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Litigation
Regulatory challenges and high-stakes commercial disputes necessitate proactive strategy and robust legal support.
Market leaders and global organizations rely on Perkins Coie to handle their most critical and complex litigation.
Perkins Coie’s Litigation Practice delivers results. Known globally for our business-minded and client-centric approach, our litigation teams serve as staunch advocates—in the courtroom and beyond. Whether they are seeking swift injunctive relief, timely dispute resolution, private arbitration, or victory at trial or on appeal, our clients’ priorities shape our strategy.
Our litigators are problem solvers, offering clients effective, forward-thinking solutions for a broad array of legal challenges. We view ourselves as an extension of client organizations, working as trusted advisors who provide proactive, integrated counsel enabled by our in-depth knowledge of clients’ business goals.
Litigation Services
Insights
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Professional Experience
Litigation Experience
Supreme Court Practice
Argued three cases in the October 2016 Term, including two involving challenges to redistricting by state legislatures and one involving the scope of tribal sovereign immunity.
E-Commerce Class Action Defense
Defended a market-leading e-tailer in a major class action in which we legitimized its unique combination brick-and-mortar/Internet-company business model, defending it against challenges based on the alleged application of a statutory scheme.
Consumer Class Action Defense
Achieved summary judgment in federal court in New Jersey on behalf of food manufacturer in class action case involving claims of alleged deception in product labeling.
Major Antitrust Verdict
Achieved a major trial verdict and award for a global client opting out of a class action, successfully arguing that dozens of manufacturers conspired to fix product prices.
Privacy Win for Industry Leader
Prevailed in a high-profile putative class action privacy case for leading multinational technology company. The plaintiff alleged that the technology giant had wrongly given personal data to third-party app sellers. The court denied class certification.
Corporate Monitorship
Appointed by the U.S. government to serve as an independent corporate monitor of a large multinational company, becoming responsible for evaluating the company’s anticorruption compliance program, internal controls and financial reporting policies and procedures.
Trade Secret Defense
Successfully defended leading online real estate company against trade secret misappropriation claims alleged by its main rival and a trade association. After the Court dismissed more than $1 billion of plaintiffs’ claimed damages, found in favor of our client on allegations of spoliation, and granted several of the client’s motions for partial summary judgment including dismissal of most of plaintiffs’ tort-based claims, case settled on what was scheduled to be the first day of trial.
Major IP Appellate Victory for Pharma Company
Achieved a victory for generic pharmaceutical leader when the Federal Circuit reaffirmed its judgment that a competitor’s patent on a formulation of Copaxone® was invalid for indefiniteness after the U.S. Supreme Court vacated the Federal Circuit’s original ruling and remanded for reconsideration under a more lenient standard of appellate review.
E-Discovery Services and Strategy
Leveraged advanced analytics technology to create a prioritized review of more than a million documents in two months in response to a request for information by the U.S. Department of Justice, Antitrust Division.
Corporate Governance Precedent
Obtained state Supreme Court decision upholding the validity of corporate bylaws of Delaware companies, establishing Delaware as the exclusive forum for shareholder derivative lawsuits.
Environmental Victory
Recovered $70 million in CERCLA response costs from United States for aircraft manufacturer based on the U.S.’s involvement in aircraft manufacturing sites during World War II and Cold War.
Construction Litigation Success
Defended regional transit authority against claims exceeding $100 million for alleged impacts and delays arising out of a $128 million project to construct a portion of a major new urban light rail line. The dispute was successfully resolved following an eight-week arbitration.
Trial Experience
Major Antitrust Victory for Costco Wholesale Corporation in Five-Week Trial
Costco v. AU Optronics Corp., et al.; In re TFT-LCD (Flat Panel) Antitrust Litigation
Won a case for Costco Wholesale Corporation, alleging an eight-year, industry-wide conspiracy among dozens of manufacturers to fix the price of LCD panels. Nearly a billion dollars’ worth of television monitors and laptops purchased by Costco for sale to its members incorporated the price-fixed LCD panels. In a five-week trial led by Perkins Coie, a federal jury awarded Costco nearly $37 million in damages.
Complete Defense Verdict for Griffith Foods
Liguria Foods v. Griffith Foods
Represented Griffith Foods in a multimillion-dollar product warranty claim asserted by a pepperoni manufacturer. Plaintiff Liguria Foods alleged that spices and flavorings, provided by Griffith, caused thousands of pounds of pepperoni to oxidize and turn rancid. Perkins Coie was lead counsel at trial and achieved a complete defense verdict for our client.
Trial Victory in Hotly Contested Labor Case
Bailey v. Alpha Technologies Incorporated, et al.
Represented Alpha Technologies and Altair Advanced Industries and their respective CEOs in a hotly contested public policy wrongful termination, defamation, and wage-and-hour case brought by a former senior international buyer. All claims except the wrongful termination claim were dismissed on motions to dismiss or on summary judgment. After a six-day trial, the court granted defendants’ motion for a directed verdict and dismissed the sole remaining claim against all four defendants. The court also entered judgment against the plaintiff on the defendants’ counterclaim on several outstanding promissory notes, with attorneys’ fees and interest.
Bench Trial Win for Bumble Bee Foods in Consumer Protection Lawsuit
Garrett, et al. v. Bumble Bee Foods, LLC
Won a California bench trial for Bumble Bee Foods in a lawsuit claiming that our client misled consumers about the health benefits of its tuna products by labeling them as an “excellent source” of omega-3 fatty acids and by not disclosing it had paid the American Heart Association for use of the organization’s logo on the labels.
Unprecedented Damages Jury Verdict in Adidas Trademark Infringement Trial
Adidas America, Inc. v. Payless ShoeSource, Inc.
Obtained a victory for Adidas America, Inc. on all trademark claims. After 14 days of trial and two days of deliberations, the jury returned a unanimous verdict in favor of Adidas and awarded the company $304.6 million in compensatory and punitive damages, the largest jury verdict ever awarded in a trademark infringement action.
High-Profile Eminent Domain Trial and Appellate Victories for City of Missoula, Montana
Represented the City of Missoula, Montana, both at trial and on appeal, in its successful taking of the city's municipal water system from The Carlyle Group, pursuant to the city's exercise of its power of eminent domain. The Montana Supreme Court issued an opinion affirming the trial court's order of preliminary condemnation and finding of public necessity entered after a three-week trial involving 47 witnesses, thus clearing the way for the city to take possession of the water system.
Reversal of $14.6 Million Jury Trial Verdict Against Pentel of America, Ltd.
Obtained the reversal of a $14.6 million jury verdict against Pentel of America, Ltd. While represented by other counsel, Pentel lost a jury trial in the Superior Court of Los Angeles County in which the plaintiff, an advertising agency, alleged breach of contract and fraud, and was awarded over $32 million. After being retained, we won post-trial motions eliminating $18 million in fraud damages against both Pentel entities and, in the court of appeal, won reversal of the remainder of the judgment, reversal of a $1.5 million attorney fee award and a new trial.