At Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP‘s New York office, Greg Andres co-heads the firm’s white collar defense and investigations team, with extensive experience advising on complex criminal and civil cases bolstered by his previous roles in government. In 2025, he had success in his representation of Meta and WhatsApp in litigation against NSO Group Technologies, a spyware company that had allegedly accessed WhatsApp servers without authorization and installed ‘Pegasus’ spyware on users’ phones – the court awarded more than $167mn in damages to Meta and entered a permanent injunction against NSO. He also advised JPMorgan as victims of fraud in a criminal trial, after education startup Frank misrepresented its user base, claiming that they had helped over 4 million students access financial aid when, in reality, they had fewer than 300,000. Andres secured a guilty verdict and is continuing to advise on post-trial proceedings relating to restitution.

Co-chair of the global litigation department at Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, David Lender brings extensive experience in complex, international commercial litigation, with recent work advising ExxonMobil, defending them against public nuisance lawsuits relating to plastics pollution filed by the California State Attorney General, environmental NGO Sierra Club, and by Ford County, Kansas. He is defending P&G in a nationwide ‘greenwashing’ class action suit concerning allegations that they misled consumers about their Charmin brand of toilet paper and its compliance with environmental practices. Additionally, he is advising Special Master Robert B. Pincus on the court-supervised sale of PDV Holding, parent company of CITGO, navigating international issues including sanctions and the concerns of judgment creditors.

Partner at Gibbs & Bruns LLP, Kathy Patrick is trusted by her clients for her expertise in antitrust and other commercial matters, including leveraged buyouts and corporate indemnities, with recent work including the defense of Google against claims from the Texas Attorney General alleging that they have monopoly power in the digital advertising space. She is also representing a number of retail companies, including Target, Macy’s and Staples, in an antitrust case against Visa and Mastercard which alleged that, as credit card networks, they imposed supracompetitive interchange fees on retailers accepting payments with their credit cards and restrained competition for card acceptance – several of the retail companies have settled favorably throughout 2025. Additionally, Patrick is representing Fannie Mae in a damages lawsuit against 9 major banks – including JPMorgan and Deutsche Bank – accusing them of manipulating the London interbank offered rate.

Diane Sullivan of Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP continues to provide strong advice to her clients, with focus on class action and MDL cases. She is representing L’Oréal in a product liability dispute with plaintiffs alleging that hair relaxer products have caused cancers, achieving an early victory with the court dismissing the French parent company of L’Oréal from the ongoing case, narrowing the scope of the liability. Having been brought on as replacement trial counsel, she is defending Duke Energy in an antitrust dispute in North Carolina federal court, with the plaintiff NTE Energy alleging that Duke has a monopoly in the energy industry in the south east. Additionally, she has also been retained by Duke to advise on a wage-fixing class action suit filed by workers in nuclear power plants across the country, who alleged that 26 nuclear plant operators of illegally shared wage information to suppress pay.

Co-executive chairman of Winston Taylor, Chicago-based Dan Webb brings decades of trial experience across a wide range of areas, with recent work including the representation of former head coach of the Northwestern University football team Pat Fitzgerald in a breach of contract and defamation claim following his termination, settling the case to Fitzgerald’s satisfaction in August 2025. He leads the trial team representing Versata Software in a trade secrets and breach of contract litigation case against Ford, alleging that, after years of Ford using Versata’s automotive configuration software, Ford had breached its licensing agreement by attempting to reverse-engineer replacement software. Furthermore, he represented Fox News in defamation lawsuits brought by Dominion Voting Systems related to coverage of the 2020 presidential election and Donald Trump’s allegations of ‘rigging’ votes.

Theodore V. Wells, based in Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP‘s New York office, provides wide-ranging experience in white-collar and complex civil litigation matters. He continues to lead on work for ExxonMobil – in the last year he helped defend them against a federal securities class action suit in Texas which alleged that the company had artificially inflated its stock price, costing stockholders billions of dollars. Wells succeeded in defeating the class certification in all but one corrective disclosure, and narrowed the scope of this case to an eight-month period, with trial expected in 2026. He also co-leads on the defense of Regeneron against a False Claims Act / Anti-Kickback Statute case brought by the DOJ, relating to the company’s macular degeneration drug EYLEA and kickback payments.

Based in Wilkinson Stekloff‘s Washington D.C. office, co-founder Beth Wilkinson upholds her reputation as a skilled trial lawyer with experience leading on bet-the-company commercial litigation and high-profile criminal cases, with focus on antitrust and merger issues. Highlights of the past year include her representation of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in defense of its acquisition of Juniper Networks, against a challenge by the DOJ who alleged that it would damage competition in the WLAN market; Wilkinson secured a favorable settlement. She also continues to assist in the representation of Microsoft following its acquisition of Activision following the FTC’s appeal in the Ninth Circuit. Furthermore, she is representing 3M and was retained to advise in a dispute brought by the state of Vermont, after serving as lead trial counsel and negotiating a landmark settlement of PFAS contamination claims from thousands of cities and towns.

Global chair of the securities and M&A litigation practice at Latham & Watkins, Andrew Clubok is based in the firm’s Washington DC and New York offices, providing key advice on complex securities litigation and other business litigation matters. His recent work has included the representation of Touradji Capital Management in a retrial of a breach of contract claim by two former employees suing for violations of SEC regulations. He is also representing Celgene Corporation (a subsidiary of Bristol-Myers Squibb) in a securities class action case in New Jersey.

Robin Gibbs, founding partner at Gibbs & Bruns LLP, remains an expert Texas-based trial lawyer, called on by his clients for his skills and experience in antitrust and fiduciary-duty claims, among other cases. His recent work highlights include the ongoing defense of Google against a major antitrust and deceptive trade practices act lawsuit filed by the Texas Attorney General, alleging that Google has monopoly power in the online display advertising space and is carrying out anticompetitive practices. Additionally, he is representing Winston & Strawn LLP against claims from a former client that, in an oil-and-gas transaction, certain terms were not properly drafted and that others were not included in the final deal.

The founder of the specialist litigation firm Kasowitz LLP, New York-based Marc Kasowitz continues to be a recognised figure in the space, with decades of experience across the full range of commercial litigation work, including antitrust, securities, and product liability cases. In 2025, key highlights of his work include the representation of Vietnamese company Gilimex in New York State Supreme Court against Amazon Robotics, regarding a breach of agreement after Amazon allegedly went back on a production agreement and resulting in the damages to Gilimex’s business; Kasowitz has achieved an early success by defeating a motion for summary judgment. Furthermore, he is representing a number of Jewish and Israeli students in civil rights lawsuits against major universities, alleging that the schools violated the Civil Rights Act by acting with indifference to antisemitic hostility on campus.

Having joined Latham & Watkins in August 2025, David Marriott continues to provide key advice to his clients on a range of business litigation matters, with a strong focus on antitrust cases. He is leading on the ongoing representation of Live Nation, continuing from his former firm, against an investigation from the DOJ alleging that the entertainment company has a monopoly in the concert promotion and ticketing markets. He is also the lead in the firm’s representation of Novo Nordisk against a range of claims from Pfizer alleging misconduct and monopolization of GLP-1 medications through the acquisition of life sciences startup Metsera.

Global co-chair of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP‘s litigation department, Lynn Neuner is trusted by her clients for her skills in handling insurance disputes and securities litigation, among other areas of commercial litigation. Recent successes include the defense of Travelers against attempts by Johnson & Johnson to offload its talc-related liability to them, with the court rejecting J&J’s ‘Texas two-step’ manoeuvre. She continues to represent other major insurers Chubb, AXA, and Swiss Re in a complex aviation coverage dispute regarding the grounding of planes in Russia and associated losses. Additionally, she is representing Pfizer in a high-value putative class action securities case relating to a secondary stock offering.

Based in New York, Jonathan Youngwood is the global co-chair of the litigation department at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP and brings extensive experience in securities and M&A litigation. He continues to represent Paramount Global following its merger with Skydance Media, with the board accused of breaching its fiduciary duty. Additionally, he is representing BorgWarner as it seeks tax reimbursement from its spinoff PHINIA alleging it violated its Tax Matters Agreement, and represented Spire Global, succeeding in expediting the sale of its ship-tracking business to Kpler. Youngwood also advised the Federal Reserve Banks of New York and San Francisco on matters relating to Master Accounts.

Working in Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP‘s New York office, Barry Berke is a skilled trial lawyer with experience advising clients on a range of white collar cases, often involving major corporations and governmental entities. As co-chair of the firm’s litigation practice group, he has taken on some of its most significant work, for example representing BNP Paribas in a high-profile human-rights class action suit about secondary-liability claims under Swiss law, defending the bank against allegations of its connections to the Sudanese government and its atrocities in the 1990s and 2000s. Furthermore, he continues to represent Archegos Capital founder Bill Hwang in a major market manipulation case, currently under appeal.

Peter Bicks is based in Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe‘s New York office and brings strong experience in commercial disputes and intellectual property matters, regularly advising major clients in the medical and agriculture space. He is currently advising Corteva Agriscience in a patent case brought against Inari, alleging that they stole and exported Corteva’s patented seeds, modified them, and are attempting to file a new patent for them back in the U.S. Furthermore, he is representing Corteva in a licensing dispute with Bayer involving the use of soybean products. He is also defending the Louis Dreyfus Company against over 200 personal injury and wrongful death cases related to exposure to ethylene oxide used in the sterilization of medical tools.

At Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP‘s New York office, Jay Cohen is a former co-chair of the litigation department at the firm and c0ntinues to advise major clients in the pharma, tech, and media spaces. He is representing Regeneron Pharmaceuticals in a multibillion dollar antitrust action in the SDNY against Novartis and Vetter Pharma, alleging that they violated aspects of the Sherman Act relating to Regeneron’s blindness treatment drug Eylea. Regeneron is alleging that the two defendants conspired to exclude and delay Eylea’s entry into the market, and is filing a Walker Process claim that alleges Novartis fraudulently obtained the patent for pre-filled syringes and sought to monopolize the market for them.

Bryce Friedman of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP is based in New York and leads the firm’s insurance litigation team and co-leads the business litigation team, with clients valuing his skills in handling a wide variety of insurance disputes and particular focus in the medical industry. Recent work includes the representation of Travelers and Berkshire Hathaway, among other major insurers, in a number of cases relating to alleged Medicare fraud. He is advising Beazley on its seeking of a no coverage ruling, relating to NuMale Medical Center and its role in the largest individual medical malpractice verdict in U.S. history, which it failed to declare to Beazley in its insurance application.

Jeffrey Kessler, co-executive chairman of Winston Taylor, provides key advice to his clients in the sports industry, often in antitrust cases and negotiations with sports leagues. He concluded a longstanding antitrust class action case representing current and former college athletes against the NCAA regarding athletes’ monetary compensation, reaching a settlement which distributed $3bn in past damages to former athletes and established a new revenue-sharing system. In addition to this strong sports work, he is advising Microsoft on a complex antitrust and patent litigation case involving NVIDIA data processing units, key to training AI systems.

Managing partner of King & Spalding’s Dallas office and the firm’s global head of trial, Tom Melsheimer brings his extensive experience advising on a broad range of civil litigation work, including patent disputes and negligence and liability claims. He represented Ruel Hamilton, a Dallas-based real estate developer who was facing bribery and conspiracy charges, and successfully appealed in the Fifth Circuit, securing his acquittal on all counts. Furthermore, he defended Medtronic against a patent litigation case brought by TMT Systems relating to heart stents, which initially ended in a hung jury before being settled favorably and ruled as a judgment of non-infringement by Medtronic.

MoloLamken LLP founding partner Steven Molo, based in New York, draws together a wide range of sector expertise to support clients from boards, corporations, and investors to individuals in business, white-collar criminal, and IP-related matters. Molo is currently acting as lead trial counsel for Elon Musk and X.AI Corp in their suit against Sam Altman, OpenAI, Microsoft, and others in regards to OpenAI's conversion from a nonprofit to a for-profit organization. In addition, he is acting for the Menke-Weidenback Objectors in the Damages and Injunctive Relief Settlement Classes, concerning the payment of college athletes.

Executive chairman and founding partner of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP, John Quinn is based in Los Angeles and continues to leverage his experience and expertise to provide key support to his clients. Work highlights span a range of industries and legal issues, including product liability, antitrust, and trade secrets cases. He continues to represent plaintiffs in a mass tort suing 3M relating to defective earplugs, now representing veterans with hearing-related injuries. Furthermore, he is supporting SHEIN against antitrust and trade secrets claims from competitor Temu.

Co-chair of the trials practice group at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, New York-based Orin Snyder brings strong experience and knowledge of commercial litigation, specializing in the entertainment and tech spaces. Highlighted work from the previous year include the representation of OpenAI in an innovative defamation case based on generative AI output, where the plaintiff alleged that ChatGPT produced false and defamatory content about him; the judge granted motion for summary judgment finding in OpenAI’s favor. Furthermore, he continues to lead in the representation of AMC Networks against a lawsuit brought by the producers of The Walking Dead seeking to change their contracts regarding their profit participation.

Based in New York, Elkan Abramowitz of Morvillo Abramowitz Grand Iason & Anello P.C. continues to leverage his skills and litigation expertise to support his clients, having worked on white collar civil and criminal matters in both state and federal courts. As a name partner at the firm with decades of experience, he is regularly brought in to advise on key cases, for example, he previously represented David Pecker, former CEO of American Media Inc., in connection with SDNY and Manhattan DA investigations related to the prosecutions of Donald Trump and Michael Cohen.

At Latham & Watkins, Sean M. Berkowitz continues to provide key advice to his clients, with a range of skills in securities, antitrust, and complex commercial litigation. Based in the firm’s Chicago office, his recent work includes the representation of Orica in an alleged breach of contract claim against CF Industries relating to a long-term purchase agreement for ammonium nitrate. He is also part of the team handling and coordinating a set of international product liability suits on behalf of Allergan, Inc., with cases across North America, Europe, and Asia.

At Williams & Connolly LLP, Washington D.C.-based attorney Dane Butswinkas advises on a range of commercial litigation matters including financial and liabilities issues, with further experience in arbitration. He is currently representing Perkins Coie in a challenge to the Trump administration’s executive order attempting to suspend security clearances and contracts for the firm, with success as the judge permanently enjoined the order. He continues to represent Platinum Equity Advisors in an adversarial bankruptcy court proceeding against Incora, its portfolio company. Furthermore, he successfully defended AstraZeneca against antitrust class actions relating to allegedly anticompetitive patent settlements.

Lori Cohen, based in the Atlanta office of Greenberg Traurig, is the vice chair of the firm and co-chair of the global litigation practice, with particular focus in pharma and medical-related cases. Following her success representing Bard in a pelvic mesh damages case, leading to the disbandment of the MDL, she has been retained by Bard for other cases including litigation regarding IVC filters, hernia meshes, and exposure to ethylene oxide. Furthermore, she continues to advise Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc. on an MDL relating to the recall of heart medication Valsartan.

Based in San Francisco, Arturo González of Morrison Foerster balances both civil and criminal matters as part of his extensive caseload, with work in product liability, patents, and civil rights cases. In his representation of four people involved in the high-profile Frank Carson case, who were found not guilty and subsequently filed a malicious prosecution action against Stanislaus County, he secured a record-setting $22.5m settlement, the largest civil rights recovery in the history of the Eastern District of California. He also continues to represent Caesarstone USA in litigation brought against them by plaintiffs who allege that their silicosis was caused by exposure to silica dust.

Based in the Chicago office of Goldman Ismail Tomaselli Brennan & Baum LLP, Tarek Ismail is an experienced litigator with clients in the pharma and medical science space. His work includes the continued representation of Merck & Co Inc. in defense against an antitrust MDL relating to the settlement of a patent case in 2010, which plaintiffs alleged violated federal and state antitrust laws, and which was settled during trial – following his success, he has been retained by Merck for related opt-out Zetia litigation. He is also advising Gilead Sciences in a mass tort consolidated in California regarding side-effects of antiretroviral medication.

Based in Winston Taylor‘s Chicago office, George Lombardi focuses his attention on patent litigation in the pharma and medical fields, leveraging his strong experience in IP disputes. Recent work includes the defense of MSN Laboratories against claims from Exelixis that they infringed the patent of a cancer-treating drug. Additionally, he concluded a decade-long patent and trade secret lawsuit on behalf on Corning Inc., relating to alleged misuse of a cell-culturing technology, with the judge completely rejecting the plaintiff’s case and ruled for Corning on every issue.

Based in Washington D.C., Enu Mainigi of Williams & Connolly LLP remains a skilled trial lawyer with focuses in the health care and finance sectors. She is well-versed in handling FCA healthcare cases, having tried a number in the past year, including the conclusion to long-running representation of Albertsons Companies and SuperValu against whistleblower claims that the company improperly billed the government relating to its price-matching system. She also had experience in other FCA cases representing CVS Health and Caremark and continues to advise on appeal measures.

Based in Chicago, Craig Martin at Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP advises on a range of litigation matters, including ERISA issues, damages claims, and patent disputes. He continues to represent Provisur in a patent infringement and business competition lawsuit against Weber, alleging that Weber improperly obtained technology developed by Provisur, with the case consisting of several patent lawsuits in both the United States and in Germany. Martin also advised an Illinois lobbyist and former legislator against federal public corruption charges, and represented Olin Corporation regarding breach of contract claims in the ICC arbitration court in Paris.

Chair of the trial practice at O'Melveny, Daniel Petrocelli acts as counsel for a range of significant clients in the media and entertainment space. Highlights of his practice recently include the success representing Warner Brothers in a copyright lawsuit brought by the estate of a co-creator of Superman, attempting to block the release of the 2025 film alleging that WB did not have the requisite rights. He is also currently supporting The Walt Disney Company in three consolidated antitrust class action suits regarding the company’s carriage agreements.

Head of the IP litigation practice at Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP and based in the firm’s Redwood City office, Ashok Ramani advises companies on complex patent issues, with recent work in the medical and tech spaces. He defended Comcast against claims from Touchstream Technologies that they infringed patent related to remote control of video playback, helping negotiate a favorable settlement. Furthermore, he also secured a judgment as a matter of law of no infringement for Comcast against claims from WhereverTV alleging infringement of interactive program guide software.

Barrett Reasoner of Gibbs & Bruns LLP has over three decades of litigation experience, working across the full range of commercial matters, with a recent focus on antitrust matters – a major example in this space is his continued work representing a number of retail companies in their MDL case against Visa and Mastercard, alleging that the card companies imposed supracompetitive interchange charges, violating federal antitrust laws. He is also currently representing an AM Law 50 firm against fiduciary duty and legal malpractice claims from a fintech startup GloriFi, and against other malpractice claims regarding an oil-and-gas transaction.

Drew Tulumello co-chairs the global litigation department at Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP and advises on a range of complex work, such as public nuisance lawsuits, copyright disputes, and including a high-profile bellwether case where a plaintiff alleged that ultra-processed foods were intentionally designed and advertised to be addictive to children, with Tulumello defending PepsiCo and other major food and beverage manufacturers against these claims – following his argument, the district court dismissed the complaint with prejudice. Furthermore, he is acting as lead national trial counsel for ExxonMobil defending against several public nuisance lawsuits relating to plastics pollution and continues to advise on sports matters.

At Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP, co-head of the litigation department Gary Bornstein supports clients with his strong skills in commercial matters, with focus on antitrust, M&A, and securities litigation. Highlighted work from the past year include the significant victories for Epic Games in two similar antitrust lawsuits against Google and Apple alleging that the tech company’s app distribution and in-app purchases violated antitrust regulations. He is representing Deutsche Telekom, controlling stockholder of T-Mobile, and certain T-Mobile officers in defense against a putative class action and derivative litigation alleging that they breached their fiduciary duty relating to the merger of T-Mobile and Sprint.

As co-chair of the global litigation practice at Dechert, Mark Cheffo has extensive knowledge supporting clients in complex commercial litigation matters, including in product liability, insurance, and mass torts, with particular strength in the pharma industry. He has had success for a major pharmaceutical manufacturer relating to PFAS water supply contamination litigation, securing a dismissal of their client from the claim, and represented Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics in litigation and regulatory matters regarding the use of PFOA-containing materials, including putative class actions in multiple states alleging that the company contaminated groundwater.

Sandra Goldstein works in the New York office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP and advises on a range of M&A and securities litigation, with major work in the past year representing Target Corporation in a number of cases. For example, she obtained the complete dismissal of a putative securities class action following a $25bn drop in Target’s stock relating post-COVID supply issues; and also currently leads on a novel consolidated securities class action after a plaintiff alleged that they were misled about risk relating to Target’s ESG and DEI initiatives.

Melinda Haag co-chairs the white collar & regulatory group at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP and regularly provides key advice on white collar criminal matters, government investigations, and complex commercial litigation. Recent successes include the securing of a not-guilty verdict for an Apple employee in California Superior Court relating to a bribery investigation by the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office, and securing a favorable settlement on behalf of Amazon related to its Flex delivery model and claims about allegedly misleading statements made about the earning models for drivers.

With a broad range of experience handling complex antitrust, product liability, and other commercial litigation cases, Heidi Hubbard of Williams & Connolly LLP continues to lead on major matters for her clients. Over the previous year, she has been defending Amazon against antitrust actions filed by the FTC and by the Attorney General of California. She also represented BeOne (f/k/a BeiGene) in a trade secrets case brought by AbbVie, and Jazz Pharmaceuticals in an antitrust MDL in the Northern District of California.

In Kirkland & Ellis LLP‘s Chicago office, James Hurst continues to lead on litigation in the product liability and consumer protection spaces for major pharma clients, with recent success for Abbott Laboratories in federal bellwether cases relating to thousands of pending cases regarding baby formula products, securing three consecutive summary judgments in federal court and setting strong precedent for future cases. Furthermore, he defended Eli Lilly against breach of contract claims brought PDL Biopharma, Inc. alleging that they were owed royalties on Lilly’s Alzheimer’s medicine Kisunla – Hurst again secured a complete summary judgment victory.

As global chair of the litigation & trial department at Latham & Watkins, based in Orange County, Michele Johnson has extensive experience across the full gamut of commercial litigation matters, with recent focus on securities and M&A litigation. Recent successes have included the representation of Sarepta Therapeutics in a patent dispute with Nippon Shinyaku regarding the development of medicine for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy; initially defending Sarepta against Nippon’s claims for damages of $290m and which ended with the jury deciding that Nippon instead owed $116m to Sarepta. She also secured a total summary judgment in a securities class action with plaintiffs alleging that misleading statements were made about a new drug for ANCA-associated vasculitis.

Jennifer Keller, founding partner of Keller Anderle Scolnick LLP, continues to provide key litigation advice to clients in complex commercial disputes and white-collar cases, and has particular skills handling disputes involving IP, patents, and breach of contract claims. Evidence of her recent success includes her work for Guardant Health in a false advertising case against Natera, securing one of the largest Lanham Act verdicts in history, and further supported by her retention by Guardant for a patent case against Tempus AI in the liquid biopsy space.

In the Boston office of Goodwin, Douglas Kline leverages his extensive experience to support companies in the tech and life sciences, focusing on IP litigation, particularly in patent and false advertising cases. Recent notable examples include the defense of New Balance against allegations from Nike that they had infringed the patents of Nike’s Flyknit textile-technology and the representation of BitSight Technologies in a cybersecurity technology patent and false advertising case against its competitor Black Kite relating to technology assessing third-party cybersecurity risk using externally observable data, which was resolved in February 2025 after the case was dismissed with prejudice.

Kevin Orsini is co-head of the litigation department at Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP and is based in the firm’s New York office, bringing extensive experience in antitrust, securities and M&A litigation. In 2025, he represented American Express in an antitrust class action case, in which plaintiffs alleged that the company’s anti-steering rules violated Sherman Act and Clayton Act antitrust regulations, with the jury unanimously finding that the company was not liable for these claims. He also secured a favorable settlement for Xcel Energy in a number of lawsuits relating to the Marshall Wildfire, and has been retained by Xcel to represent them in further actions.

Head of the white collar defense and government investigations practice at Goodwin, Richard Strassberg continues to advise his clients regarding investigations by Congress, the SEC, and the USAO. An example of recent work is his representation of Medical Properties Trust in a high-profile and politically-sensitive governmental investigation about the involvement of private equity in the health care system. He represented newly-independent REIT Two Harbors Investment Corp in litigation against its former management securing a favorable settlement and making law on a novel issue – securing the independent legal privilege of REITs and their employees from its management.

Based in Cooley LLP‘s San Diego office, Michael Attanasio brings key skills in commercial litigation and white collar cases, supported by his previous experience in government working in the DOJ. His recent work includes the landmark First Amendment victory for Jenner & Block against a targeted executive order from the Trump administration, obtaining a summary judgment permanently enjoining the order. He is also representing Google in two class action suits: one in state court relating to the use of cellular data, and one in federal court regarding invasion of privacy claims made under the CDAFA.

Based in New York and founding partner of Elsberg Baker & Maruri PLLC, Rollo Baker has experience handling complex commercial litigation, including securities disputes, shareholder disputes, and IP matters. Recent highlights include the representation of Fairstead Capital Management, successfully defending against the claims of a former employee that his termination had been wrongful, and pursuing counter claims that he had breached his contract and fiduciary duties by stealing confidential information – the arbitrator found in Fairstead’s favor. He is also advising Youbi Capital on a partnership dispute.

Based in Kirkland & Ellis LLP‘s Austin office, Kim Bueno advises on complex MDL cases, with focus on personal injury matters and commercial litigation. Her recent highlights include the defense of Monsanto against product liability and personal injury claims from plaintiffs relating to the herbicide Roundup, and the defense of Johnson & Johnson against talc-related and pelvic mesh product liability and personal injury claims – securing several settlements in both examples and continuing to advise. Furthermore, she won a defense verdict in one of the first bellwether trials relating to claims that Uber failed to adequately protect its customers from harassment from their drivers.

At Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP's New York office, global head of complex litigation and co-chair of insurance litigation Michael Carlinsky advises on a range of international disputes, including commercial litigation and corporate investigations. He achieved victory for Enstar Group in an international arbitration case relating to a disputed loss portfolio transfer, and is advising Aon plc and its subsidiary White Rock Insurance after they were defrauded by out of billions of dollars by Israeli insurance fintech company Vesttoo and Chinese Construction Bank bankers.

At Goldman Ismail Tomaselli Brennan & Baum LLP, Shayna Cook regularly leads on complex product liability cases, with focus in the pharma space and work on nationwide MDLs. Her practice includes the representation of GSK against a consolidated product liability suit in Cook County, defending them against allegations that their heartburn drug Zantac exposed plaintiffs to a probable carcinogen. She secured a complete defense verdict in August 2024 for GSK in one of the first Zantac trials nationwide, and a global settlement was reached later that year.

Michael Dell, of Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer (formerly Kramer Levin), has strong experience handling complex commercial litigation and regulatory issues for his clients, and his clients often include major accounting firms. He successfully defended Deloitte US against a putative class action which alleged that Deloitte’s operations in Lebanon connected to a fraudulent conspiracy involving Lebanon’s central bank and that Deloitte’s American branch was liable – Dell secured the complete dismissal of the claims, rejecting the plaintiff’s ‘single-entity’ theory. He also obtained the dismissal of lender liability claims filed against Gamma Real Estate relating to the Wade Park development.

David Elsberg, founding partner at Elsberg Baker & Maruri PLLC, provides key advice to his clients on a range of commercial litigation actions, including fiduciary duty issues, corporate governance, and breach of contract claims. He regularly advises private equity and venture capital clients, with recent success for Millennium Management LLC after Jane Street accused two former traders who joined Millennium of misappropriating an alleged ‘Trade Strategy’, obtaining a favorable settlement. He is representing Vitol Inc. in arbitration against Copape Produtos de Petróleo Ltda. alleging that the latter took custody of millions of dollars worth of oil product shipments without paying.

Brian Glasser of Bailey & Glasser LLP specialises in advising plaintiffs on class action lawsuits, with additional experience handling work in the energy sector for Williamson Energy, involving the conveyance of mineral rights, and in banking, investigating the bankruptcy of Silicon Valley Bank on behalf of the FDIC. An example of recent success in the class action space is his key role leading to the dismissal of the ‘Texas two-step’ spinoff bankruptcy attempted by Johnson & Johnson in relation to talc claimant liabilities.

Michael Holmes heads the litigation department at Vinson & Elkins LLP and provides his clients with strong skills and experience in business litigation, with focus in securities disputes. He advises on a range of fiduciary duty cases and M&A litigation matters, with recent work representing Continental Resources Inc. and its founder in litigation relating to a multi-billion dollar take-private transaction, as former shareholders who were cashed out alleged that the other directors approved an unfair transaction. Holmes is also representing Israeli-based Nano Dimension in litigation brought by Desktop Metal alleging breaches of contract.

Co-chair of the M&A litigation group at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, New York-based Jaren Janghorbani provides key support to her clients on a range of complex commercial litigation matters. With particular skill in handling governance-related disputes and shareholder litigation, she has had success in her representation of Fireman Capital Partners against former shareholders of Left Coast Ventures concerning alleged breaches of fiduciary duty relating to LCV’s merger with an SPAC, securing a motion to dismiss in part. She is advising the former CEO and former CFO of T-Mobile US in a stockholder class and derivative action alleging breaches of fiduciary duty relating to the 2020 merger of T-Mobile and Sprint.

Founding partner of Kaplan Martin, Roberta Kaplan has experience advising on a wide range of disputes, including commercial litigation, discrimination and misconduct cases, and public interest matters. A significant portion of her work recently has been the representation of the Metropolitan Transport Authority against numerous challenges to its congestion charges scheme, including from the Trump administration – she has achieved a number of judgments in the MTA’s favor. Furthermore, she represents E. Jean Carroll in her two cases against Donald Trump, involving claims for defamation and of sexual assault.

Based in McGuireWoods LLP’s Baltimore office and leading its litigation practice, Ava Lias-Booker brings over thirty years’ of experience in complex business litigation, with previous work representing a multinational oil and gas company and reversing the jury verdict against it which had awarded $1.5bn in damages. Furthermore, she is currently advising a major financial institution on a Fair Housing Act case brought against it, involving allegations of racial discrimination, having previously succeeded in obtaining a favorable result in a prior case alleging section 1981 claims related to bank branch deposits.

Silpa Maruri, founding partner of Elsberg Baker & Maruri PLLC, is a skilful litigator, whose experience includes the handling of disputed corporate transactions, shareholder disputes, and contract litigation. An example of her work is the representation of a class of investors in Agiliti Inc., challenging the take-private acquisition by private equity firm Thomas H. Lee Partners on the grounds that the company was unfairly undervalued. Furthermore, she is advising Soroc Technology Holdings on a disputed transaction regarding its purchase of DecisionOne Corporation and the later discovery that the company’s prior owners had engaged in fraud to inflate the company’s price.

Dana Seshens, co-head of civil litigation at Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, remains a key advisor on securities litigation with further experience in arbitrations. A highlight of her work in the previous year was the representation of Morgan Stanley against claims of fraud brought by German bank IKB Deutsche Industriebank AG relating to the sale of residential mortgage-backed securities between 2005 and 2007. She successfully defended the bank against these claims with the plaintiffs conceding at a hearing that they could not prove their claims.

Founding partner of Wilkinson Stekloff, Brian Stekloff provides key lead trial expertise, advising his clients on their defense against product liability and antitrust claims, with particular focus in the pharma space. He was retained by Medtronic, following previous success for them in a product liability case relating to hernia mesh products, to defend against allegations that they had monopolized the market for advanced bipolar devices through bundled discounts. He also leads on the representation of FTI Consulting in a dispute with the co-leader of Compass Lexecon, FTI’s economic subsidiary, alleging that he circumvented his contractual obligations by attempting to poach employees and secure funding for his own enterprise.

Paul Yetter, co-founder of Yetter Coleman LLP, supports his clients in a variety of commercial litigation matters, leveraging his extensive experience in the space with particular focus on antitrust, securities, and IP disputes. He co-leads a team representing IBM in a dispute with BMC Software regarding a mainframe conversion project for AT&T, vacating a $1.7bn judgment which was upheld in the Supreme Court. Furthermore, he also leads on antitrust cases for private equity firm Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe relating to its investment in U.S. Anaesthesia Partners, securing three consecutive dismissals.