Class Actions

March 10, 2014
If one investor in a security files a timely class action, is the statute of repose tolled for all class members? The question may seem arcane, but the answer could be worth plenty to securities issuers and their underwriters, not to mention the securities plaintiffs bar.
4 minute read

Federal Circuit Denies En Banc Review in Fee-Shifting Case

March 10, 2014
For now, the Kilopass rule for what constitutes an "exceptional" case stands. But the U.S. Supreme Court is considering similar issues and is expected to rule by June.
2 minute read

No Boies v. Wells Rematch as Terra Firma Takes Citigroup Case to U.K.

March 10, 2014
After more than four years and who knows how much money spent duking it out in the U.S., Terra Firma Capital Partners and Citigroup have opted to let an English court deal with their dispute over the 2007 sale of music label EMI.
3 minute read

After Chevron Win, Dole Victory Caps Big Week for Gibson Dunn

March 09, 2014
What do banana plantation workers in Nicaragua have in common with villagers beset by oil production fallout in the Ecuadorean Amazon? Plenty, it turns out. Both teamed up with lawyers intent on collecting big bucks from multinational corporations. Then Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher stepped in for the defense, and the plaintiffs' cases went to hell.
3 minute read

Insider Trading Case Marks Latest Mixed Verdict for SEC

March 07, 2014
The latest came on Thursday in an insider trading case against Andrew Jacobs, a former executive at The Hershey Co., and his brother Leslie Jacobs.
4 minute read

CBOE's Three Patents Face Risk of Invalidation

March 07, 2014
The PTO's Patent Trial and Appeal Board has instituted postgrant reviews of three patents owned by the Chicago Board Options Exchange that are at the center of a suit against the International Securities Exchange, represented by Winston & Strawn.
3 minute read

Kramer Levin Fights Off FAA Attempt to Fine Drone Pilot

March 07, 2014
In a groundbreaking case concerning the commercial use of drones, Kramer Levin knocked out a $10,000 fine the Federal Aviation Administration had imposed on a drone pilot who remotely flew a 56-inch foam glider to shoot aerial footage for an ad agency.
3 minute read

Dewey Drama: Indictments, Arraignments, and More

March 06, 2014
In a stunning turn of events, three former leaders of Dewey & LeBoeuf were accused Thursday of engineering a massive fraud that helped drive the storied firm to its death.
3 minute read

Wilmer Beats Ricoh Bid to Undo Kodak Jury Win

March 06, 2014
Ricoh and its lawyers at Quinn Emanuel failed Thursday in their attempt to knock out a portion of the $75.8 million the company owes Eastman Kodak Company in a patent licensing dispute.
3 minute read

Litigator of the Week: Randy Mastro of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher

March 06, 2014
The ruling vindicating Chevron's fraud and racketeering case against Steven Donziger runs to nearly 500 pages. And on pretty much every page, the aggressive strategy of Mastro's team at Gibson Dunn shines through.
4 minute read

Fourth Circuit Revives Soldiers' Claims Against Halliburton, KBR

March 06, 2014
In a ruling that could limit the scope of sovereign immunity for military contractors, an appeals court has revived claims that KBR Inc. and Halliburton injured U.S. service members by disposing of waste in open-air "burn pits" in war zones overseas.
3 minute read

Judge Scraps Apple's Bid to Block Samsung Sales

March 06, 2014
The Federal Circuit reversed her prior order, but Judge Lucy Koh said Apple still couldn't meet the bar for a permanent injunction.
3 minute read

Quinn Lashes Out at Apple With New Leak Charges

March 05, 2014
Apple won sanctions against Samsung's lawyers over breached confidentiality. But John Quinn says there's plenty of blame to go around.
2 minute read

Judge DQs Irell in Networking Patent Case Filed by Former Client

March 05, 2014
The Irell & Manella team led by Morgan Chu can't defend A10 Networks in a suit filed by rival Radware, ruled Judge Ronald Whyte.
3 minute read

Jury Convicts Engineer of Selling DuPont Secrets to China

March 05, 2014
The hard-fought trial pit Assistant U.S. Attorneys John Hemann and Peter Axelrod against Liew's defense team at Keker & Van Nest, led by Stuart Gasner.
3 minute read

Music Rights Holder SESAC Must Face Antitrust Claims

March 05, 2014
A judge in New York refused to throw out part of an antitrust class action brought by TV station owners against SESAC, a music licensing organization that represents thousands of composers. The ruling comes just months after a Pennsylvania judge ruled that radio broadcasters are likely to prevail on similar claims.
4 minute read

ETP Wins $319 Million Pipeline Verdict as S&C Client Dodges Fallout

March 05, 2014
Energy Transfer Partners won at least $319 million this week in its lawsuit alleging that Enterprise Products Partners improperly backed out of a pipeline development deal. But ETP failed to persuade jurors that a codefendant, Enbridge Inc., interfered with the partnership.
3 minute read

Justices Weigh Class Action Compromise in Halliburton Case

March 05, 2014
Wednesday's blockbuster arguments on the fate of securities class actions pitted Boies Schiller's David Boies against Aaron Streett of Baker Botts. But an amicus brief filed by Vinson & Elkins on behalf of a group of law professors nearly stole the show.
5 minute read

Chevron v. Donziger: The Beginning of the End

March 04, 2014
After 20 years and hundreds of millions of dollars in litigation costs, we have a winner in the Chevron Ecuador dispute. And of all the countless legal battlegrounds, it's now clearer than ever that U.S. litigation was the main event.
4 minute read

In Chevron Ruling, a Cautionary Tale for Lawyers

March 04, 2014
Plenty of attorneys besides Steven Donziger were drawn into the morass of Chevron's Ecuadorean environmental battle over the years. Tuesday's ruling in Chevron's fraud case against the plaintiffs can be read as a tale of lawyers run amok and sometimes led astray.
5 minute read

Justices Expand Corporate Whistleblower Protection

March 04, 2014
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday significantly expanded legal protection for corporate whistleblowers, making it clear for the first time that thousands of workers in the mutual-fund industry and other private companies are protected from retaliation for reporting fraud.
5 minute read

Fifth Circuit to BP on Oil Spill Deal: Live With It

March 04, 2014
The court told BP and its lawyers at Kirkland & Ellis and Gibson Dunn that the company has no one to blame for the Deepwater Horizon claims process but itself.
4 minute read

BP Loses Challenge to Settlement Administration

March 03, 2014
BP PLC has lost a key ruling from a federal appeals court reviewing its $9.6 billion Deepwater Horizon oil spill settlement.
2 minute read

Federal Circuit Revives Apple Patent Case, Hears $368M VirnetX Appeal

March 03, 2014
One Federal Circuit panel issued a decision reviving a patent infringement lawsuit against the company in California, while another heard arguments in the appeal of a whopping $368 million jury verdict that Apple lost to VirnetX Inc. in 2012.
3 minute read

Actelion Settles With Generics Over Access to Drug Samples

March 03, 2014
When does a branded drug maker have to turn over product samples to generic competitors? An antitrust battle between Actelion Pharmaceuticals and three of its generic rivals offered some clues, but the case settled Friday without providing a definitive answer.
2 minute read

High Court Takes Up New Securities Conundrum in Omnicare Case

March 03, 2014
With Monday's cert grant in Omnicare, Winston & Strawn won a chance to resolve a circuit split over what constitutes a false statement under federal securities laws. Plus: Some good news for Aereo as it prepares for April arguments in its Supreme Court showdown with TV broadcasters.
4 minute read

Freshfields, Hogan Lovells Knock Out IPCom's Patent Claims

February 28, 2014
The German company IPCom GmbH, which has been called Europe's first "patent troll" by its opponents, lost three big infringement cases on Friday, including one in which it was seeking €1.6 billion ($2.2 billion) from Apple Inc.
3 minute read

Eastern District of Texas Debuts Two Tracks for Patent Cases

February 28, 2014
The Eastern District of Texas has ushered in a new approach to case management that could streamline patent cases and drive down costs, which some experts say is proof that the courts—and not Congress—are best-suited to reform patent litigation.
4 minute read

Appellate Elites Learn to Love Patents

February 28, 2014
With big money at stake, lawyers known for Supreme Court advocacy, such as Hogan's Neal Katyal, are appearing more often in the Federal Circuit.
8 minute read

Quinn Emanuel Wins on Jurisdiction in Indonesia Arbitration

February 28, 2014
World Bank arbitrators asserted jurisdiction over more than $1 billion in claims brought by Churchill Mining plc and its Australian affiliate alleging that the Republic of Indonesia expropriated Churchill's coal mining concession in East Kutai, Indonesia.
3 minute read

Chocolate Makers Unwrap Victory in Federal Court

February 28, 2014
The makers of three-quarters of America's chocolate—Hershey, Mars and Nestle—got a federal judge in Harrisburg, Pa., to toss 91 cases claiming that the companies fixed prices between 2002 and 2007.
5 minute read

Lawyers in Gmail Case Gird for Class War

February 27, 2014
U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh sounded skeptical about whether and how to proceed with class treatment of privacy claims against Google's email service, and accused the plaintiffs lawyers of changing theories.
4 minute read

Litigator of the Week: Thomas Goldstein of Goldstein & Russell

February 27, 2014
The omnipresent Supreme Court advocate and SCOTUSblog cofounder scored a major victory for class action plaintiffs who are seeking billions from law firms and other advisers of Ponzi schemer R. Allen Stanford.
4 minute read

Jones Day Beats Dismissal Bid in Reynolds Wrap Row

February 27, 2014
Partner John Froemming cleared a hurdle for Reynolds on Thursday in a trademark and false advertising case against Handi-Foil, a competitor that wants to eat away at Reynolds' profits from its ubiquitous Reynolds Wrap aluminum foil.
3 minute read

Judge Dismisses MBS Case on Champerty Grounds

February 27, 2014
A shell company that sought to profit from a failed investment portfolio built on mortgage-backed securities has no standing to sue the investment manager because its motive for suing violates New York's champerty doctrine, a Manhattan state court judge ruled.
6 minute read

Shareholders Tout Discovery Win in Fannie/Freddie Takeover Challenge

February 27, 2014
Lawyers for the plaintiffs say the ruling may bring them closer to brokering a deal for preferred shareholders who lost billions in expected profits when the terms of the government's Fannie and Freddie takeover suddenly changed in mid-2012.
6 minute read

How BP Decided to Fight the Deepwater Settlement

February 27, 2014
From the magazine: The oil giant embraced a settlement that resolved billions of dollars worth of oil spill claims—and then turned against it. Why?
20 minute read

Lance Armstrong Beats Supplement Buyers' False Ad Suit

February 26, 2014
Armstrong's doping confession made for great television, but it hasn't provided much fodder for false advertising class actions. Lawyers at Katten Muchin Rosenman and Greenberg Traurig defeated the latest suit this week, persuading a judge to toss claims by purchasers of sports supplements that Armstrong endorsed.
3 minute read

Justices Sound Ready to Lower Bar for Attorney Fee Awards in Patent Cases

February 26, 2014
Though at opposite ends of the political spectrum, Justices Stephen Breyer and Antonin Scalia both seemed inclined to hand trial judges more discretion to make the loser pay in "exceptional" cases.
4 minute read

Chadbourne, Proskauer Lose Supreme Court Bid to Block Stanford Class Actions

February 26, 2014
In a highly anticipated decision interpreting the reach of the Securities Litigation Uniform Standards Act, the court green-lighted investor claims against Chadbourne & Parke, Proskauer Rose and other advisers of convicted Ponzi schemer R. Allen Stanford.
3 minute read

Apple Digs in for Appeal, Damages Fight in E-Books Case

February 26, 2014
Apple's lawyers at Gibson Dunn are trying to make the best of the cards they've been dealt by a New York federal judge in litigation over e-books price-fixing.
3 minute read

Covington Scores for Salix in Pharma Contracts Trial

February 25, 2014
Napo Pharmaceuticals claimed that Salix never delivered on a promise to promote a potentially lucrative Napo drug, but a state court jury in Manhattan told Napo to pin the blame elsewhere.
2 minute read

Sunflower Seeds Provide Lesson on Food-Labeling Rules

February 25, 2014
The salt on the coating of sunflower seeds should be listed on the package's label of ingredients even if nobody eats the shells, a federal appeals court has ruled.
3 minute read

Federal Circuit Chief Skips the Troll Bashing, Takes Aim at Litigation Tactics

February 25, 2014
Speaking Monday in San Francisco, Chief Judge Randall Rader said patent trolls aren't the whole problem and urged lawyers to curb unreasonable litigation costs.
3 minute read

Microsoft Beats Sanction Ahead of Web Patent Trial

February 25, 2014
Two weeks before trial in a case alleging that Microsoft infringes a patent for Web browsing, Fish & Richardson won a ruling that nixes adverse inference findings against the company.
3 minute read

Supreme Court Newcomers Take On Fee-Shifting in Patent Cases

February 25, 2014
Don Dunner isn't the only lawyer making his U.S. Supreme Court debut this week as the justices take up the question of fee shifting in patent cases. Rudy Telscher of the IP boutique Harness Dickey & Pierce will also stand before the high court for the first time on Wednesday, arguing a case with potentially huge ramifications for the patent bar.
5 minute read

It's Game, Set, Match for Comcast in Tennis Channel Fight

February 24, 2014
With the Supreme Court declining to intervene, Gibson Dunn's Miguel Estrada cemented last year's victory for Comcast in a case that was widely viewed as a check on the Federal Communications Commission's power to regulate the cable industry.
1 minute read

DuPont Trade Secrets Trial Wraps With Final Jabs From Lawyers

February 24, 2014
Defense attorney Stuart Gasner accuses prosecutors of doing the company's bidding in their case against Oakland engineer Walter Liew.
3 minute read

Hearing Set on Fraud Claims in Deepwater Horizon Settlement

February 24, 2014
A federal judge in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill litigation is set to hear arguments about whether distribution of a $2.3 billion settlement should go forward given BP's claims of fraud against plaintiffs attorney Mikal Watts.
2 minute read

Supreme Court Takes a Pass on Whirlpool Class Actions

February 24, 2014
Defying expectations and the hopes of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the high court declined Monday to hear arguments that it should dismantle two class actions over allegedly defective Whirlpool Corp. washing machines.
4 minute read

Law Firms Back Narrow Right of Court Access in Delaware Appeal

February 24, 2014
Two dozen major law firms came together on Monday to send an unlikely message to the U.S. Supreme Court: It's time to clamp down on open access to government.
4 minute read

Lawyers Spar Over Discovery Rules

February 24, 2014
Another major front in the war between plaintiffs and corporate defendants over the high costs of litigation has opened up in an obscure corner of judicial bureaucracy: proposed changes to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
5 minute read

Deeply Divided Federal Circuit Keeps District Judges on Tight Rein in Claim Construction

February 21, 2014
Despite speculation that the en banc court would overrule its longstanding rule, the court voted 6-4 to affirm that claim construction be reviewed de novo on appeal.
7 minute read

Court Revives Patent Fight Over Manhole Cover Sealant

February 21, 2014
The relatively unknown world of manhole cover sealants drew the likes of Jones Day, which represented Stopaq in its bid to revive a patent infringement claim against Amcorr, advised by Winston & Strawn.
2 minute read

Latham, Chadbourne Win Dismissal of YPF Shareholder Suit

February 21, 2014
A federal judge dismissed a class action claiming that oil companies Repsol SA and YPF SA misled shareholders about the possibility of YPF being nationalized by the Argentine government.
3 minute read

Fourth Circuit Rejects FCA Case Against Omnicare

February 21, 2014
The court held that even if the government paid for tainted drugs packaged by Omnicare, the company didn't violate the False Claims Act because the FDA had approved the unadulterated form of the drugs. The ruling is a win for Reed Smith.
3 minute read

Litigator of the Week: Theodore Wells Jr. of Paul Weiss

February 20, 2014
Ted Wells has long been a towering figure among trial lawyers. After his report on the bullying scandal that rocked the NFL's Miami Dolphins, he's on his way to becoming a household name for sports fans as well.
3 minute read

RBS Settlement Caps Long Slog for Cohen Milstein

February 20, 2014
When Royal Bank of Scotland agreed to pay a class of mortgage-backed securities investors $275 million, Cohen Milstein called the deal the third- largest class action settlement in a federal mortgage-backed securities case. For partner Joel Laitman, it's been a long time coming.
4 minute read

Patent Reformers Praise White House Call to Action

February 20, 2014
However, some observers say the executive actions aimed at increasing transparency and strengthening patent review add little to existing programs.
4 minute read

SEC Argues Whistleblowers Can Report Internally

February 20, 2014
The SEC filed an amicus brief Thursday stressing that whistleblowers are entitled to the Dodd-Frank Act's full protection against retaliation whether they report their employers' wrongdoing internally or go straight to the agency.
4 minute read

Aereo Scrambles After First Copyright Loss to Broadcasters

February 20, 2014
Television's old guard finally opened a chink in Aereo Inc.'s armor this week, winning a ruling that left the Internet TV upstart and its lawyers fighting to limit the damage ahead of arguments at the U.S. Supreme Court in April.
4 minute read

Appeals Court Deals Blow to Cooley Client in Biofuel Patent Case

February 19, 2014
The Federal Circuit reversed a district judge who sided with Colorado-based Gevo in its epic patent fight with Butamax, a joint venture of BP and DuPont.
2 minute read

Judge Won't Delay Final Approval of $8.5 Billion BofA Deal

February 19, 2014
A judge in Manhattan told AIG and other objectors to Bank of America's mortgage-backed securities mega-settlement to bring their beef with the deal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
3 minute read

S&C Knocks Out $500 Million Fraud Suit Against Philips

February 19, 2014
A 91-year-old Italian mogul's $500 million fraud case against Philips spanned seven years and implicated the laws of at least four nations. Now, thanks to Sullivan & Cromwell and a Delaware judge, the case may finally be kaput.
3 minute read

Second Circuit Sides With Citi in $4 Billion Abu Dhabi Case

February 19, 2014
Lawyers at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan struck out Wednesday in their latest attempt to revive a $4 billion arbitration claim against Citigroup on behalf of Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth fund.
3 minute read

Three Sidley Lawyers to Argue in Three Days in High Court

February 19, 2014
It will be Sidley Austin week at the U.S. Supreme Court starting Feb. 24, with three of the firm's top partners slated to argue—one on each of the three days the court will be sitting.
4 minute read

Bid Fails to Ship Mortgage-Securities Cases to Kansas

February 18, 2014
Seven lawsuits filed by the National Credit Union Administration Board will move forward against banks that sold residential mortgage-backed securities after a federal judicial panel refused to coordinate them with similar cases in Kansas.
3 minute read

Hotels, Travel Sites Beat Price-Fixing Class Action

February 18, 2014
A federal judge on Tuesday dismissed a class action lawsuit alleging that hotel chains and online travel companies conspired to fix the price of rooms booked online, handing a big win to a brigade of defense firms.
3 minute read

Paul Weiss Strikes Out for Contorinis, Scores for Citi at Second Circuit

February 18, 2014
The firm couldn't reverse a ruling that a client convicted of insider trading must disgorge $7 million. But it did finish off a fraud case brought against longtime client Citigroup Inc. by a group of Norwegian investors represented by Kasowitz Benson Torres & Friedman.
3 minute read

Boies, Bingham Clear Hurdle for Oracle in Rimini Street Suit

February 18, 2014
Boies, Schiller & Flexner and Bingham McCutchen scored a partial win in Oracle's copyright battle with Rimini Street, a smaller rival that offers low-cost support to Oracle customers.
3 minute read

Google and Rockstar Spar Over Venue

February 17, 2014
A nasty East Texas-Northern California turf fight has broken out, this time between Google, represented by Quinn Emanuel, and Rockstar Consortium, the IP firm partly owned by Apple.
4 minute read

Keryx Biopharmaceuticals Fends Off Investor Suit

February 14, 2014
Keryx Biopharmaceuticals Inc. and its lawyers at Alston & Bird have defeated claims that the company misled investors about the results of a clinical trial for its cancer drug Perifosine.
2 minute read

Kirkland Seeks $20.7 Billion in Damages From Anadarko

February 14, 2014
There's a $20 billion gulf between what Anadarko and its adversaries think the company should have to pay to resolve a battle over environmental liabilities in the Tronox Inc. bankruptcy.
4 minute read

Indiana Court Finds IBM Botched $1.3 Billion State Contract

February 14, 2014
An appeals court ruled that IBM botched an assignment to privatize Indiana's welfare benefits system, putting the computing giant on the hook for as much as $177 million in damages. The decision is a major reversal of fortune for the state and its lawyers at Barnes & Thornburg, who were up against high-powered opponents at Kirkland & Ellis.
2 minute read

Samsung Fights Apple's $15.7 Million Fee Request

February 14, 2014
Despite winning at trial, Apple can't meet the high bar for recouping legal fees, argues Samsung's counsel at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan.
3 minute read

Judge Tosses Suit Over Apple's Siri Ads

February 14, 2014
U.S. District Chief Judge Claudia Wilken said the plaintiffs hadn't provided enough specifics, and declined to give them yet another chance.
2 minute read

Cadwalader Faces Narrowed Malpractice Claim Over Nomura Advice

February 13, 2014
With a long-awaited trial on the horizon, Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft persuaded an appeals court to trim a $70 million malpractice suit brought by former client Nomura Asset Capital Corp., a sponsor of mortgage-backed securities.
3 minute read

Litigator of the Week: U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara

February 13, 2014
Bharara has taken some flack for his choice of targets on Wall Street. But it's hard to argue with his record of insider trading convictions, which now stands at a stunning 79-0.
3 minute read

Former FTC Head Says CFPB Poses 'Mortal Threat'

February 13, 2014
The Federal Trade Commission faces a "mortal threat" from the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, former FTC chairman Timothy Muris said during a panel discussion Thursday.
2 minute read

DOJ Warns 'Repeat Offenders' with $425 Million Bridgestone Fine

February 13, 2014
The Justice Department has a message for companies in trouble for fixing prices: If you're going to come clean, you better not hold back.
2 minute read

SEC's Canellos Returns to Milbank as Shearman Picks Up Orrick Heavyweights

February 12, 2014
Wednesday was a day of musical chairs for the New York securities bar. One top securities litigator and government enforcer opted to return to his longtime law firm, while another prominent practitioner landed at his fourth firm in eight years.
5 minute read

The Courts, Not DOJ, Should Decide If JPMorgan Deal Is Fair

February 12, 2014
Better Markets' lawsuit challenging the Justice Department's $13 billion deal with JPMorgan is probably doomed to fail. But that doesn't mean the Wall Street watchdog is wrong to blast the DOJ for bypassing judicial scrutiny in its record out-of-court settlement.
4 minute read

Starbucks Plays It Smart With 'Dumb Starbucks' TM

February 12, 2014
Starbucks hasn't always played its cards well when asserting its intellectual property, but it seems to have made the right call with the satirical "Dumb Starbucks" store.
5 minute read

SEC Claims Trial Victory—And So Does Defendant

February 12, 2014
After a string of recent courtroom defeats, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission declared victory following a two-week securities fraud trial in Minneapolis federal court.
4 minute read

Winston's Webb Wades Into Coffee Pod Wars

February 12, 2014
Single-serve coffee brewers are big business, especially now that market leader Green Mountain's patents on the technology have expired. So it's fitting that an upstart competitor has hired big-name litigator Dan Webb to challenge Green Mountain's recent efforts to maintain its huge market share.
3 minute read

Citing Ninth Circuit Ruling, Nevada Drops Fight Over Gay Marriage Ban

February 11, 2014
We named Lisa Blatt of Arnold & Porter and Brian Hennigan of Irell & Manella Litigators of the Week for last month's Ninth Circuit win, in which the court found that lawyers for Abbott Labs improperly struck a self-identified gay juror because of his sexual orientation.
3 minute read

East Texas Chief Says District Doesn't Live Up to 'Plaintiffs Hellhole' Reputation

February 11, 2014
Appearing in San Francisco, Leonard Davis talked trials, sanctions and 'troll fatigue' with judges from the Bay Area and Delaware.
4 minute read

Citing Ninth Circuit Ruling, Nevada Drops Fight Over Gay Marriage Ban

February 11, 2014
We named Lisa Blatt of Arnold & Porter and Brian Hennigan of Irell & Manella Litigators of the Week for last month's Ninth Circuit win, in which the court found that lawyers for Abbott Labs improperly struck a self-identified gay juror because of his sexual orientation.
3 minute read

Google Faces Damages Retrial in SimpleAir Patent Case

February 11, 2014
Google and its lawyers at Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton wanted a do-over in their patent fight with SimpleAir. Instead, a judge signed off on a jury's infringement verdict against Google and gave SimpleAir a second chance to win more than $125 million in a damages retrial.
3 minute read

Court Nixes Bid to Stay E-Books Monitor as Apple Presses Appeal

February 11, 2014
Apple lost its bid to stop court-appointed e-books monitor Michael Bromwich in his tracks, at least for now. But Apple's lawyers at Gibson Dunn & Crutcher nevertheless succeeded in curtailing Bromwich's authority as they continue fighting the government's antitrust case.
3 minute read

Wall Street Watchdog Sues DOJ over $13B JPMorgan Pact

February 10, 2014
Better Markets Inc., a nonprofit led by a former partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, filed an unusual lawsuit Monday challenging the legality of the U.S. Department of Justice's $13 billion mortgage settlement with J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.
2 minute read

Objectors Attack Facebook Privacy Settlement

February 10, 2014
3 minute read

Prenatal Testing Firms Take IP Fight to Federal Circuit

February 10, 2014
San Diego-based Sequenom—which saw its patent squelched by a district judge last year—is asking the appeals court to take judicial notice of "uncontested" scientific facts. But the company's rivals are crying foul.
4 minute read

Judge Rebukes MoFo Over Apple v. Samsung Closing

February 10, 2014
U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh delivered a stern rebuke to Apple's lawyers for seemingly appealing to nationalism and xenophobia at the company's damages retrial against Korean rival Samsung.
4 minute read

Perfumer Dodges Flavor Behemoth's $80M Trade Secrets Suit

February 10, 2014
After a long and hard-fought jury trial, a team from McCarter & English persuaded a jury to reject an $80 million trade secrets case that the fragrance and flavor giant Givaudan SA brought against a prominent perfumer and his new company.
3 minute read

Q&A With Preet Bharara, Manhattan U.S. Attorney

February 09, 2014
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara has had his share of big weeks since taking office nearly five years ago. But even for him, the last one was a doozy.
7 minute read
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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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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