| Complex Commercial LitigationWe offer clients an experienced team that can handle cases of any size and complexity. Our team is based in offices across the country and has handled cases in more than 30 states, at all levels of state and federal courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court.
We work closely with our clients to devise the best strategy for their businesses, understanding that while at times litigation is unavoidable, it can distract management attention from other important pursuits. When you hire us to handle a case, your problem becomes our problem, and your goals become ours. We will discuss with you alternatives to traditional hourly billing, including models in which our economic incentives are aligned. We staff cases leanly, with skilled attorneys who know your case, your business, your industry and your long-term objectives.
We are committed to learning our clients’ businesses and the industries in which they operate. We are skilled in all areas of civil litigation, with particular experience in the communications, media, health care, financial services and energy industries. We have unparalleled institutional knowledge that informs our work in these areas. We likewise have broad experience in large-scale litigation involving antitrust and consumer class action issues.
We know also that clients’ assessment of value involves much more than winning or losing. Clients expect their law firms to be cost-effective and collaborative, to communicate well and to represent them in a way that protects the company’s reputation and preserves important relationships. We focus on efficiency, goal alignment, transparency and accessibility, and we expect to be evaluated on our performance in those areas—including when we win. |
Selected Experience Manage litigation (or threatened litigation) in California, Maryland, Delaware, West Virginia and Virginia concerning allegations of breach of the right of publicity. Obtained dismissal of the most active case (involving a publicity claim by a young woman whose image appeared on the packaging for disposable cameras) on summary judgment. 461 F. Supp. 2d 1112 (N.D. Cal. 2006); (N.D. Cal. Ongoing) Represent former Washington Mutual officers in multidistrict class action litigation and tag-along cases pending in federal district court in the Western District of Washington involving securities claims arising from collapse of housing market. Appointed by court as liaison counsel and single-member deposition committee for all defendants. (W.D. Wash. Ongoing) Represented large health system and its health plan in an antitrust case brought by two outpatient diagnostic imaging centers that were terminated from the plan in favor of two diagnostic imaging joint ventures formed by health system and community radiologists. The district court entered summary judgment for client after intense discovery. The 9th Circuit affirmed. (9th Cir. 2008) Represented Internet domain name registrar in putative nationwide class action litigation challenging reseller's failure to transfer names. Obtained dismissal on the pleadings. (2008) Successfully represented bank in upholding judgment on appeal involving revocation of attorney's pro hac vice certification during trial. A128324 and A127302 (Or. App. 2008) Defended the Seattle Times Company in litigation filed by the Hearst Corporation regarding the Joint Operating Agreement under which the Seattle Times Company published both the Seattle Times and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. The firm argued and won a unanimous Washington Supreme Court decision on the threshold issue of contract interpretation. 154 Wn.2d 493, 115 P.3d 262 (Wash. 2005-2007) Represented federal savings association in putative class litigation in Minnesota alleging misrepresentation of adjustable rate loan terms. Case voluntarily dismissed after oral argument on motion to dismiss based on federal preemption and motion to strike class allegations. (2007) Defended class action filed in Oregon claiming that the hospital's charges to the uninsured were too high. Case settled on favorable terms. (Multnomah Cnty. (Or.) Cir. Ct. 2007) Defended Equilon in $500 million business interruption claim, criminal and regulatory proceedings arising out of the rupture of the Olympic pipeline in Bellingham, Wash. (W.D. Wash. 2005) Represented lender in individual action alleging, among other things, a failure to timely disclose yield-spread premium fees on the “good faith estimate” as required by federal law. Obtained summary judgment, which was affirmed on appeal. Shields v. Morgan Financial, 130 Wn. App. 750, 125 P.3d 164 (Wash. App. 2005) | | Search Experience | | | |  |
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