We had some intriguing contenders for Litigator of the Week this week.

There was Mayer Brown partner Tim Bishop, who won a key environmental case before the U.S. Supreme Court, National Association of Manufacturers v. Department of Defense et al, and got a new case granted cert to boot.

Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher's Daniel Nelson scored a big win for Tropicana when a federal judge in New Jersey refused to certify a potentially massive class alleging the orange juice was deceptively marketed.

Greenberg Traurig's Sara Thompson, Lori Cohen, and Gregory Ostfeld won summary judgment for Sandoz in a suit alleging failure to provide pharmacies with medication guides for the anti-arrhythmic drug amiodarone.

Tom Nolan of Latham & Watkins represented CashCall. A federal judge rejected the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's request that his client pay $235 million in restitution.

But when we consider what win in the past week could have the greatest impact, there was an easy answer: the Pennsylvania gerrymandering suit. The decision by the state's Supreme Court could allow Democrats to pick up several new Congressional seats—and potentially, the majority in the House of Representatives.

P.J. D'Annunzio, a reporter at Lit Daily affiliate The Legal Intelligencer in Philadelphia wrote this week's profile of the winners, Mimi McKenzie of the Public Interest Law Center and David Gersch, senior counsel at Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer.

Here's how it begins:

Gerrymandering is one of those topics that can get the blood boiling in most voters. But to defeat the practice in Pennsylvania, a team of lawyers took a more dispassionate approach—laying out the numbers before the state's highest court to show that Pennsylvania's congressional voting districts were horribly skewed in favor of one party.

On Jan. 22, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled 5-2 in League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania that the Congressional Redistricting Act of 2011 was unconstitutional—a victory for the Democratic voters who challenged the Republican-controlled legislature's current districting layout.

The impact goes beyond Pennsylvania. It could potentially tip the scales in 2018, as Democrats make a bid to retake the House of Representatives in Washington, D.C..

The team behind the historic decision was a coalition of attorneys from the Public Interest Law Center in Philadelphia and Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer in Washington D.C., who also worked together in 2012 to strike down Pennsylvania's voter ID law.

Mimi McKenzie, the legal director of the Public Interest Law Center, and David Gersch, who led the Arnold & Porter pro bono team in the litigation, said computer models, maps, date, and common sense are what won the day in their representation of the League of Women Voters.

And in a stroke of poetic justice, the same tools state lawmakers used to draw maps in their favor were used against them in the courtroom.

Read the full story here, where P.J. goes on to explain how the team proved the districts were drawn to intentionally discriminate against Democrats, as well as pushback from state Republicans, who on Thursday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to issue an emergency stay.

 

Quinn Emanuel Comes Through for Billionaire Investor

A team from Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan beat back a claim for billions of dollars, preserving a trial court decision by a bankruptcy judge that favored firm clients Len Blavatnik and Access Industries.

The dispute stemmed from the leveraged buyout and ensuing bankruptcy of LyondellBasell Industries, Inc.

Blavatnik, an American multi-billionaire, bought Lyondell in 2007, combining it with his chemicals business, Basell. Saddled with massive debt, the combined company collapsed amidst the financial crisis and filed for bankruptcy protection in 2009.

Edward Weisfelner, appointed by the bankruptcy court as Litigation Trustee of the LB Litigation Trust, went after Blavatnik and his company Access Industries on behalf of creditors, alleging fraud and other misdeeds. The trustee was represented by lawyers from Kellogg, Hansen, Todd, Figel & Frederick and Brown Rudnick

According to the Financial Times, Blavatnik's liability could have been as much as $5 billion. Instead, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Martin Glenn found he was liable for just one count—breaching an agreement by failing to lend.

The damages? $7.2 million.

The trustee appealed the decision. On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Denise Cote of the Southern District of New York affirmed Glenn's decision, although she adjusted the damages calculation to $12 million.

Quinn Emanuel partner Rick Werder took the lead on the case.

 

Don McGahn Makes a Stand

Just wow. I've been critical of White House Counsel Don McGahn in the past for failing to manage his volatile client. But this bombshell story gives me new-found respect for the former Jones Day partner.

From The New York Times, Thursday evening: “After receiving the president's order to fire Mr. Mueller, the White House counsel, Donald F. McGahn II, refused to ask the Justice Department to dismiss the special counsel, saying he would quit instead.”

Read the full story here.

 

What I'm Reading

4 Key Quotes From Judge Who May OK Trump Emoluments Suit

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Illumina Wins $26.7M Verdict in Prenatal Testing Case Against Ariosa

A win for Edward Reines of Weil, Gotshal & Manges in the patent infringement fight.

Animal Welfare Lawyer Sues Watchdog Group Over Criticism in Report

OK, this is just sad: The general counsel for the New Jersey Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was criticized for carrying a badge identifying him as a special prosecutor, even though the agency has no authority to make such an appointment or issue such a shield.

Michigan Appeals Court Says Flint Class Action Holds Water

“It creates some great law for the many, many, many litigants who are behind us.”

Judge Sanctions OneWest—Treasury Secretary Mnuchin's Former Bank—for 'Frivolous' Foreclosure

The elderly woman's husband died, and a month later, the bank is foreclosing.

Ex-Assistant to Harvey Weinstein Files Sex Harassment Suit Against Mogul

Oh jeez write this woman a huge check now: Weinstein allegedly demanded that she make arrangements for his sexual encounters, clean up after them, and also work with Weinstein while he was in the nude.