Cases
- State of Alaska v. Williams Alaska Petroleum Inc., et al.
Trial counsel against former operator of refinery concerning statutory and contractual liability related to groundwater contamination in the City of North Pole, Alaska. Multi-week trial resulted in judgment in favor of client and the State of Alaska against Williams Alaska Petroleum, Inc. and The Williams Companies, Inc., finding the Williams entities liable to pay for over $80 million in past damages plus interest along with future liability for 100% of costs related to PFAS contamination at the North Pole Refinery and the majority of remediation costs for sulfolane contamination.
Represented manufacturer of unmanned air systems and drone system technology to recoup unpaid funds of $1.3 million from a utility company in breach of the parties’ contract. (2018)
- Negotiated a $27 million settlement
Royalty fee dispute, which was scheduled for arbitration. (2019)
- Obtained a $12.5 million settlement as Co-Lead Class Counsel for ERISA Plaintiffs in Carver v. The Bank New York Mellon (S.D.N.Y.)
Co-Lead Class Counsel representing ERISA participants, beneficiaries, and trustees that held American Depositary Receipts (“ADRs”) for which the Bank of New York Mellon (“BNYM”) acted as a depositary bank. Won a contested motion for interim-lead co-counsel and prevailed over BNYM’s motion to dismiss on an issue of “first impression” under ERISA law. (see Carver v. BNYM, 2017 WL 1208598 (S.D.N.Y. 2017).) Following substantial and highly contested fact and expert discovery, including review of nearly three million pages of documents, taking or defending 24 depositions, briefing a motion for class certification, opposing summary judgment, and exchanging multiple rounds of expert reports, successfully obtained a settlement on behalf of the Class for $12.5 million, which the Court approved in May 2019. (2019)
- Hubbard Broadcasting v. DIRECTV
Represented Hubbard Broadcasting in a breach of contract dispute to enforce its direct broadcast satellite rights on DIRECTV. Sought temporary injunctive relief to prevent the shut-down of one of its networks and obtained summary judgment in 2014 upholding Hubbard’s interpretation of a contract and preserving the Hubbard family’s ability to broadcast its networks into the future.
- Trial Counsel in CERCLA Actions
Since 2009, acted as trial counsel for Georgia-Pacific in CERCLA contribution litigation regarding PCB contamination of the Kalamazoo River in Michigan and the Fox River in Wisconsin. Representation has included three multi-week trials on liability and then allocation. Collaborated with trial counsel from other leading law firms.
- Mondelez International, Inc.
Lead counsel, together with a team of inside counsel, for Mondelez International, Inc. in a negotiation and/or then potential litigation dispute with Kraft Foods Group, Inc. involving a wide variety of Intellectual Property and treatment of certain provisions of key contracts impacting worldwide rights. Settlement was reached and involved, among other things, a division of IP by product and country across the world, agreed treatment of certain provisions of key contracts as they relate to contemplated transactions by the involved parties, and future treatment of key contract provisions. (2015)
- Mirant Corp. v. NRG Energy Inc.
Defended NRG Energy Inc. in a highly-publicized lawsuit filed by Mirant Corp. in Delaware Chancery Court involving NRG’s rejection of Mirant’s $8 billion unsolicited takeover bid. The case was dismissed upon defendant’s motion.
- Trial counsel for major retailer
Defense of creditors’ claims in bankruptcy.
Putative class action, which was dismissed with prejudice prior to class certification.
- Black Bear Crossings on the Lake, Inc. v. City of St. Paul
Retained by plaintiff on a pro bono basis, obtained early summary judgment for Como Park café and event center against the City of St. Paul for breach of contract. The case settled for $800,000, the third-largest settlement in the history of the City of St. Paul.
- Costa Farms v. Costa Farms
Represented an iconic local business with deep and historic roots in the Minnesota crop-farming industry against a national wholesale flower company in a tradename and trademark dispute.
- Amneal Pharmaceuticals and Kashiv Pharma
Represented Amneal Pharmaceuticals and Kashiv Pharma in a Hatch-Waxman patent dispute brought by Purdue Pharma over a generic drug, which successfully concluded.
- Medtronic Inc. v. Boston Scientific Corp. et al.
Represented Medtronic, Inc. in a dispute with Mirowksi Family Ventures assertion that Medtronic’s cardiac resynchronization devices infringed certain claims of U.S. Patent Nos. RE38,119 and RE39,897. After a bench trial, a Delaware district court held that Mirowski Family Ventures, as the patentee, bore the burden of proving infringement and failed to meet that burden, entering a judgment of non-infringement on behalf of Medtronic. On appeal, the Federal Circuit reversed the district court on the burden of proof issue and held that Medtronic, as the licensee, bore the burden of proving non-infringement. Medtronic filed a petition for certiorari to the U.S. Supreme Court. The Supreme Court granted the petition and reversed the Federal Circuit, holding that the patentee always bears the burden of proof, even where the licensor cannot counterclaim for infringement because of the existence of a license agreement. On remand from the Supreme Court, the Federal Circuit affirmed the district court’s finding of non-infringement for Medtronic, awarding Medtronic a complete victory in the case.
- Represented Efficient Drivetrains, Inc.
Dispute with Toyota Motor Corp. regarding a portfolio of fuel-efficient technology patents for hybrid and plug in hybrid vehicles. The dispute was resolved on February 21, 2012 when a confidential agreement was reached, providing Toyota with freedom to operate.
- Trial counsel for Phillips Beverage Company
Defense against a $100 million claim for alleged breach of Belvedere vodka licensing agreements brought by French multinational seller of luxury goods-Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton-and obtained a complete and unanimous defense verdict and an award of fees from the three member panel.
- Trial counsel in Eolas Technologies, Inc. and The Regents of the University of California v. Microsoft Corporation
Represented Eolas and the University of California in patent infringement action involving web browser technology for the delivery of interactive applications embedded in web pages. Obtained jury verdict in favor of plaintiffs in the amount of $520.6 million and judgment was entered for $565,894,868 which included prejudgment interest. The Federal Circuit affirmed the finding of infringement and the damages award, and ordered that Microsoft’s invalidity and inequitable conduct defenses be retried. The case settled on a confidential basis four days before the start of the invalidity retrial.
- Ricoh v. Pitney Bowes Inc.
Trial counsel for Pitney Bowes in a patent trial involving five patents relating to data transfer. Jury found all five patents invalid and the Federal Circuit summarily affirmed.
Obtained a $96.3 million verdict for Honeywell Inc. in a patent infringement suit against Minolta, which prompted subsequent cases against others in the industry resulting in total royalties approaching $500 million.
- Pitney Bowes Inc. v. Hewlett Packard
Trial counsel for Pitney Bowes in a significant patent infringement dispute against Hewlett Packard regarding laser jet printers, which resulted in a $400 million settlement award and the rights to critical intellectual property.
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