The Daily Journal has reported on Gibson Dunn’s significant victory on behalf of our client Western Digital in a patent infringement case brought by SPEX Technologies (SPEX). The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California overturned a previous jury verdict that had awarded SPEX more than $550 million and replaced it with nominal damages of $1.
Our team representing Western Digital included partners Daniel Thomasch, Kieran Kieckhefer, Jason Lo, and Stuart Rosenberg; of counsel Frank Coté; counsel Ahmed ElDessouki; and associates Darish Huynh, Isaac Rottman, Lillian Mao, Yan Zhao, and Eleni Ingram.
Read the full article, “Federal Judge Slashes $550M Western Digital Patent Verdict to $1,” in the Daily Journal (subscription required).
Bloomberg Law recognized partner Brian Rosenthal in its inaugural “Unrivaled” awards, which honor trial lawyers “who lead the legal profession in high-stakes and impactful trials and settlements.”
Speaking to the publication about the elements required to win over a jury or judge, Brian said he draws inspiration from Einstein: “If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.” He noted that finding a simple story in even the most complicated cases is the greatest challenge. “Once we find that story, we repeat it. Again, and again. And we don’t chase rabbits. We don’t pick losing fights. Credibility is king. We never misrepresent, and we always back up our promises.”
Gibson Dunn announced today that Dean Masuda has joined the firm’s New York office as a partner in the Finance Practice Group. A leading debt finance lawyer, Dean advises private equity sponsors and their portfolio companies on leveraged acquisition financings.
“Dean is an incredibly versatile finance lawyer and an exciting addition to our growing team in New York,” said Aaron F. Adams, Co-Chair of the firm’s Finance Practice Group. “Dean is thoughtful, energetic, and entrepreneurial, and his deep experience navigating large cap syndicated and privately placed leveraged acquisitions will be invaluable to our clients as they look for market opportunities.”
“Gibson Dunn has an outstanding reputation and a clear emphasis on transactional growth, with private equity as a primary driver, and I’m thrilled to begin the next chapter of my career as a member of the fast-growing team,” said Dean. “As funds continue to deploy capital in today’s market, choosing the right financing structure can be critical to realizing success. The synergies between Gibson Dunn’s finance and dealmaking teams are seamless, resulting in creative solutions that help clients best meet their investment objectives. I look forward to working alongside these exceptional, collaborative colleagues to continue the upward trajectory of the firm’s premier transactional platform.”
The firm’s transactional practices in New York have experienced significant synergistic growth with the addition of more than a dozen lateral partners over the past few years. Recent arrivals include capital markets partner Michael Saliba, private credit partner Ryan Kim, M&A partner George Sampas, private equity partner Brian Scrivani, and special situations partner Caith Kushner.
About Dean Masuda
Dean represents private equity sponsors and their portfolio companies as they navigate complex leveraged financing transactions. He has represented some of the most well-known investment firms in the market.
Prior to joining Gibson Dunn, Dean served as a partner at an international law firm. He earned his law degree from Columbia Law School in 2015, where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar.
Gibson Dunn was honored with multiple awards at the 2025 California Legal Awards, including Attorney of the Year for partner Theane Evangelis, and as winner of the Innovation in Diversity and Inclusion award. Partners Ashlie Beringer and Cassandra Gaedt-Sheckter were named Women Leaders in Tech Law.
Theane was recognized for her landmark victory at the U.S. Supreme Court in Johnson v. City of Grants Pass, Oregon. Theane dedicated the award to our late partner and former U.S. Solicitor General Ted Olson, whom she described as a friend, partner, and mentor — and a “California lawyer for the ages.” She also reflected on her nearly 20 years at the firm: “We believe not only in fighting for our clients and winning, but in promoting the greater good.”
Our firm was also a finalist for the Tech Industry Litigation Department of the Year award.
Partner Hagen Rooke has told the Financial Times (subscription required) that the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s (MAS) new regulations requiring local crypto firms serving overseas markets to cease operations represent a move to “clean up shop” and “plug gaps in its framework.”
Hagen said that the MAS is “de facto shutting down the industry that was operating on the fringes of the existing framework.”
Gibson Dunn has been recognized in the 2025 edition of the Chambers and Partners Litigation Support guide, which features detailed coverage of litigation support services in the U.S., U.K., Europe, the Middle East, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America.
The firm and partner Robert L. Weigel, Co-Chair of our Judgment and Arbitral Award Enforcement Practice Group, were ranked in the Asset Tracing & Recovery (Global-wide) category, with Robert described by clients as “deeply experienced and excellent at developing legal strategies to optimise results in large complex cross-border disputes” and “one of the most strategic and creative minds in the asset recovery space.”
Gibson Dunn has once again been ranked in the Chambers and Partners Crisis & Risk Management guide. The firm was recognized in two categories in the 2025 edition: Environmental, Social & Governance Risk (Global-wide) and Crisis Management (USA – Nationwide).
Described by clients as “absolutely fantastic — she’s really on top of the brief and really understands the complexities of the issues,” London partner Susy Bullock was recognized for her work in Environmental, Social & Governance Risk.
Partner and Chair of our Crisis Management Practice Group, Debra Wong Yang, was ranked in Crisis Management. The guide praised her as “an acclaimed white-collar crime defense expert, frequently advising high caliber clients on complex investigations, disputes and reputational matters.”
“Make yourself indispensable by adding value at every opportunity,” says partner Poonam Kumar in a recent interview with Law.com about her journey to partnership. “Every lawyer — regardless of title — is an integral part of the client’s representation and should always be contributing value.”
Poonam explains that the path to partnership is often longer and more involved than many expect. For associates, forward planning and being part of the conversation early on is essential. “Speaking up early and often about your career goals makes it easier to have productive conversations with partners about how to achieve them.”
Writing in Law360 about how the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit — the country’s busiest federal appellate circuit — has muddied the waters of the Article III pleading standard, partner Bradley J. Hamburger and associate Matt Aidan Getz note that district courts in the Ninth Circuit for years have applied “a defunct and especially forgiving pleading standard to questions of Article III standing” — a standard that “is out of step with multiple strands of U.S. Supreme Court precedent” and with “the approach taken in every other court of appeals.”
Furthermore, they say, with the Ninth Circuit’s conflicting signals on which pleading standard should apply adding to the confusion in the lower courts, the Ninth Circuit has become an “attractive forum for disputes that have no rightful place in federal court.”
Gibson Dunn is representing C&S Wholesale Grocers, LLC in its $1.77 billion acquisition of the SpartanNash Company.
The Gibson Dunn corporate team includes partners George Sampas and Evan M. D’Amico and of counsel Soren Kreider. Partners Stephen Weissman and Michael Perry are advising on antitrust aspects; partner Doug Horowitz is advising on equity financing; partner Pamela Lawrence Endreny is advising on tax; partner Gina Hancock is advising on benefits; and partner Andrew Lance and associate Ben Imdieke are advising on real estate aspects.
Financier Worldwide has named partner C. Terrell Ussing to its Power Players: Tax Disputes 2025 – Distinguished Advisers list, recognizing his outstanding work advising clients on a wide range of federal income and customs tax matters.
Terrell told the publication that few areas of law are as dynamic, complex, far-reaching, and uncertain as tax, which makes it essential for tax controversy practitioners to stay on top of evolving enforcement trends. “Although it is yet to be determined whether the current administration will dramatically change the current income tax enforcement topics, it is certain that taxpayers will need to continue to navigate numerous tax laws in order to mitigate substantial tax risk for many years to come.”
Litigation Daily has named two Gibson Dunn teams in its Litigator of the Week Runners-Up and Shout Outs column:
A Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher trial team led by partners Brian Rosenthal and Jaysen Chung and associate Nathaniel Scharn secured a defense verdict for Cisco Systems and Duo Security Inc. in patent litigation brought by CosmoKey. CosmoKey claimed the “Duo Push” feature in an early version of the Duo multifactor authentication system infringed its patent. But after a weeklong trial, federal jurors in Delaware found the Duo Push feature did not infringe CosmoKey’s patent, that Duo had used essentially the same system more than a year before the priority date of the asserted patent, and that the asserted claims were anticipated by Duo’s own prior art. The Gibson Dunn trial team included Yana Nebuchina, Erin Kim and Julian Manasse-Boetani, with local counsel Jennifer Ying and Travis Murray of Morris, Nichols, Arsht & Tunnell, and further assistance from Libby Moulton of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe.
Shout-out to a separate Gibson Dunn team led by partners Trey Cox and Andrew LeGrand and of counsel Cristina Martinez Squiers, who helped GE Vernova beat back $400 million in damages claims from Alta Power, a power plant developer that planned to procure GE gas turbines through a refurbishment program offered by WattStock. U.S. District Judge Brantley Starr in Dallas sided with GE on summary judgment, finding that Alta’s master agreement with Wattstock barred consequential damages—including lost profits—between the parties and subcontractors such as GE. “While the underlying facts about how Alta came about and ultimately failed to get off the ground are interesting, those facts bear little relation to the court’s resolution of this dispute,” Starr wrote. “All one needs to know is that there is a contract that limits the parties’ liability and the court’s job here is to determine whether that contractual provision applies in this case.”
To read the complete article, visit Law.com (subscription required).
Reprinted with permission from the June 23, 2025 edition of “The AmLaw Litigation Daily” © 2025 ALM Global Properties, LLC. All rights reserved. Further duplication without permission is prohibited, contact 877-256-2472 or asset-and-logo-licensing@alm.com.
Partner Stephen Glover recently spoke to Financier Worldwide about the growing global phenomenon of shareholder activism and what companies can do to prepare. He emphasized that mobilizing a well-informed, transparent legal, financial, and public relations team is essential to managing the response. “The more time the adviser team has, and the more thorough its discussion with the company, the better the company’s defense will be.”
Stephen added that more companies may find themselves in the crosshairs as activists increasingly target businesses in Europe and Asia, as well as in the U.S. “Although some industries, such as tech, media, and retail, have drawn more activist attention than others, no economic sector is safe from challenge.”
Partner Robert B. Little and associate Marie Baldwin explore the distinctions and similarities between Delaware and Texas laws as they relate to merger and acquisition agreements in an article for The M&A Lawyer.
They analyze how the choice-of-law decision between the two states can affect the interpretation and enforceability of common provisions and offer practical insights for dealmakers.
Gibson Dunn advised Brookfield on the €1.2 billion sale of its “Livensa” branded portfolio, comprising 22 purpose-built student accommodation properties in Spain and Portugal, to the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.
Our real estate team was led by partners Jeremy Kenley and Patrick Hennessy and included of counsel Richard Sen. Of counsel Manjinder Tiwana and associates Ciarán Deeny and Willem van Hootegem advised on M&A and private equity matters; partner Rob Carr and associate Chara Sherwood advised on finance matters; and partner Sandy Bhogal, of counsel Bridget English, and associates Jason Richards and Aleksandar Genov advised on tax matters.
Gibson Dunn advised the underwriters on Targa Resources Corp.’s offering of $750 million aggregate principal amount of its 4.900% Senior Notes due 2030 and $750 million aggregate principal amount of its 5.650% Senior Notes due 2036.
Our team was led by partner Doug Rayburn and included of counsel Justine Robinson and associates Alexis Levine and Riley Gesling. Senior counsel Gregory Nelson advised on tax matters, and associate Taylor Cathleen Amato advised on environmental matters.
Partner Cassandra Gaedt-Sheckter has been recognized as one of The Recorder’s California Legal Awards 2025 Women Leaders in Tech Law – Regulatory Award winners.
In her interview with The Recorder, Cassandra said, “To have clients trust us to handle their most difficult and novel questions about AI and privacy is a real honor.” She also shared that building strong relationships has been the most valuable tool in her career growth. “No AI can draft a résumé, brief, or pitch compelling enough to replace the impact meaningful relationships have had on my career.”
Cassandra is Co-Chair of the firm’s global Artificial Intelligence practice. The awards ceremony will be held on June 25.
In an article for the Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance, partners Elizabeth A. Ising, Ronald O. Mueller, Geoffrey E. Walter, and Lori Zyskowski and associates Maggie Valachovic, Natalie Abshez, and Stephen Huie share a first glimpse at key takeaways from the 2025 shareholder proposal season’s no-action request process.
Gibson Dunn advised Goldman Sachs Saudi Arabia, Morgan Stanley Saudi Arabia, BSF Capital, Al Rajhi Capital, anb Capital, Citigroup Saudi Arabia, and Emirates NBD Capital KSA on the landmark initial public offering (IPO) of flynas — the largest IPO on the Saudi Exchange (Tadawul) Main Market so far this year. flynas, a leading low-cost carrier in the MENA region, is the first airline to be listed on the Tadawul and the first Gulf airline to go public in nearly two decades.
The institutional tranche was oversubscribed approximately 100 times, attracting over $109 billion in orders from local and international investors. The offering raised gross proceeds of around $1.1 billion.
The Gibson Dunn team was led by partner Ibrahim Soumrany and included associates Omar Morsy, Gaith Aljundi, Vlad Zinovyev, Huw Thomas, Mostafa Mabrouk, and Sara Almahayni. Partners Adam Smith and Chris Haynes and of counsel Thomas Barker also advised.
Partner Penny Madden KC and of counsel Ceyda Knoebel have co-authored the chapter “Arbitrability and Public Policy Challenges” in the fourth edition of Global Arbitration Review’s Guide to Challenging and Enforcing Arbitration Awards.
The chapter looks closely at the challenges raised on arbitrability and public policy grounds before national courts in the recognition and enforcement of arbitral awards and how these concepts are interpreted and applied in practice, highlighting most recent developments in the law.
This chapter was first published on Global Arbitration Review in June 2025; for further in-depth analysis, please visit “The Guide to Challenging and Enforcing Arbitration Awards – Fourth Edition.”