Civil Litigation

Sophisticated civil litigation for a diverse group of clients—both plaintiffs and defendants—makes up an important part of the firm’s practice. Complex civil and commercial litigation requires courtroom confidence and negotiating prowess—we have both. We have litigated a wide variety of high-profile and complex civil disputes, drawing on our reputation and skills as trial attorneys to achieve the best results for our clients regardless of whether the case ultimately goes to trial. Our criminal law expertise makes us sensitive to the criminal and regulatory implications of highly sensitive civil matters, which we handle discreetly and expediently.

We represent a wide range of clients, including prominent financial institutions, public and private companies and their officers and directors, accounting firms, insurance companies, and other organizations such as law firms, small businesses and partnerships, as well as individuals. We regularly handle matters in highly specialized areas, including securities, antitrust, employment discrimination, copyright, trademark, trade secret disputes, and RICO. We also handle complex commercial disputes involving claims of legal malpractice, fraud, breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, and other business torts. We regularly counsel clients in litigation-avoidance and in resolving business disputes without litigation.

Areas of Focus

We have represented corporations, boards of directors and individuals both as defendants and plaintiffs in antitrust matters arising from a wide range of business disputes. We have represented clients in antitrust litigation throughout the United States, including class actions and multi-district litigations (“MDL”), in cases that have addressed mergers and acquisitions, tying arrangements, market allocations, group boycott and price–fixing conspiracy claims, and claims under the Robinson–Patman Act. We have represented both defendants and plaintiffs on virtually every type of civil antitrust claim, including RICO claims and business torts.

In addition to our active practice in federal and state trial and appellate courts across the country, we frequently litigate cases before domestic and international arbitration panels and assist our clients with mediation and other alternative dispute resolution techniques.  Our team has experience in all aspects of dispute resolution. For many disputes, businesses find nonjudicial methods of resolution increasingly attractive, as these approaches can be less time-consuming, more cost-effective and less adversarial than traditional litigation. 

Many of our partners have themselves served as arbitrators or mediators, which gives us additional insight into effective practice in this arena. We also regularly counsel clients on litigation avoidance and pre-litigation dispute resolution.  Of course, in the instances where judicial proceedings cannot be avoided, our attorneys are well equipped to address the related proceedings. Our commitment to our clients is always to resolve a dispute efficiently with our clients’ best interests in mind.

We represent plaintiffs and defendants in a wide range of general commercial litigation. Our clients include high net worth individuals, privately-held and public corporations, lending institutions, joint ventures, partnerships and sole proprietorships in a variety of complex commercial disputes arising from breach of contract, fraud and unfair competition, actions for partnership and corporate dissolutions, legal malpractice, securities violations and all other business torts.

We have extensive experience representing both plaintiffs and defendants in all types of intellectual property litigation including copyright, trademark, and trade secret actions. Our lawyers have represented clients in trade secret disputes across a wide range of industries including electronics and information technology, financial services, fashion, pharmaceuticals, and the food and hospitality industries. We have successfully obtained the dismissal of copyright and trade secret claims and, as trial lawyers have the ability to get the best results for our clients regardless of whether the case ultimately goes to trial.

We frequently represent partners in closely-held companies, including disputes that may involve family members. We effectively employ alternative dispute resolution techniques, such as counseling, mediation and arbitration, to resolve these disputes and reach a resolution without litigation. Representative partnership disputes have included breaches of fiduciary duty, breach of contract, business conspiracy, theft of property, trade secrets or other confidential information, and trade libel. 

We have represented clients in a range of real estate related litigation including disputes concerning the financing of projects, construction litigation, land-use issues, lawsuits between buyers and sellers of real estate as well as disputes between commercial landlords and tenants and participants within ownership groups.

We have represented clients in state and federal RICO litigation as both plaintiffs and defendants. Our RICO practitioners represent clients in state and federal courts across the country, representing both plaintiffs and defendants in civil RICO cases. The Firm has represented clients in obtaining early resolution of RICO claims, and also in taking cases to trial when it becomes necessary.