Lawyers Archive

Sogol K. Pirnazar is Of Counsel in the Century City office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. She practices with the firm’s Litigation Department and is a member of its Antitrust and Trade Regulation, Securities Litigation, Transnational Litigation, Intellectual Property, and Media, Entertainment and Technology Practice Groups.

Sogol has a broad base of experience in complex commercial litigation matters, with a focus on science and technology-related disputes. Over her career, she has also developed extensive expertise in negotiating, managing, and defending all aspects of discovery in high-stakes, high-profile litigation and advising a number of top tier corporate clients on a wide range of evolving document preservation, collection, review, production, and privilege-related topics.

Her current engagements include representation of Chevron Corporation in a dozen pending climate change litigation matters brought by cities and counties alleging public and private nuisance, among other claims, stemming from the production and sale of fossil fuel products against several of the world’s leading oil and gas companies.

Previously, Sogol led Chevron Corporation’s extensive discovery efforts in a RICO lawsuit which culminated in a seven-week trial against conspirators seeking to enforce a fraudulent multi-billion dollar judgment procured in Ecuador. She later represented Chevron Corporation in several related enforcement litigation matters in other countries, including in Canada and Gibraltar.

Sogol’s significant engagements in recent years also include representation of a U.S. subsidiary of a French company, EDF Renewable Energy, in five breach of contract and fraudulent misrepresentation disputes, including a two-week arbitration hearing resulting in a ruling against the German manufacturer of defective wind turbines; and representation of the University of California in a seven-week bench and jury trial in California state court for claims of professional malpractice and breach of contract against an international actuarial and consulting firm.

In addition, her prior engagements include several major antitrust litigations, including representing Intel Corporation in a monopolization action brought by its largest competitor and the Federal Trade Commission; representing Covidien in a consolidated antitrust class action brought by direct purchasers of pulse oximetry products; representing PricewaterhouseCoopers in a complex securities fraud litigation brought by sophisticated institutional investors; representing Medtronic in several trade secret litigation matters; and several patent infringement cases involving computer software products.

Sogol earned her Juris Doctorate, with honors, from the University of Chicago in 2000. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science and Engineering, magna cum laude, from the University of California in Los Angeles in 1994.

Sogol is admitted to practice law in the State Courts of California. She is also admitted to practice before the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, as well as the United States District Court for the Central and Northern Districts of California.

Stephanie Silvano is an associate in the New York office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. She is a member of the firm’s Litigation Department and Labor & Employment Practice Group.

Stephanie has represented a diverse range of clients in complex matters in state and federal courts in all phases of litigation, as well as before federal and state government agencies. She also assists clients in a wide range of employment law matters, including cases involving allegations of discrimination, harassment, retaliation, breach of contract, and wage-and-hour violations. Stephanie has been a member of numerous trial teams, including the team that obtained a complete dismissal of SEC administrative proceedings against Lynn Tilton and Patriarch Partners, as well as the team that obtained a complete defense verdict for an alternative investment manager in a $250 million negligent misrepresentation lawsuit.

She maintains an active pro bono practice, including representing immigration clients in removal proceedings in immigration courts, and has successfully helped applicants obtain legal status in the United States. Additionally, she advises non-profit organizations on compliance with employment-related laws, as well as the development of personnel policies and procedures, and has conducted internal investigations regarding sensitive employment matters.

Stephanie earned her Juris Doctor, magna cum laude, Order of the Coif, from Fordham University School of Law in 2015. While in law school, she served as an Articles & Notes Editor of the Fordham Law Review and a member of the Moot Court Board. Stephanie graduated, summa cum laude, from The George Washington University in 2012, with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree.

She is admitted to practice in the States of New York and New Jersey and before the U.S. District Courts for the Southern District of New York, Eastern District of New York, and New Jersey.

Steven E. Sletten, a partner in the Los Angeles office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, joined the firm in 1983. He is a member of the firm’s Litigation Department, its Class Action Practice Group, Antitrust and Trade Regulation Practice Group, and its International Arbitration Practice Group. Mr. Sletten has extensive experience in complex commercial litigation and counseling clients on related issues, including class and mass actions, antitrust, competition issues generally, insurance and reinsurance, construction issues, and arbitration (both domestic and international). Mr. Sletten’s litigation, arbitration and counseling experience includes work for companies in many industry groups including building, telecommunications, chemical, microchip, hospitality, insurance/reinsurance, entertainment, music, transportation, banking, manufacturing, and other industries. Mr. Sletten also has lectured and written on dispute resolution, comparative legal systems, antitrust issues, and arbitration-related topics.

Prior to joining Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, Mr. Sletten served as a law clerk for the Honorable Edward Rafeedie of the United States District Court, Central District of California. He received his law degree with honors from the University of California at Los Angeles School of Law in 1982, where he was a member of the Order of the Coif and a staff member of the Journal of Environmental Law and Policy. In 1979, Mr. Sletten graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from California State University at Northridge.

Mr. Sletten is a member of the Antitrust Section of the California State Bar. Mr. Sletten has been admitted to practice before all California state and federal courts, numerous federal courts around the country, as well as the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth and Federal Circuits.

Mr. Sletten has represented, or participated in the representation of, numerous clients in a broad range of industry groups on matters arising in state and federal courts, arbitrations, and also international investigations into financial fraud and other misconduct.

A few of his representative matters include:

Fleetwood Enterprises – Represented Fleetwood in successful defense of $100 million+ arbitration over housing development designed and constructed by Fleetwood for Saudi Arabia.
Quantum Chemical v. Aetna – Represented Aetna for years in this multi-site environmental coverage litigation originally filed in New York but ultimately conducted in San Francisco Superior Court. Mr. Sletten chaired a joint defense effort consisting of approximately 20 law firms and he and his team from Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher participated in all phases of discovery and pretrial proceedings. .
Representation of rail carrier in price fixing and monopolization claims arising from the carrier’s activities concerning substantial coal deposits in Northwest New Mexico. Issues included the Noerr-Pennington Doctrine, monopolization and attempted monopolization, and various state law claims
Mission Liquidation Reinsurance Litigation – Represented domestic and foreign reinsurers of Mission Insurance Company in multi-party litigation filed, and multi-party arbitrations initiated, by the Insurance Commissioner of the State of California to collect alleged reinsurance recoverables due to Mission. This work included, among many other facets, analysis of numerous environmental and toxic mass tort liabilities that were ceded to the Mission reinsurers pursuant to the various quota share, excess of loss, and pooled reinsurance arrangements
SR International – Analyzed and advised on multiple coverage issues relating to numerous insureds and represented SRI in court and arbitration proceedings over enforceability of a variety of excess-of-loss insurance policies for claims arising from tort liabilities.
Representation of publisher of one of the largest city newspapers in the United States in federal court cases alleging violations of state antitrust law as well as unfair business practices.
Swiss Re/MTBE – Represent excess carrier and reinsurer Swiss Re in evaluating exposure under various casualty liability policies issued to major oil and gas companies, including leading joint defense group in regards to claims by ExxonMobil for coverage to recover losses arising from mass action liabilities relating to MTBE contamination.
Ticketmaster – Representation of leading ticketing service company in various matters in federal court including MDL class action involving allegations of exclusionary practices, and also in antitrust action brought by major competitor alleging violations of Section 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act as well as violations of state law.
L.A. Cellular – Representation of wireless telecommunications provider in price fixing class action lawsuit brought by thousands of consumers of wireless telecommunications service. Claims arising under state antitrust statutes and related state law theories of liability.
Dow Chemical – Represented Dow Chemical and subsidiary Filmtec in their defense of long-running patent and antitrust claims filed in Federal Court, S.D. California, alleging monopolization of the market for reverse osmosis membranes.
Chevron U.S.A. – Representation of major oil and gas company in state AG investigation and federal consumer class action alleging price fixing relating to the wholesale and retail sales of gasoline in California through alleged capacity and production manipulation.
Major Energy Company – Representation of major energy/utility company in dispute over $1 billion solar energy contract leading to successful termination of contract due to failure of solar power company to perform according to contract terms
Counseling clients in the telecommunications, semiconductor, manufacturing, food service, hotel, ticketing, entertainment and sports equipment industries on a wide variety of antitrust related subjects including resale pricing practices, distribution arrangements, exclusive dealing issues, trade association issues, co-op arrangements, allocation of product issues, and other matters arising under state and federal antitrust and unfair competition laws.

Mr. Sletten has authored or contributed to a number of publications, and has lectured and/or given presentations on a variety of topics including the following:

Representative Publications

Antitrust Laws and Trade Regulation (Co-editor) published by Matthew Bender (2004)
“International Arbitration Overview,” Los Angeles County Bar Association ADR Section Newsletter, November 1995
“Law Favours Confirmation of Arbitration Awards,” International Insurance Law Review, June 1995

Representative Lectures/Speaking Engagements

University of Southern California School of Law: Adjunct Professor of Law for ADR Seminar (1993)
Pepperdine University School of Law: Adjunct Professor of Law for ADR Survey Course (1994)
County Bar Association: “International Litigation: Case Studies Home and Abroad” (1995)
Continuing Education of the Bar (CEB): MCLE program “Techniques For Effectively Compelling and Resisting Mandatory Arbitration” (1999)
Association of Business Trial Lawyers: Electronic Discovery MCLE Program (2003)
American Corporate Counsel Association: Antitrust Seminar for In-House Counsel (2003)
Association of Business Trial Lawyers Program Panel (Moderator): “Civility and Ethical Behavior” (July 2007)

Mr. Sletten served for 13 years as Chair of the firm-wide Hiring Committee at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. He serves on the firm’s Diversity Committee. Mr. Sletten was appointed to be the firm’s representative to the Advisory Board for the Institute for Transnational Arbitration. He also is past President of the Los Angeles Chapter of the Association of Business Trial Lawyers. Mr. Sletten currently serves as Chair of the Advisory Board of The Salvation Army, Los Angeles Metropolitan Area Division. He has been selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America© since 2011 in the fields of Commercial Litigation and Litigation – Construction.

Russell C. Hansen is a partner of the Palo Alto office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. Mr. Hansen joined the firm in 1980 and is a member of the firm’s Corporate Transactions and Mergers and Acquisitions Practice Groups.

Mr. Hansen has extensive experience in mergers, acquisitions and divestitures for corporate and private equity clients, corporate finance in both the public and private capital markets, joint ventures and strategic alliances, general corporate and securities advice and counseling boards of directors.

Clients with whom he works range from large, global corporations to emerging growth and middle market companies in a variety of industries and include private equity and individual private investors. Representative clients that he has recently advised include Intel Corporation, Hewlett-Packard Company, CRH plc and Admiralty Partners, Inc.

Mr. Hansen received his A.B. degree summa cum laude from Princeton University in 1976. He received his M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and his J.D. degree from the Stanford Law School in 1980. Mr. Hansen has been admitted to practice before the Texas and California courts. He is a member of the Board of the Law Foundation of Silicon Valley.

Mr. Hansen has been selected as a Leading Corporate/Mergers and Acquisitions Lawyer for 2008-2015 in Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business.

Scott J. Calfas is a partner in Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher’s Los Angeles office and a member of the firm’s Corporate Transactions, Private Equity, REIT, Betting and Gaming, and Aerospace and Related Technologies Practice Groups. In his over 26 years at the firm he has been involved in a wide array of corporate and transactional matters. His areas of practice include representing private equity firms and their portfolio companies in mergers and acquisitions, representing real estate investment trusts (REITs) in public offerings, mergers, acquisitions and other matters, as well as general corporate and securities transactional work for public and private companies. Representative clients and matters include:

William Hill PLC on its exclusive partnership with Eldorado Resorts, Inc. for sports betting operations in the United States.
Ducommun Incorporated in the sale of its subsidiaries, LaBarge Electronics, Inc. (to Intervala, LLC) and Miltec Corporation (to General Atomics), in separate transactions.
An affiliate of Rockpoint Group, L.L.C. in its investment in Roseland Residential, L.P., a subsidiary of Mack-Cali Realty Corporation.
Lion Gables Apartment Fund, L.P. in its sale of Lion Gables Residential Trust, a private REIT which owned Gables Residential, to Clarion Partners in a transaction valued at over $3 billion.
The independent directors of Pinnacle Entertainment in connection with a spin-off of certain Pinnacle assets and the sale of Pinnacle’s real estate to Gaming & Leisure Properties, Inc. in a transaction valued at approximately $4.75 billion.
ADCO Global, Inc., a portfolio company of Aurora Capital Group, in its sale to an affiliate of Arsenal Capital Partners.
United Plastics Group, a portfolio company of Aurora Capital Group, in its sale to Baird Capital Partners.
A joint venture of Urban Partners and AREA Property Partners in its acquisition of Harbor Properties, Inc. and related assets and entities.
Lexington Precision Corp., a portfolio company of Aurora Resurgence Management Partners, in its sale to Industrial Growth Partners.
Air Lease Corporation in its initial capital infusion of over $1 billion via a 144A offering.
Numerous REITs and REIT investors in connection with IPOs and other public and private offerings of securities, including follow-on offerings, shelf registration statements and take-downs, and UPREIT and downREIT contributions. Representative REITs include Evans Withycombe Residential, G&L Realty, Pacific Gulf Properties, Price REIT, and Mission West Properties (underwriter side).
Numerous real estate funds in connection with structuring and executing private REITs.
Numerous companies in their IPOs, including Herbalife, Kenfil Distribution and a number of REITs referenced above.
Bulge bracket investment banks in the IPOs or follow-on offerings of the following companies: Intuitive Surgical, Trizetto Group, Quality Systems, Inc., Corinthian Colleges, Onyx Acceptance Corporation and others.
Churchill Downs in its acquisition and subsequent disposition of Hollywood Park race track.
Mars, Incorporated and its subsidiary, The Nutro Company, in a variety of corporate matters.

Mr. Calfas joined the firm after receiving his law degree cum laude from the University of Michigan in 1991. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree cum laude from UCLA in 1988. Mr. Calfas is a member of the Business Law Section of the American Bar Association and the State Bar of California, and of the Business and Corporations Law Section of the Los Angeles County Bar Association. He serves as a Member, and former Chairman, of the Board of Governors of the Institute of Corporate Counsel at USC Gould School of Law. Mr. Calfas has lectured and written on corporate and securities law matters.

Scott Campbell is Of Counsel in Gibson Dunn’s Denver office. His practice focuses on taking complex commercial cases to trial. Although Scott has successfully litigated, arbitrated, and mediated cases involving a wide variety of claims under state and federal law, he has particular experience representing plaintiffs and defendants in disputes involving real estate, intellectual property, and securities.

Real Estate Disputes. Scott regularly represents real estate owners and developers in property-related disputes. Recent examples include:

Representing commercial developer in dispute with owner over several hundred million dollar construction contract.
Representing real estate owner in dispute with commercial tenant over violations of multi-year lease.
Representing real estate owner/developer in breach of contract dispute with joint venture partner.
Representing real estate owner/developer in multi-million dollar dispute with residential owners.

Intellectual Property/License Disputes. Scott also frequently represents licensors and licensees of intellectual property in disputes over license agreements. For example, he has recently played a leading role in:

Representing multi-billion dollar investment advisor in dispute with licensee over breach of license agreement related to investment strategy.
Representing hedge fund in dispute with licensor over breach of license agreement/misappropriation of trade secrets related to investment strategy.
Representing publicly-traded hemp company in breach of license agreement dispute with licensee.
Representing investor/director in dispute over computer hardware/software intellectual property development agreement.
Representing licensee in dispute with publicly-traded company in the oil and gas industry.

Securities Disputes. Scott also represents individuals and entities in connection with securities litigation and SEC investigations. Most recently, his representative matters include:

Representation of Special Litigation Committee for public company investigating alleged securities violations.
Representation of publicly traded for-profit education company targeted in an investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Scott also has an active pro bono practice. Among other deserving clients, he represents individuals who were deprived of their First Amendment rights to practice their religion while incarcerated. He also works with the Innocence Project to identify prisoners who were wrongfully convicted, and previously worked with the Clemency Project, seeking clemency for federal prisoners serving excessive sentences for drug-related offenses. Scott was also a member of the team that received the firm’s 2012 Frank Wheat Memorial Pro Bono Award for its work with Lawyers Without Borders providing anti-corruption training in Kenya.

While seconded to the Denver City Attorney’s Office, he tried more than twenty criminal cases to verdict.

In addition to his legal practice, Scott has served on the Colorado Symphony’s Corporate Committee and the Colorado Legal Aid Foundation’s Associates Advisory Board. He is a former member of the firm’s Associates Committee, and a member of the Denver office’s Diversity Committee.

Scott earned his law degree, with distinction, from Stanford Law School in 2009. He also holds a master’s degree in political philosophy from the University of Colorado and graduated summa cum laude from the University of Utah with degrees in political science and philosophy.

He is admitted to practice law in the State of Colorado, the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.

Sara Ciccolari-Micaldi is an associate in the Los Angeles office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, and she currently practices in the firm’s Litigation Department.

Sara graduated cum laude from New York University School of Law in 2016. While at NYU, she was a member of the New York University Law Review and served as a teaching assistant in torts. Sara also participated in the Southern District of New York Prosecution Clinic. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from the University of Oklahoma, where she graduated summa cum laude and was admitted as a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society, in 2013.

Sara is admitted to practice law in the State of California.

Patricia Mercedes Herold is an associate based in Gibson Dunn’s Denver office. Patty joined the Firm’s Pro Bono team in 2021, as a full time Pro Bono Associate. Previously, she practiced for seven years in the Firm’s Litigation Department, focusing on white collar criminal defense, internal investigations, and compliance matters.

Patty, a native Spanish speaker, has a broad range of pro bono experience, including significant experience in immigration-related pro bono matters. She has represented individuals seeking asylum, Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (“SIJS”), U- and T-visas, and other forms of immigration relief. In addition, she represented a family that was wrongfully detained and denied entry after the 2017 Muslim travel ban and assisted families separated by the 2018 “Zero Tolerance” policy—including representing parents seeking reunification with their children and, later, representing families pursuing Federal Tort Claims Act (“FTCA”) claims against the federal government.

In 2016, the Capital Area Immigrants’ Rights (“CAIR”) Coalition named Patty to its Pro Bono Honor Roll in recognition of her work on behalf of a young victim of human trafficking. This award is given annually to pro bono attorneys who demonstrate an extraordinary commitment to access to justice for their clients. She also received Gibson Dunn’s 2017 and 2018 Frank Wheat Team Award, given annually to lawyers who have demonstrated leadership and initiative in their pro bono work and obtained significant results for their pro bono clients.

Patty received her law degree from the University of Chicago Law School in 2014. At the University of Chicago, she served as President of the Latino/a Law Students Association and worked with the Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights, volunteering as a Child Advocate for unaccompanied immigrant children. In 2010, Patty graduated cum laude from Davidson College, where she earned a degree in political science with a minor in Spanish. Before attending law school, she taught English in a bilingual elementary school in Madrid, Spain.

Patty is admitted to practice in Colorado, Maryland, and the District of Columbia. She is a member of the Firm’s Pro Bono Committee and the Denver Diversity Committee, and is active in the Colorado Hispanic Bar Association and the Hispanic National Bar Association.

Mitchell A. Karlan is a litigation partner in Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher’s New York office. He has more than 30 years of experience in major, complex commercial litigation, with significant concentration in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, corporate control disputes, directors’ fiduciary duties, federal securities law, shareholder derivative actions, bankruptcy litigation, and domestic and international arbitration.

Mr. Karlan has tried numerous jury and nonjury cases in federal and state courts. He has represented broker dealers and issuers in securities class actions. He has defended and prosecuted numerous shareholder derivative cases in Delaware and elsewhere involving alleged breaches of fiduciary duties.

He has represented special committees of boards of directors of corporations in connection with takeover disputes and derivative actions, and he has led special investigations on behalf of boards. He has litigated post-acquisition disputes involving post-closing adjustment clauses and alleged breaches of representations and warranties. He has spoken at Practising Law Institute panels on the duties of members of a board of directors.

From October 2002 through December 2002, on behalf of Gibson Dunn, Mr. Karlan was acting Assistant General Counsel in charge of litigation worldwide for Tyco International, where he was responsible for overseeing and supervising all pending litigation.

In addition to his representation of Tyco in its litigation against its former management, Mr. Karlan served as counsel in some of the highest-profile litigation in the country, such as the Refco bankruptcy, Enron, Solyndra, Lehman Brothers and the “IPO Laddering” cases.

Mr. Karlan also has substantial experience in hostile takeover litigation, including the representation of Unocal in its successful takeover defense against T. Boone Pickens, and the representation of Merv Griffin in his defeat of Donald Trump in the fight for Resorts International. In addition, Mr. Karlan was lead counsel in the successful defense of cases seeking to enjoin the IPO of UPS, which was then the largest IPO in history.

Mr. Karlan has extensive experience representing debtors, creditors and prospective acquirers in bankruptcy cases. He has tried fraudulent conveyance cases, contested plan confirmations, and break-up fee disputes. He has argued several of the leading bankruptcy decisions in the nation’s Courts of Appeals, including S.N. Phelps & Co. v. Circle K Corp., 242 F.3d 380 (9th Cir. 2000); Manus Corp. v. NRG Energy, Inc., 188 F.3d 116 (3d Cir. 1999); Calpine Corp. v. O’Brien Environmental Energy, Inc., 181 F.3d 527 (3d Cir. 1999); Lowenschuss v. Resorts Int’l, Inc., 181 F.3d 505 (3d Cir. 1999); Resorts Int’l v. Lowenschuss, 67 F.3d 1394 (9th Cir. 1995); Shawmut Bank v. First Fidelity, 38 F.3d 86 (2d Cir. 1994); and C-T of Virginia, Inc. v. Euroshoe Assoc. Ltd., 953 F.2d 637 (4th Cir. 1992).

Mr. Karlan has represented several foreign clients in federal litigation and in international arbitration. His clients have included both private corporations (domestic and foreign) and agencies and instrumentalities of South American and European governments.

A highly successful plaintiffs’ lawyer, Mr. Karlan has won several multimillion-dollar judgments and settlements including one against the RTC arising out of the S&L scandals, in which Mr. Karlan’s clients, holders of bonds issued by banks seized by the government, received settlements of over $500 million. He also obtained a verdict of $82 million after trial of a RICO claim involving insurance fraud.

Mr. Karlan has been recognized since 2013 by The Best Lawyers in America® as a leading attorney in Commercial Litigation, and Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights. He was also named to Benchmark Litigation’s “Top 100 Trial Lawyers” list, and a “Litigation Star” nationally in Commercial and White-Collar Crime, and in New York. In March 2020, The Am Law Litigation Daily named Mr. Karlan as “Litigator of the Week” for obtaining a successful jury verdict on behalf of a Fortune 250 company. Mr. Karlan was also named a 2020 “Winning Litigator” by The National Law Journal for this trial victory. In 2004 he was awarded the Thurgood Marshall Award by the Albany Branch of the NAACP for his work on the high-profile “Albany redistricting case,” for which Mr. Karlan was pivotal in obtaining a federal injunction stopping the redistricting plan and having revised lines drawn and special elections ordered.

Mr. Karlan has argued in the highest courts of three states, and has appeared in state and federal courts in 27 states. He is a member of the bars of the United States Supreme Court and of the Courts of Appeals for the Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Tenth, Eleventh and D.C. Circuits. He is a member of the Board of Directors of Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts. He is a former member of the Board of Trustees of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and of the New York Board of Directors of the Anti-Defamation League. He graduated from Columbia University School of Law in 1979 where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar. Mr. Karlan has served on the Board of Directors of New York Lawyers for the Public Interest and on the Media Law Committee of the Bar Association at the City of New York. He is admitted to the New York and Washington, D.C. Bars.

Martin Hewett is a partner in Gibson Dunn’s Washington, DC office and serves as the firm’s Deputy General Counsel.

Prior to joining Gibson Dunn in 2011, Martin was an associate at Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP. From 2009-2010, Martin served as a law clerk to the Honorable Thomas L. Ambro of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. From 2008-2009, Martin served as a law clerk to the Honorable Paul S. Diamond of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Martin received his law degree magna cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center in 2007, where he was an Executive Notes Editor for The Georgetown Law Journal. In 2004, Martin earned a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Richmond, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.

Martin is a member of the District of Columbia and New York bars, and also is admitted to practice before the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Minae Yu is an associate in the Los Angeles office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. She currently practices with the firm’s Litigation Department.

Minae received her Juris Doctor degree cum laude in 2009 from Georgetown University Law Center, where she served as an Annual Survey Editor of the American Criminal Law Review. While at Georgetown, Minae earned a Certificate of Concentration in World Trade Organization, focusing on the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights. She also worked for a Member of Congress and interned at the Enforcement Bureau of the Federal Communications Commission. Minae received her Bachelor of Arts degree in 2002 from the University of California, Berkeley, with a double major in Molecular Cell Biology and Psychology.

She is admitted to practice law in the State of California. Minae is a native speaker of Korean.

Lindsey R. Geher is a litigation associate in the Los Angeles office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher.

She earned her Juris Doctor in 2016 from Columbia Law School, where she was a James Kent Scholar and a member of the Columbia Journal of Law and the Arts. Lindsey graduated as a member of Phi Beta Kappa from Stanford University in 2013 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and a Minor in Communications.

Lindsey is admitted to practice in the State of New York and California.

Laura O’Boyle is a litigation partner in the New York office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. She is a member of Gibson Dunn’s Securities Litigation, Media, Entertainment and Technology, and Crisis Management Practice Groups.

Ms. O’Boyle has extensive experience litigating a wide range of complex commercial matters in federal and state court, including fraud and breach of contract matters, securities class actions, trade secret claims and shareholder disputes. She also regularly represents media and technology companies in copyright, trademark, privacy and defamation matters.

Ms. O’Boyle was recognized as one of Law360 ’s Rising Stars in Securities for 2019.

Ms. O’Boyle graduated with distinction in 2006 from Stanford Law School, where she served as vice-president of the Stanford Public Interest Law Foundation and a research assistant for the Stanford Law School Center for E-Commerce. At Stanford, Ms. O’Boyle also was a member of the Stanford Journal of International Law and the Stanford Judicial Review. In 2002, she earned her Bachelor of Arts degree, magna cum laude, in Public Policy from Brown University, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. Ms. O’Boyle co-chairs the Parenting Group in the New York office, and has previously served on the firm’s Hiring, Diversity and Community Affairs Committees. Ms. O’Boyle is admitted to practice in the State of New York.

Significant Representations:

Representing founders and early employees of leading dating app in multi-billion dollar valuation dispute
Representing multinational hospitality company in securities and derivative lawsuits arising from data breach
Representing board of major pharmaceutical company in connection with shareholder demand investigation
Represented private equity firm in Delaware Chancery Court action alleging fraud in connection with sale of portfolio company; won a significant trial verdict in favor of clients after a two week bench trial
Represented hedge fund in proxy contest in New Jersey Chancery Court, resulting in successful settlement
Represented leading pharmaceutical company in derivative action challenging company’s tax disclosures, securing dismissal at the pleading stage; affirmed on appeal by New Jersey Appellate Division
Represented well-known comedian in high-profile defamation action, securing complete dismissal of lawsuit at the pleading stage
Represented celebrity author and publishing company in copyright and trademark infringement lawsuit, securing victories at both the trial and appellate level
Represented television production company in lawsuit alleging breach by network of distribution contract, securing favorable settlement for client
Represented international technology company in Delaware Chancery Court action alleging breach of product development agreement, securing favorable settlement on the eve of trial
Represented global insurance company and its directors in litigation brought in Delaware Chancery Court by hostile bidder and shareholder plaintiffs alleging breaches of fiduciary duties
Represented Fortune 500 company in an SEC investigation of financial reporting issues; SEC staff closed the investigation with no enforcement action or penalty.
Represented international staffing company in successful effort to enjoin former employees and a competitor from violating non-compete and misappropriating trade secrets
Represented telecommunications company in international arbitration alleging breach of interconnection agreements
Represented global insurance company and its directors in litigation brought by hostile bidder and shareholder plaintiffs alleging breaches of fiduciary duties
Represented Big 4 accounting firm in wage-and-hour class actions pending in multiple jurisdictions

Ms. O’Boyle also maintains a robust pro bono practice, and has successfully represented multiple individuals in asylum proceedings, as well as numerous clients through Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts.

Michael Brian Dougherty is Of Counsel in the Denver office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, where his practice focuses primarily on commercial real estate finance and development.

Michael has experience representing institutional lenders, investors and major developers in the origination and restructuring of mortgage and mezzanine loans for the acquisition, construction and refinancing of hotels, shopping centers, office buildings, multi-family housing complexes, raw land and mixed-use projects located throughout the United States.

He received his Juris Doctor in 2010 from Boston College, where he served as the President of the Environmental Law Society. He also received his Bachelor of Science magna cum laude from Rutgers University in 2007.

Michael is admitted to practice in the States of New York, New Jersey and Colorado.

Keith Tagliavia is of counsel in the New York office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, and a member of Gibson Dunn’s Real Estate Practice Group.

He advises foreign and domestic investment banks, institutional lenders, financial institutions and private equity firms in all aspects of real estate and complex structured finance transactions, including originations of complex mortgage and mezzanine loans structured to comply with securities regulations and rating agency criteria for securitization transactions; multi-tier mezzanine loans; intercreditor and co-lender arrangements, loan syndications, participations and other acquisitions and dispositions of real property interests; restructurings, workouts, bankruptcies and sales of REO properties; partnerships and joint ventures; leasing and ground leasing; and various project finance and other corporate transactions.

Prior to joining Gibson Dunn, Keith was an associate in the New York office of several preeminent law firms.

He earned his Juris Doctor with honors in 2003 from St. John’s University School of Law where he was an Articles and Notes Editor of St. John’s Law Review. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree with honors from St. John’s University in 1999.

Select Representative Transactions*

Financial Institution: Represented a financial institution in a $60 million construction loan with respect to the construction of a hotel located in Los Angeles, California.
Financial Institution: Represented a financial institution in a $103.95 million mortgage loan with respect to the acquisition of properties located in New York, Ohio and Georgia.
Real Estate Management Firm: Represented a real estate management firm in a $150 million EB-5 financing with respect to the development of a mixed-use project located in San Francisco, California.
Financial Institution: Represented a financial institution in a workout and restructuring (and related debt-for-equity swap) of a $2.78 billion mortgage loan with respect to a resort property located in the Bahamas.
Private Equity Fund: Represented a private equity debt fund in a workout and restructuring and potential foreclosure of a $220 million mezzanine loan with respect to a leisure property portfolio.
Financial Institution: Represented a German financial institution in a workout and restructuring (and related bankruptcy and litigation) of a $280 million mortgage loan senior to a $195 million junior loan with respect to a mixed-use property in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Financial Institution: Represented a German financial institution in a workout and restructuring of a $625 million loan with respect to a development property in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Financial Institutions: Represented various financial institutions in a workout and restructuring of a $363 million loan with respect to nineteen commercial office properties located in Southern California and Arizona
Financial Institution: Represented a Canadian financial institution in a $225 mezzanine loan (portion of an aggregate $1.650 billion financing) with respect to the refinancing of a resort property located in the Bahamas.
Investment Bank: Represented an investment bank in a $250 million mortgage loan with respect to an office building located in New York, New York.
Financial Institution: Represented a Canadian financial institution in the purchase of $175 million of a $250 million construction loan with respect to the development of an office complex located in New York, New York.
Real Estate Fund: Represented a real estate fund in a $291.7 million mortgage loan, $80 million senior mezzanine loan and $133.3 million junior mezzanine loan, and subsequent loan restructuring and sale of the senior mezzanine loan, with respect to the acquisition (and predevelopment) of a luxury hotel located in New York, New York.
Investment Bank: Represented an investment bank in a $70.2 million mortgage loan with respect to the acquisition of an office building located in Cupertino, California.
Insurance Companies: Represented various insurance companies in a $850 million financing of commercial properties located in California and Texas.
Financial Institution: Represented a German financial institution in a $300 million financing of a 2,000,000 square foot commercial office and retail building located in New York, New York.
Investment Bank: Represented an investment bank in a $500 million fee and leasehold mortgage loan with respect to financing the acquisition of a shopping mall located in Westchester County, New York.
Real Estate Fund: Represented a real estate fund in its joint venture, preferred equity contribution and $67 million mortgage financing with respect to a retail shopping center located in Vacaville, California.
Financial Institution: Represented a financial institution in a modification of a $1.36 billion mortgage loan with respect to a hotel and casino located in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Landlord: Represented the landlord in a long-term ground lease, predevelopment agreement and equity option agreement with the purpose of constructing a 350,000 square foot commercial office building located in New York, New York.
Landlord: Represented the landlord in a long-term ground lease and a $70 million financing of a 500,000 square foot commercial office building located in New York, New York, and thereafter, the related defeasance and property sale.
Financial Institution: Represented a financial institution in its acquisition, joint venture and financing of a residential complex located in Moscow, Russia.

*Several representations occurred prior to Keith joining Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher.

Jeffrey T. Thomas, a partner in the Orange County office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, joined the firm in 1983. A member of the firm’s Litigation Department and its IP and Antitrust and Competition Practice Groups, Mr. Thomas has extensive experience in intellectual property, antitrust, unfair competition and general commercial litigation.

Mr. Thomas, a fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers, is an experienced trial lawyer who has successfully handled numerous significant intellectual property and complex business cases. He has represented major clients of the firm in patent and trade secret litigation, including trials that resulted in verdicts in favor of the firm’s clients. He is a co-author of Ross, Intellectual Property Law, Damages and Remedies (Law Journal Press, 2000). Mr. Thomas is one of the founding masters of the Orange County IP inn of court. He has also successfully represented clients of the firm in antitrust, breach of contract and business tort cases. He recently served as lead trial counsel for Hewlett-Packard Co. in a significant matter against Oracle Corp. in which HP achieved a complete victory after trial.

Mr. Thomas has twice been named by the Daily Journal as one of the Top 100 Lawyers in California. The Daily Journal has also named him one of the top 75 intellectual property litigators. The Best Lawyers in America has named Mr. Thomas as one of the top lawyers in Southern California every since 2009. Los Angeles Magazine has repeatedly recognized him as one of the top 50 lawyers in Orange County and LMG Life Sciences has repeatedly recognized Mr. Thomas as a “Life Science Star”. In 2016, the National Law Journal named Mr. Thomas as one of the top five trial lawyers in the U.S. Also, in 2016, Law360 selected him as its “MVP” for the year in the trial category.

Mr. Thomas received a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from the University of California at San Diego in 1979. He graduated magna cum laude in 1982 with a law degree from the University of San Diego School of Law, where he served as Comments Editor of the San Diego Law Review. Prior to joining Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, Mr. Thomas served as a law clerk to the Honorable Gerald Brown, Presiding Justice of the California Court of Appeal, Fourth District, from 1982 to 1983.

Mr. Thomas is a member of the Board of Visitors of the University of San Diego School of Law and was the 2007-08 President of the School’s Alumni Board of Directors. He has served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Orange County Business Council and is a current Board member of the Federal Bar Association-Orange County Chapter. Mr. Thomas is one of the founders of the Bench and Bar Society of the United Way of Orange County, which encourages charitable giving by attorneys in the County, and he is a member of the Advisory Board of Court Appointed Special Advocates, Orange County Chapter. He is admitted to practice in several federal district courts and circuits, including the Federal Circuit.

The following is a representative sample of Mr. Thomas’ cases.

Intellectual Property

Miotox v. Allergan. This was a dispute over interpretation of a patent license agreement in which plaintiff claimed it was entitled to $600 million in additional royalties based on its interpretation of the agreement. Summary judgment was entered in favor of Allergan, our client, pursuant to which the Court accepted Allergan’s interpretation of the agreement and dismissed plaintiff’s claim for the additional royalties.
Ferring v. Allergan. This was a patent inventorship case, in which plaintiff claimed inventorship of patents belonging to our client, Allergan, should be corrected to show plaintiff’s employees should be made the sole inventors of the patents. Summary judgment was entered in favor of Allergan, with the Court finding there should be no correction of inventorship of the patents in suit.
Allergan, Inc. v. Sandoz, Lupin, Hi-Tech and Watson. This action is a consolidated Hatch-Waxman case in which our client, Allergan, Inc., asserted that defendant generic drug companies had infringed Allergan’s patents by filing Abbreviated New Drug Applications seeking FDA approval of a generic version of Allergan’s Lumigan 0.01% product. A five-day bench trial was held in July 2013, and in January 2014, the Court issued an opinion finding the asserted patent claims to be valid and infringed by the ANDAs. Defendants’ appeal to the Federal Circuit is pending.
Allergan, Inc. v Athena Cosmetics. The Central District of California handed significant, consecutive victories to our client, Allergan, Inc., in its long-standing dispute with entities selling illegal and infringing eyelash growth drugs in direct competition with Allergan’s FDA-approved drug, Latisse. First, on March 5, 2013, the Court granted Allergan’s motion for summary judgment as to infringement against Cosmetic Alchemy LCC, holding that Cosmetic Alchemy infringes Allergan’s U.S. Patent No. 6,262,105 through the marketing and sale of its product, LiLash. Second, on March 6, 2013, the Court granted Allergan’s motion for permanent injunctions against Cosmetic Alchemy and its co-defendant, Athena Cosmetics, Inc., pursuant to California’s Unfair Competition Law, Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 17200 et seq. (the “UCL”). Among other things, the Court’s injunctions prohibit Cosmetic Alchemy and Athena from advertising and selling their products, which are illegal drugs under California and federal law. The injunctions are supported by the Court’s previous summary judgment rulings against Cosmetic Alchemy and Athena on Allergan’s UCL claim. Allergan settled its claims against Cosmetic Alchemy following the Court’s rulings. Allergan also dismissed its remaining infringement and false advertising claims against Athena without prejudice following a separate agreement between the parties. Athena appealed the Court’s rulings against it on Allergan’s UCL claim to the Federal Circuit, and those rulings were affirmed in December 2013. The permanent injunction was affirmed in part, with the Federal Circuit instructing the district court on remand to geographically narrow the injunction’s scope. Athena is filing a writ of certiorari on the UCL claim to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Allergan, Inc. and Duke University v. Apotex, Sandoz, and Hi-Tech. These consolidated Hatch-Waxman cases concern two patents covering Latisse®, our client Allergan, Inc.’s drug for treating hypotrichosis of the eyelashes. Latisse® is protected by a U.S. patent owned by Duke University and licensed to Allergan, and by another patent owned by Allergan. Allergan holds the New Drug Application for Latisse®, which has been approved by the FDA. Defendants sought to make and sell generic versions of Latisse® without going through the clinical trial process by filing Abbreviated New Drug Applications with the FDA, as allowed by the Hatch-Waxman Act. Plaintiffs (Allergan and Duke) initiated lawsuits alleging that defendants infringed their patents, and defendants countersued. After a November 2012 bench trial, the Court on January 24, 2013, issued an opinion in favor of plaintiffs, finding that plaintiffs had proven infringement and that defendants had not proven their defenses. Defendants appealed to the Federal Circuit on February 19, 2013. The case was argued in February 2014, and is now under submission.
Allergan, Inc. v. Barr Laboratories. This was a Hatch-Waxman case in which the plaintiff (represented by Mr. Thomas) asserted that the defendant generic drug companies had infringed plaintiff’s patents by filing an Abbreviated New Drug Application seeking FDA approval of a generic version of one of plaintiff’s pharmaceutical products. Following a one-week trial in the District of Delaware, the Court ruled entirely in plaintiff’s favor, finding the patents at issue to be valid and infringed by defendants. As a result, the defendants will not be allowed to launch generic versions of the product in question until the pertinent patents expire. Defendants appealed to the Federal Circuit, and an opinion affirming the District Court’s ruling issued on January 28, 2013.
Allergan Medical Optics v. Staar Surgical Co. Patent infringement action in which the client was the patentee plaintiff. Mr. Thomas successfully tried the case to a jury, which rendered a verdict in the client’s favor.
Callaway Golf Co. v. Dunlop Slazenger Group Americas, Inc., dba Maxfli. Trade secret misappropriation and false advertising case that Mr. Thomas successfully tried to a jury, which returned a verdict in the client’s favor.
BHGV, LLC v. Inamed, Inc. and Allergan, Inc. Dispute over technology license agreement, including the amount of royalties due and whether the agreement had been terminated. Our client, the defendant, asserted the agreement had been terminated, while plaintiff asserted $30 million in royalties were due and payable. After a one-week arbitration, the arbitrator ruled in our client’s favor, finding the client did have the right to terminate the agreement.
American Bioscience v. Florida State University. Action involving infringement, validity and ownership of a patent. Following a bench trial, a judgment was entered in the client’s favor, which was subsequently affirmed in part and reversed in part by the Federal Circuit.
McKesson Information Solutions, Inc. v. TriZetto, Inc. Patent infringement action in which our client was the accused infringer. Summary judgment of noninfringement was obtained for our client on 15 of the 17 asserted claims. A summary judgment motion based on invalidity was then filed as to the two remaining claims, at which point the plaintiff agreed to settle and grant our client a license.
MacLeod v. Hewlett-Packard Co. Patent infringement action in which our client was the accused infringer. Action was settled on terms extremely favorable to the client.
Fleetwood Enterprises v. The Coleman Company. Dispute over whether our client, the plaintiff, had the right to preclude defendant from using certain trademarks licensed under an agreement between the parties. A one-week bench trial was held. While the matter was under submission following trial, a settlement was reached.
Staar Surgical Company v. Microtech, Inc. Action involving ownership of a patent. Summary judgment granted in favor of the client and subsequently affirmed by the Ninth Circuit.
Allergan, Inc. v. Pharmacia. Patent infringement action in which the client was the plaintiff patentee. Action settled shortly before trial, pursuant to which defendant agreed to pay substantial royalties to the client.
Allergan, Inc. v. Bausch & Lomb. Patent infringement action in which the client was the plaintiff patentee. Action was settled favorably for the client.
Pharmacia v. Allergan, Inc. Patent infringement action in which the client was the defendant and alleged infringer. Action settled one day before trial, pursuant to which the client received a license to the patent-in-suit.
OMNI Products, Inc. v. American Concrete Products Co. Patent infringement action in which the client was the plaintiff patentee. Settlement agreement reached, pursuant to which defendant agreed to pay royalties to the client.
Lobob Laboratories, Inc. v. Allergan, Inc. Patent infringement action in which the client was the defendant and alleged infringer. Shortly before trial, plaintiff agreed to dismiss its claims.
Perfect Putter Co. v. Callaway Golf Co. Patent and trade secrets action in which the client was the defendant. Action settled pursuant to an agreement under which the client acquired all rights to the patents-in-suit for a small fraction of the amount sought by plaintiff.

Complex Business Litigation

Hewlett-Packard Co. v. Oracle Corp. HP, represented by Gibson Dunn, claimed Oracle had breached a contract that required it to continue offering its software to HP customers who are using HP servers and the Oracle software. Oracle claimed it had no such obligation, and publicly announced it would no longer make new versions of its software available to those HP customers. HP also asserted that Oracle was obligated under the doctrine of promissory estoppel to continue to offer the software to the customers. After a three-week bench trial, in which Mr. Thomas served as first chair, the Court ruled entirely in HP’s favor, finding that the contract in question requires precisely what HP contended and ruling in HP’s favor on its promissory estoppel claim.
In May and June of 2016, there was a second trial on the issues of Oracle’s breach of the contract, HP’s damages and Oracle’s counterclaims against HP. This was a five-week jury trial, at which Mr. Thomas again served as lead trial counsel for HP. That trial resulted in a unanimous jury verdict in favor of HP, with the jury awarding HP over $3 billion in damages. The amount awarded was exactly 100% of the damages HP sought. The jury also unanimously rejected Oracle’s counterclaims. This case produced one of the largest jury awards in the history of American jurisprudence.
Lewis Operating Co. v. Chino Valley Unified School District. This was a breach of contract case in which the plaintiff (represented by Mr. Thomas) asserted that the defendant had breached a contract by refusing to open a school that had been funded by plaintiff and which was intended to service plaintiff’s residential development. Following a two-week arbitration trial, the arbitrator (the Hon. Lourdes Baird) ruled entirely in favor of plaintiff, granting all relief sought and awarding plaintiff 100% of the legal fees it incurred in connection with the action.
Tracker Marine Co. v. Fleetwood Enterprises. Breach of contract and fraud action in which the client was defendant. Mr. Thomas successfully tried the case, with judgment being entered in the client’s favor.
Security Trust Co. v. Union Federal Bank. Breach of contract action, in which plaintiff alleged the client had not honored the payment terms of the agreement. Mr. Thomas successfully tried the case, with a judgment being entered in the client’s favor.
Marblehead v. City of San Clemente. Action in which the client challenged the constitutionality and legality of land use regulations adopted by the defendant City. Judgment was entered in the client’s favor, which was subsequently affirmed by the California Court of Appeal in a published decision.
Lloyd’s of London v. American Sterling Co. Dispute involving coverage and premiums provided for by reinsurance agreements. Mr. Thomas successfully tried the case, with a judgment being entered in the client’s favor.
Underwriters Ins. Co. v. Pro-Guard Int’l. Breach of contract and fraud action, which Mr. Thomas tried to a jury. The jury returned a verdict that included partial judgment for both parties, and the action subsequently settled.
Lewis Homes v. City of La Verne. Action in which the client challenged the legality of the defendant City’s refusal to grant development entitlements. Mr. Thomas successfully tried the case, pursuant to which the City granted the requested entitlements.
Lewis Homes v. Fontana Unified School District. Action in which the client challenged the legality of certain school fees imposed by the defendant. Action was successfully settled when the defendant reduced the fees in question.
Lockheed Martin Co. v. Riverside County Habitat Conservation Agency. Action in which the client challenged the legality and constitutionality of actions taken by the defendant pursuant to the Endangered Species Act. Case was successfully settled pursuant to which the client’s real property was purchased.
John Laing Homes v. Donald T. Sterling. Breach of contract and fraud action. Case settled one day before trial, pursuant to which client received 100% of the amount demanded.

Unfair Competition

Coatings Resource Corp. v. Akzo Coatings. Action filed pursuant to California Business & Professions Code Section 17200, in which plaintiff alleged the client’s pricing practices constituted unfair competition. Summary judgment was entered in the client’s favor, and was subsequently affirmed by the Ninth Circuit.
Fairley v. Fleetwood Enterprises. Class action filed against the client, in which plaintiffs alleged that consumers were given misleading information about the client’s products, including a claim under California Business & Professions Code Section 17200. Action was successfully mediated and settled.
Bothwell, et al. v. Akorn, Inc., et al. Action filed under Business & Professions Code Section 17200, in which plaintiffs allege that the defendants’ labeling was incomplete and inaccurate. Allergan successfully demurred to the complaint and was dismissed from the action.

Antitrust

Northwest Airlines v. American Airlines. Monopolization case in which the plaintiff sought damages from our client in an amount in excess of $1 billion. Mr. Thomas served on the trial team that successfully tried the case to a jury, which returned a defense verdict in the client’s favor.
In re LTL Shipping Services Antitrust Litigation. This was a multidistrict antitrust action, in which plaintiffs asserted that defendants (one of whom was represented by Mr. Thomas) had conspired to fix certain charges in the cargo-shipping industry. After extensive briefing and argument, the Court granted defendants’ motion to dismiss with prejudice, thus ending the litigation in favor of defendants.
Coatings Resources Corp. v. Akzo Coatings. Predatory pricing and unfair competition action in which the client was the defendant. The Court entered summary judgment in favor of the client, which was subsequently affirmed by the Ninth Circuit.
In re Methionine Antitrust Litigation. Multidistrict class action and multiple “opt-out” direct purchaser actions involving alleged price-fixing and cartel behavior. Damages against the defendants sought in an amount in excess of $1 billion. Case was successfully mediated and settled.
Clayworth, et al. v. Pfizer, Inc., et al. Cartwright Act case in which plaintiffs allege defendants, including Allergan, Inc., Gibson Dunn’s client, entered into anticompetitive agreements to maintain artificially high prices. Summary judgment was entered in favor of all defendants and was affirmed on appeal.

Lauren Dansey is an associate in the San Francisco office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. She practices in the firm’s Litigation Department, focusing on antitrust, class actions, law firm defense and other complex civil litigation.

Lauren has a wide range of experience in several areas of law implicating different industries, legal issues, and factual scenarios. Her specialty is managing complex discovery and assisting as trial counsel. She has played a leading role in all stages of litigation and has been a key team member in multiple trials and final hearings. Lauren regularly represents high-profile clients in the tech industry in a variety of lawsuits and government inquiries on a wide range of issues. She has also represented Am 100 firms in legal malpractice suits.

Recent representative matters include:

Represented a professional sports league in a high-profile antitrust lawsuit in the Northern District of California.
Represented a leading technology company in high-profile antitrust lawsuit in a three-week bench trial in the Northern District of California in 2021 only nine months after filing. Lead member of discovery team that handled complex e-discovery issues and key member of trial team. Currently representing the company in a related class action.
Represented a technology company in responding to various global antitrust investigations, class actions, individual civil suits and criminal complaints.
Represented a quick-service restaurant that won denial of class certification a quick-service restaurant and defeated class certification in a first-of-its-kind action challenging “no poach” agreements under the federal antitrust laws
Represented a law firm against claims of professional negligence. Lead associate on defensive discovery efforts, including all responses, document productions, and meet and confers, and managing multiple fact witness and expert workstreams.
Represented an executive of a Fortune 500 company in a two-week SEC enforcement hearing.
Represented a hospital in a two-week civil jury trial in the Northern District of California and successfully defended the jury’s determination in a Ninth Circuit Appeal.

Lauren also maintains an active pro bono practice, including the following matters:

Represented Mr. Jones and was one of the lead associates in the firm’s historic jury trial victory over the LAPD in Jones v. City of Los Angeles, in which a federal jury awarded $375,000 in compensatory and punitive damages to Mr. Jones.
Represents a homeowner against a receiver and the City of Berkeley regarding the scope and costs of mismanaged repair work.
Represents a young woman from Guatemala in removal proceedings, including appearances in state court regarding Special Immigrant Juvenile Status findings. Lauren received the 2022 Kids In Need of Defense (KIND) Pro Bono award for her work on the matter.

Lauren received her J.D. from University of Michigan Law School in 2016, where she was the Associate Editor of the Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law, as well as the Michigan Journal of Race & Law. While in law school, Lauren was also a member of the Child Welfare Appellate Clinic and site leader for the Public Benefits Advocacy Project.

She earned her B.A. in Political Science from University of California, Berkeley in 2011. She wrote her senior thesis on Asian economic regionalism. Prior to joining the firm, Lauren taught high school special education in Richmond, California through Teach for America.

Lauren currently serves as the vice chair of the firm’s global Associates Committee.

Lauren is admitted to practice law in the State of California.

James L. Hallowell is a partner in Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher’s New York office. Mr. Hallowell is a member of Gibson Dunn’s Litigation Practice Group.

Mr. Hallowell has extensive experience in business and commercial litigation matters, with an emphasis on insurance and reinsurance litigation and arbitration, securities litigation, mergers and acquisitions and corporate control litigation, bankruptcy litigation, antitrust and government investigations.

In insurance and reinsurance matters, Mr. Hallowell has represented insurers in various matters. He defended The Variable Annuity Life Insurance Company (“VALIC”) in breach of contract litigation brought in the West Virginia Business Court Division by two state agencies on behalf of the West Virginia Teachers Retirement System. Plaintiffs sought $120 million in “lost investment opportunity” damages arising from VALIC’s liquidation of $248 million in annuity funds in five increments over four years instead of immediately on demand. In 2017, VALIC prevailed in an arbitration before three West Virginia Business Court judges. The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals unanimously affirmed the result.

Mr. Hallowell filed suit on behalf of life settlement investor Lavastone Capital, an affiliate of AIG, bringing RICO, fraud, breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty and unjust enrichment claims against Coventry First, LLC and its owners. The high-profile matter proceeded on a “rocket docket” schedule in the Southern District of New York, culminating in a two month bench trial conducted in September and October 2015 before U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff. The parties reached a confidential settlement while the case was under submission. In February 2017, Benchmark Litigation recognized the Lavastone action as its “Impact Case of the Year.”

Mr. Hallowell also successfully defended American General Life Insurance Company against breach of contract and trade secret claims brought by Bancorp Services, LLC arising from American General’s development of cutting-edge BOLI and COLI products. The plaintiffs in that action voluntarily dismissed their claims with prejudice as summary judgment loomed.

In corporate control litigation, Mr. Hallowell has represented companies, shareholders, directors and underwriters across a range of industries. He won a summary judgment victory in the Southern District of New York for Vista Outdoor Inc. arising from an earnout dispute with the founders of stand up paddle board leader Jimmy Styks. The Court held that through a sham purchase of nearly one million stickers, the founders sought to net themselves “a cool $6 million” earnout from Vista. But “[t]hanks, however, to the age-old doctrine of good faith and fair dealing, and similar legal protections,” in the end it was the founders who were “stuck.” The Second Circuit unanimously affirmed.

Mr. Hallowell represented Corvex Management and Related Fund Management in litigation and arbitration regarding their investment in CommonWealth REIT, a multi-billion dollar, publicly traded real estate investment trust. After a two-week arbitration that resulted in the invalidation of defensive bylaws adopted by CommonWealth, Corvex and Related succeeded in a consent solicitation to remove the entire CommonWealth Board of Trustees, and convinced shareholders to elect a new independent slate of trustees. Mr. Hallowell’s additional corporate control representations include matters for corporations such as iBasis, Inc. and Tenet Healthcare Corporation, and financial advisors such as Goldman Sachs, UBS, Oppenheimer & Co., Centerview Partners and Moelis & Company.

In bankruptcy and restructuring litigation matters, since 2020 Mr. Hallowell has represented the member insurance companies of a major international insurer in all aspects of the Boy Scouts of America bankruptcy proceedings, including at the bankruptcy court, district court and circuit court levels. In other recent engagements, he has represented Autopistas Metropolitanas de Puerto Rico in litigation related to the restructuring of the Puerto Rico Highways and Transportation Authority, as well as creditors and other participants in the Akorn Inc., iHeart, PG&E Corporation, and Sears Holdings bankruptcies.

In antitrust matters, Mr. Hallowell previously served as counsel to the Title Insurance Rate Service Association, Inc. (TIRSA), an insurance rating board licensed by the New York State Insurance Department, and to corporations such as Aetna, Intel and Micron. Mr. Hallowell represented TIRSA in all aspects of its successful defense of class action lawsuits alleging that New York title insurers violated the Sherman Act, the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act and related state statutes in providing title insurance. Plaintiffs’ claims were dismissed in New York federal court, and the dismissal was affirmed by the Second Circuit and the United States Supreme Court.

Mr. Hallowell has represented issuers and underwriters in securities class action matters, including Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan Chase, Merrill Lynch, FINOVA and Edison Schools. He has also represented financial institutions, insurers and individuals in government investigations, related criminal prosecutions and private litigation.

Mr. Hallowell volunteers his time to pro bono matters. In 2020 Mr. Hallowell received the Dedication to Justice award from the Brooklyn Bar Association Volunteer Lawyers Project, a non-profit organization committed to the premise that no New Yorker should be denied access to justice because of poverty. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Fund for Modern Courts, an independent, statewide court reform organization committed to improving the judicial system for all New Yorkers.

Mr. Hallowell received his Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School in 1994. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and English from the University of Virginia in 1991. In 1994 and 1995 he was a law clerk to Chief Judge Thomas P. Griesa in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Mr. Hallowell is admitted to practice in the State of New York, the Southern District, Eastern District and Northern District Courts of New York, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and the United States Supreme Court. He is a member of the American Bar Association, the Federal Bar Council, the New York State Bar Association and the New York City Bar Association.

Josh Krevitt is widely recognized as one of the leading IP trial lawyers and litigators in the country. A partner in the New York and Palo Alto offices, Mr. Krevitt is Co-Chair of Gibson Dunn’s Intellectual Property Practice—one of the premier IP practices in the country—and is a member of Gibson Dunn’s Executive Committee. Mr. Krevitt focuses on intellectual property litigation, chiefly patent litigation and trade secret litigation, as well as complex commercial litigation.

Mr. Krevitt has successfully represented some of the leading technology companies in the world in some of their most important and challenging intellectual property and trade secret matters. He has represented companies such as AT&T, T-Mobile, Sharp, Dell, EMC, Novo Nordisk, Microsoft, RealNetworks, Viacom, Cablevision, Peloton, Kokusai Electric, Amazon, Fitbit, Napster, Ricoh, MobiTV, Red Hat, Novell and Square in intellectual property litigation matters.

Mr. Krevitt has a long and consistent record of winning complex, high-stakes patent infringement and trade secret misappropriation trials in courts across the country as well as in the U.S. International Trade Commission. Mr. Krevitt has successfully tried patent and trade secret cases in both jury trials and bench trials, representing both plaintiffs and defendants. Mr. Krevitt also has argued and successfully handled numerous appeals in the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals.

Mr. Krevitt’s cases have generally involved enormous stakes, and have concerned a wide variety of technologies, including wireless devices and transmissions, ANDA litigation, LCD design and fabrication, microprocessor design, data and telecommunications hardware and software, and semiconductor and integrated circuit design and fabrication, as well as many areas relating to the Internet, such as the compression, storage and transmission of content, and routers and switches.

Mr. Krevitt is consistently ranked as one of the leading Intellectual Property and Patent litigators in the United States by virtually every ranking and survey in the country.

The American Lawyer named Mr. Krevitt as a Litigator of the Year, noting that global corporations turned to him when facing “must-win patent litigation” and he “is often called in to take over from other firms.” Mr. Krevitt is ranked by the prestigious Chambers USA and Chambers Global in Band 1 for Intellectual Property both Nationwide and in New York—one of only three lawyers in the country with that distinction. Chambers has called Mr. Krevitt “a litigation savant,” and describes him as “a top litigator with incredible strategic vision and skill at oral argument,” among “the top echelon of trial attorneys,” “one of the best oral advocates,” and “a silver-tongued advocate extraordinaire whose voice and demeanor project confidence and inspire credibility from judges and juries alike.” Benchmark Litigation recognizes him as a “Litigation Star.” Mr. Krevitt is also recognized by The Legal 500 United States as a “Leading Lawyer” in Patents: Litigation (Full Coverage), The Best Lawyers in America® as a leading Litigation attorney, Law360 as an “MVP” in both IP Litigation and Trials, Lawdragon as one of the “500 Leading Lawyers in America,” and “500 Leading Litigators in America,” Who’s Who Legal as an “Expert” in Patents, and Managing Intellectual Property as an “IP Star.” IAM Patent 1000 also awarded Mr. Krevitt a Tier 1 ranking, calling him as “a brilliant lawyer, no question,” and describing Mr. Krevitt’s varied and successful trial record, noting that “Krevitt could conduct a trial blindfolded, so familiar is he with the inside of the courtroom,” and that “industry leaders breathe a sigh of relief when he is brought on board to handle their case.”

AmLaw Litigation Daily has twice named Mr. Krevitt “Litigator of the Week.” He received the recognition for scoring a complete victory for Fitbit in a high-profile, high-stakes patent case brought by Philips against Fitbit at the International Trade Commission. He also received the recognition for his successful defense at trial of T-Mobile in a patent infringement lawsuit brought by Realtime Data, LLC.

Mr. Krevitt also was named to the IP Law & Business list of the “Top 50 IP” lawyers under age 45 in the United States, which features those in-house counsel, outside counsel and academics who “are distinguished by their sheer brainpower, legal smarts, creativity and hard work.” The story praised Mr. Krevitt’s role as “lead counsel for a long list of technology companies” and recognized the many instances in which companies involved in major patent litigations have switched counsel mid-litigation to use Mr. Krevitt and Gibson Dunn.

Before joining Gibson Dunn, Mr. Krevitt was a partner in the New York and Silicon Valley offices of Weil, Gotshal & Manges. His move to Gibson Dunn was described by The American Lawyer as one of the “Star Lateral Moves” in 2006.

Mr. Krevitt has written and lectured regarding diverse intellectual property and litigation issues. Mr. Krevitt also has served on several public interest Boards of Directors, including, most recently, the Board of the Office of the Appellate Defender in New York City, and has served as pro bono counsel to the Boards of Directors of several public service organizations, including New Yorkers for Parks and Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts.

Mr. Krevitt graduated from Boston University School of Law and Columbia College with honors, and attended the London School of Economics Institute of Political and Economic Studies.

Jane M. Love, Ph.D. is a partner and Chair of the Life Sciences and the Intellectual Property Litigation practices at Gibson Dunn & Crutcher. Dr. Love is resident in the New York office.

Dr. Love is a first-chair litigator who handles high value patent litigation for pharma and biotech companies including global litigation coordination. She has extensive experience in Hatch-Waxman and BPCIA litigation. As a registered patent attorney, Jane is often lead counsel in concurrent Patent Office proceedings. Jane routinely offers strategic patent prosecution advice and patent diligence advice in connection with high value transactions.

Dr. Love has litigated patent issues in many jurisdictions around the country including Delaware, New Jersey, California, Massachusetts, and others. Her cases have spanned a wide variety of technologies but of late focus on biologics, therapeutic nucleic acids, and small molecules. She has advised clients on antibodies, immunotherapies, genetics, vaccines, protein therapies, blood factors, medical devices, diagnostics, gene therapies, RNA therapies, bioinformatics and nanotechnology. She is a patent attorney registered to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and has prosecuted hundreds of patent applications.

Dr. Love is Chambers-rated for Intellectual Property, and has been named a “Life Sciences MVP” three times by Law360 (2017, 2019 and 2021). The National Law Journal named her a 2020 Health Care/Life Science Trailblazer in recognition for her work representing Novartis AG’s multiple sclerosis drug Gilenya in cases impacting patent owners and challengers across the pharmaceutical and biotech industries. She and her team won “Hatch-Waxman Impact Case of the Year” in 2019 for a case related to patent term extensions and terminal disclaimers which Dr. Love won in Delaware District court and argued before the Federal Circuit. Dr. Love was recently recommended in the inaugural 2023 edition of Who’s Who Legal Thought Leaders USA, and Who’s Who Legal 2022 Life Sciences in Patent Litigation. She is consistently named an “IP Star” by Managing IP and is recognized as one of the “world’s leading patent professionals” by IAM Patent. Dr. Love was recognized as “Best in Patent” at the 2018 Euromoney Legal Media Group Women in Business Law Awards. In addition, in 2017, and 2020- 2022 she is named in Legal Media Group’s Expert Guides Guide to the World’s Leading Women in Business Law, and Best of the Best United States Guide for Patents. Dr. Love has been named a “Life Sciences Star” for Intellectual Property by LMG Life Sciences and as one of the “500 Leading Lawyers in America” by Lawdragon. She was named one of the “Top 250 Women in IP” by Managing IP in its seven most recent lists and was named one of the IP attorneys in the “Top 50 Under 45” list by IP Law & Business in 2008.

Before joining Gibson Dunn, Dr. Love was the Co-Vice Chair of the Intellectual Property Department of Wilmer Hale and associated with that firm in New York since 2001. For seven years before that, Dr. Love practiced in an IP boutique law firm in New York.

Dr. Love received her Juris Doctor from Fordham University School of Law. Before practicing law, Dr. Love was a Ph.D. graduate student at the University of Pennsylvania and Thomas Jefferson Medical School in Philadelphia and was a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at Cornell University Weill Medical College in New York City in molecular biology, pharmacology and cell and developmental biology.

Dr. Love served as a Captain in the U.S. Army Reserve Medical Service Corp from 1991 to 1997.

Representative cases:

Confidential case: Lead counsel in preparation for litigation under BPCIA for biosimilar manufacturer.
Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp.: Lead counsel in ANDA litigation against multiple generic defendants enforcing patents covering Gilenya®, the first oral treatment for multiple sclerosis.
Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp.: Lead counsel in inter partes review (IPR) defending patent covering Gilenya^®against three petitioners before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Merck Sharp & Dohme: Lead counsel in a Delaware district court defense and related IPR against a formulation patent asserted by Mayne Pharmaceuticals based on sales of Merck’s Noxafil anti-fungal product.
Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp.: Lead counsel in ANDA litigation against more than 20 generic defendants enforcing several patents covering Reclast®and Zometa®, treatments for osteoporosis and cancer.
Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp.: Co-lead counsel in ANDA litigation against multiple generic defendants enforcing patents covering Exjade®, a medicine for treatment of iron overload resulting from blood transfusions.
Confidential client: Advice related to Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act of 2009 (BPCIA) and defense against biosimilar challenges.
AbbVie, Inc.: Co-lead counsel in patent litigation asserting patents directed to human antibodies directed against the cytokine IL-12 (Stelara®) and methods to treat autoimmune diseases.
Confidential client: International arbitration related to patents covering gene sequencing devices and methods.
Alnylam, Inc.: Lead counsel in a patent interference before the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office related to small interfering RNAs, siRNAs, used for the treatment of cancer.
Japanese Foundation for Cancer Research: Co-lead counsel in patent interference before the Board of Patent Appeal and Interferences at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office related to nucleic acids encoding interferon-beta, one of the first human proteins cloned.
Cephalon, Inc.: ANDA litigation enforcing patents covering Provigil®, a drug used to aid in wakefulness.
Hologic, Inc.: Lead counsel in a patent interference before the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office related to breast biopsy devices.

Publications:

Co-Author, “TC Heartland And Hatch-Waxman: Square Peg In Round Hole,” Law360, January 30, 2018.