Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom

Tell us about your biggest trial win from January 2018 through June 2019 and how you achieved the result for your client.

In one of the largest—if not the largest—cases involving claims against mutual funds, I led the Skadden trial team on behalf of certain subsidiaries of BlackRock, securing a dismissal with prejudice on all counts of $1.5 billion excessive-fee claims after an eight-day bench trial in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey. The decision impacts the entire mutual fund industry and also vindicates important aspects of BlackRock's pricing model by rejecting plaintiffs theory that the prices of retail mutual funds offered to the public are "excessive" unless they are priced comparably to other, more limited packages of services offered to different types of clients.

Share two trial tips that have been key to your success.

1) Don't be bound by conventional wisdom—you have to make your best case, and every case is different.

2) Be farsighted, not shortsighted, in discovery—think about the shape of your trial presentation and make that a primary consideration in your discovery decisions.