Litigator of the Week Runners-Up and Shout-Outs
Accolades | October 2, 2026
The AmLaw Litigation Daily
Shout-out to a Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher team led by Theodore Boutrous Jr., Katie Townsend and Connor Sullivan that secured a temporary restraining order last week on behalf of CNN, MS NOW, POLITICO and three individual reporters after the president took to Truth Social on Sept. 18 to say he was “banning” the news organizations from the White House. U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly in Washington, D.C., held that the revocation of the reporters’ “hard pass” credentials likely violated the plaintiffs’ constitutional due process rights. The Gibson Dunn team, which is continuing to pursue a permanent injunction, includes associates Patrick Fuster, Connor Mui, Arjun Ogale, Kim Mejia, Ellie Schwietering and Alex Hoyer.
Shout-out to another Boutrous-led team at Gibson Dunn, representing Energizer Holdings Inc., that teamed with lawyers at Latham & Watkins representing Walmart Inc. to beat back class certification in three putative antitrust class actions alleging the companies conspired to keep Energizer battery prices high and eliminate price competition, particularly from online retailers. This week, U.S. District Judge P. Casey Pitts in San Jose, California, denied certification to proposed classes of wholesale purchasers, Walmart brick-and-mortar consumers and indirect purchasers, finding the plaintiffs’ economic models could not establish classwide antitrust impact. Boutrous argued the motion for Energizer. The Gibson Dunn team included Christopher Dusseault, Samuel Liversidge and Joseph Edmonds, and associates Sarah Kushner, Courtney Spears, John Zens, Brent Gutkowski, Cameron Silbar, Albert Tian and Jacob Hoskins. The Latham team included partners Belinda Lee, Brendan McShane, Ashley Bauer, Kevin Jakopchek and Chris Yates, counsel Chris Bower, and associates Alex Siemers, Allison Smith, JT Meyer, Emmett Tabor, Allison Gorsuch, Eric Rivas, Kimon Triantafyllou, Nathaniel Amann, Brittany Liesman, Elizabeth Bernal Cate, Taylor McMartin and Carlisle Boyle. Belinda Lee argued for Walmart.
To read the complete article visit Law.com (subscription required)
Reprinted with permission from the October 2, 2026 edition of “The AmLaw Litigation Daily” © 2026 ALM Global Properties, LLC. All rights reserved. Further duplication without permission is prohibited, contact 877-256-2472 or asset-and-logo-licensing@alm.com.