Litigation Department of the Year, Class Action: Weil, Gotshal & Manges

What are some of the department’s most satisfying successes of the past year and why? Looking back over the past year, we are particularly proud that Weil has won significant, business-oriented resolutions across all of our primary litigation practices, underscoring our ability to work with clients to execute creative strategies no matter the nature of the dispute. We secured an en banc rehearing before the 11th Circuit for Farmers Insurance in an antitrust MDL and then convinced the full court to reverse the panel and uphold a series of dismissals—this never happens. We also demonstrated why Weil is best-in-class in securities litigation, through our successful defense of Signet Jewelers in a first-of-kind shareholder case regarding corporate codes of conduct, in which we convinced the Second Circuit to grant a rare 23(f) petition challenging class certification that paved the way for a favorable settlement. And we resolved for Willis an investor MDL arising out of the Stanford Ponzi scheme by negotiating a complex settlement that implemented a bar on all claims, even those not before the court. All of these cases implicated billions of dollars. Equally as satisfying are the new and ongoing cases on which we will get to partner with clients over the coming months and years, including cutting-edge antitrust class actions relating to so-called “no-poach” clauses in employment contracts, and major appeals that could further shape class arbitration jurisprudence, just to name a few. 

A prospective client in crisis calls and asks why your team should be retained. What is your answer? Especially in crisis situations, we have proven expertise in developing and working toward business-oriented outcomes—whether at trial or via settlement—and helping clients work through the attendant PR and crisis management aspects that typically come with the territory. Part of what makes us so effective in these situations is taking a transactional perspective, which helps us advance our clients’ positions in an efficient manner; recognizing favorable outcomes and opportunities to exert leverage even as positions change. In part, this comes from having the opportunity to work closely with extremely talented attorneys outside of our litigation department, such as M&A, business finance and restructuring, tax, and technology and IP transactions, on both litigation and transactional engagements.