Jason W. Myatt is a partner in the New York office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher.

Mr. Myatt’s practice focuses on complex commercial and financial litigation and related arbitration, including litigating business torts, breach of contract, ERISA, real estate, and bankruptcy issues, as well as securities litigation, including ground-breaking work in limiting the American Pipe tolling doctrine in the Second Circuit, a change in law that was subsequently affirmed by the United States Supreme Court.  He has tried cases in federal and state trial courts throughout the nation, and has argued and won appeals before the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.  Mr. Myatt has also represented clients in connection with investigations conducted by the Department of Justice, State Attorneys General and other regulatory entities.

Mr. Myatt has substantial experience in enforcing state and federal judgments as well as international arbitration awards.  This includes enforcement actions in the United States as well as coordination of multinational asset recovery efforts.  Among other matters, Mr. Myatt represents Crystallex International Corp. in enforcing a $1.4 billion arbitral award issued against Venezuela in multiple courts.  These efforts have resulted in multiple asset seizures, including Crystallex’s successful action to attach the shares of the parent company of CITGO Petroleum, which are nominally held by Venezuela’s national oil company, PDVSA.  Mr. Myatt has also worked to enforce other arbitral awards and resulting sovereign judgments, including the successful settlement of a series of awards against the Kurdistan Regional Government, as well as judgments against state-sponsors of terrorism.

He was named by Lawdragon as among the 2021 Lawdragon Global Litigation 500 for International Litigation, with particular experience of note in enforcement.

Mr. Myatt earned his Juris Doctor, cum laude, from the University of Wisconsin, where he served as an Articles Editor for the Wisconsin Law Review and was elected a member of the Order of the Coif.  He received his Master of Science in Bacteriology from the University of Wisconsin in 2003 and his Bachelor of Science in Biology from Duke University in 1998.

Mr. Myatt is a member of Gibson Dunn’s Diversity Committee.  He is admitted to practice in the States of New York and Wisconsin, before the United States District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York and the Western District of Wisconsin and before the United States Court of Appeals for the First, Second, Third and Ninth Circuit.

Select Representative Experience

• Crystallex International Corp. v. Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela: Obtained a writ of execution over the shares of the Delaware parent of Citgo Petroleum Corp. to enforce a $1.4 billion judgment against Venezuela.
• Pearl Petroleum, Crescent Petroleum and Dana Gas v. Kurdish Regional Government of Iraq: Initiated enforcement proceedings in the UK, United States, and Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), resulting in a substantial settlement with Iraqi Kurdistan.
• PDL Biopharma, Inc. v. Samuel J. Wohlstadter, et. al.: Obtained summary judgment on multiple guaranties of a $100 million loan. PDL Biopharma, Inc. v. Samuel J. Wohlstadter, et. al.
• California Insurance Commissioner v. Artémis S.A. and François Pinault:  Successfully represented Artémis and François Pinault in two federal jury trials brought by the California Insurance Commissioner, alleging fraud in connection with the rehabilitation of Executive Life Insurance Company.  Both juries returned defense verdicts.
  • In 2005, in a four-month jury trial obtained complete exoneration for Mr. Pinault and successfully convinced the jury to award zero damages against Artémis.
  • In 2012, upon retrial of the sole count that the prior jury had deadlocked on, obtained a complete defense verdict from the jury on the Insurance Commissioner’s remaining $4 billion claim.  Recognized as one of the Top Ten Defense Verdicts of the year by the California Daily Journal.
• Verizon New England Inc. v. Global NAPs, Inc.:  Successfully represented Verizon in a bench trial against a competitive local exchange carrier, obtaining a $60 million judgment (having previously obtained a prejudgment attachment) against Global NAPs and several alter egos leading to the appoint of a receiver in aid of execution.
• Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities Underwriters:  Successfully represented numerous securities underwriters in securities class action lawsuits involving more than $56 billion in mortgage pass-through certificates, including the affirmance in the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit of a ruling declining to extend the American Pipe tolling doctrine to the statute of repose of the Securities Act of 1933.
• VOOM HD Holdings v. Dish Network:  Successfully represented VOOM in breach of contract action for wrongfully termination of a long-term television programming distribution contract.  Team’s trial strategy led to evidentiary sanctions against the defendant for destruction of evidence, and, ultimately, to a lucrative mid-trial settlement for VOOM.
• Home Depot:  Representation of Home Depot in trial proceedings arising out of state’s denial of refunds for sales tax payments on private label credit card transactions in which customers defaulted.
• Barclays:  Representation of Lehman Brothers, and subsequently, Barclays, in connection with Chapter 11 proceedings of Asarco, LLC, including in a trial relating to Barclays’s fees.
• Major international accounting firm:  Represented the Netherlands partnership of a major international accounting firm in securities class action arising out of financial restatements by Royal Ahold.  Obtained dismissal of complaint and, after other defendants settled for $1.1 billion, defeated plaintiffs’ motion to amend the complaint against the accounting firm.  This decision was affirmed by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.