A multi-firm legal team led by Kirkland & Ellis attorneys locked in a major defense win for Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. in a patent case where plaintiffs sought $500 million in damages.

U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap of the Eastern District of Texas, in an order entered May 24, found the plaintiffs had unclean hands, and concluded actions of the in-house patent attorneys relied upon by the plaintiffs merited reporting them to the state bars of California and New York for consideration of disciplinary actions.