American Capital Strategies
Apollo Management
Capital One Financial Corporation
ExxonMobil
Fannie Mae
Ford Motor Company
HCA Inc.
Hughes Communications
Lockheed Martin Corporation
Marriott International, Inc.
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Merck & Co., Inc.
Revolution LLC
Stonebridge Partners
Thayer Capital Partners
Trust Company of the West
Verizon Communications
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Washington, DC
O’Melveny's Washington, DC office is a vibrant synthesis of a Washington practice and a broad-based national practice where client needs converge with legal, public policy, business, financial and government affairs. With more than 150 attorneys, the office is adept at meeting the complex challenges facing its local, national, and multinational clients, whether involving complex transactions or litigation, sensitive public policy issues, or critical regulatory constraints. Because such matters are only rarely limited to a single discipline, the office is able to deploy cross-disciplinary teams that ensure all issues are effectively and efficiently addressed. We develop global strategies and solutions for clients with problems in many legal areas.
Our cross-disciplinary approach is exemplified by our regular engagements to provide board room counsel, litigation support, transactional services, labor, and public policy advice to companies in crisis; and by our representation of major financial institutions in matters crossing transactional, litigation, regulatory, and policy boundaries that typically limit the range of the services offered by so many of our competitors.
Pursuing comprehensive approaches serves to enhance our excellence in distinct practice areas. Our class action litigators serve as national coordinating counsel in some of the nation’s most challenging class actions - including products liability, antitrust, labor and employment, securities, and financial services litigation - and were leaders in the effort to secure enactment of the Class Action Fairness Act. Our expertise in antitrust and international trade is widely acknowledged. Our transactional and tax lawyers represent many of the nation’s largest corporations as well as investment funds, banking and financial institutions, and governmental entities. Our financial services practices - including securities regulatory, corporation finance, enforcement, investment management, ERISA, and banking - are known for being creative and forward-thinking. The office is home to one of the nation’s preeminent appellate practices. For clients confronting federal, state, or congressional investigations, our lawyers provide a seasoned blend of senior government and private practice experience handling high-profile enforcement actions.
From courtrooms to boardrooms to committee rooms, our lawyers possess the skills and knowledge to provide the right judgment and service for our clients in today’s complex business world.
A Tradition of Public Involvement
O’Melveny takes pride in bringing to our community the same passion and commitment we give to our clients. Our Washington, DC office is populated by nationally prominent lawyers and many of our lawyers have served in government, and in leadership positions, or as counsel to a wide variety of community, educational, and public interest organizations. Many of our attorneys who leave the firm to enter government service return, enriched by their government experience and responsibility.
In addition to the work we do for clients, the office is highly committed to pro bono and community activities. Pro bono work is central to the Firm's values of excellence, leadership, and citizenship and our office pursues a wide variety of pro bono and community work that furthers those values. Our work ranges from assisting low-income individuals within the District of Columbia and litigating on behalf of national organizations before the US Supreme Court to helping create non-profit organizations and assisting international organizations in their efforts around the globe. Our Community Service Action Committee, comprised of attorneys and staff, sponsors “OMM in the cOMMunity” events and regularly invites representatives from local non-profit organizations to speak to our employees about how they can become involved in and support worthy charities in our community.
Related Services
- Antitrust and Competition
Our antitrust practice is recognized as one of the top-tier antitrust groups in the U.S. It is comprised of accomplished lawyers experienced in a wide range of complex and high-profile regulatory and litigation projects involving every conceivable industry. The antitrust practice group includes former officials from former officials from the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission now represent O’Melveny’s clients before those same agencies, giving our clients the benefit of their experience with the regulators’ inner workings. These skilled practitioners in Washington, DC work seamlessly with lawyers in our international offices. For example, we routinely coordinate the global premerger review of complex international mergers and obtain clearance in challenging situations. If litigation of a high-stakes acquisition becomes necessary, we are among the few firms that have the courtroom experience necessary to prevail. In a rare litigated merger, we defeated the FTC's suit to block Triton Coal’s acquisition by another major coal producer. We also have an active grand jury practice and have obtained complete corporate amnesty for many clients participating in the DOJ’s leniency program. O'Melveny's antitrust lawyers possess unsurpassed trial and litigation skills as denoted by the precedent setting results achieved by the firm in antitrust treble damages litigation. For instance, the firm prevailed in New York's highest court in what the Global Competition Review termed "a landmark ruling" when the unanimous court held that treble damages class actions are not cognizable under New York's Antitrust statute, the Donnelly Act. Our lawyers also recently achieved the dismissal of foreign claims under the rapidly evolving case law of the foreign trade antitrust improvements act. Our lawyers also routinely represent clients in private damages actions in federal and state courts across the country. We serve as national litigation counsel in numerous Multidistrict Litigation Proceedings, defending our clients in an array of nationwide class actions involving treble damages claims. With our substantial expertise in defending class actions, we have secured dismissals in both state and federal courts in connection with price-fixing conspiracy claims.
- Appellate
Our lawyers argue cases before the US Supreme Court, federal courts of appeals throughout the nation, and numerous state appellate courts. We are often consulted by existing and potential clients about the prospects for gaining US Supreme Court review. Our appellate team filed more than 12 certiorari petitions during the 2006-2007 term. The lawyers in O’Melveny’s practice have collectively argued more than 30 cases in the US Supreme Court, and have written briefs in hundreds more, both at the merits and certiorari stages. Members of the practice include several veterans of the Office of the Solicitor General, other former DOJ lawyers, and numerous former Supreme Court and federal appellate clerks. We were recently successful in securing Supreme Court review on behalf of Morgan Stanley Capital Group in a case that raises fundamental questions about the nature of the market for wholesale energy. We are currently assisting the District of Columbia in its appeal to the Supreme Court to defend the city’s thirty-year-old ban on most handguns.
- Aviation
We have handled domestic and international aviation issues involving government and private sector clients for more than 40 years. Our lawyers have been involved in many precedent-setting changes in the airline industry, starting with the first major airline acquisition following the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 through mergers, consolidations, and spin-offs, as well as developments in international and domestic alliance relationships.
- Broker-Dealer Regulation and Compliance
Our DC-based Broker-Dealer Regulation and Compliance team includes former attorneys from the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Division of Market Regulation, Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations, and Office of International Affairs and attorneys with securities, banking, and insurance industry experience. We have extensive experience counseling broker-dealers and other U.S. and global financial institutions engaged in securities transactions within the U.S., including foreign and domestic banks, insurance companies, investment advisers and private fund managers. Our multi-disciplinary team covers a broad waterfront of regulatory issues ranging from registration and other “back office” operational issues such as the financial responsibility rules, books and records, clearance and settlement, and prime brokerage to “front office” issues, including the sales and distribution of a wide range of securities products through various distribution channels, finders and similar broker-dealer status questions, suitability, sales by non-U.S. persons to U.S. investors, all forms of advertising and communications with investors, and the political contribution activities of broker-dealers and other financial institutions.
- Class Actions, Mass Torts and Aggregated Litigation
O’Melveny was the first major law firm to form a practice group recognizing class action defense as a distinct practice specialty and our experience in defending class actions and other aggregate litigation is virtually unparalleled. Over the past 30 years, we have defended literally hundreds of consumer class actions in 45 states, and have served as lead counsel in many cases that today are cited as leading precedents. We have also served as lead counsel in many precedent-setting cases, including our representation of Ford Motor Company in the Bridgestone and Firestone tire products liability litigation, which was the first time a federal court held that a class certification decision precluded subsequent motions for class certification in state court. We regularly appear before the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation and have substantial experience coordinating class actions from around the country in a single proceeding, thus facilitating the management of large-scale proceedings. We also serve as national coordinating counsel for clients faced with multiple class actions, including Merck & Co., Inc.
- Corporate Finance
Our lawyers handle debt and equity offerings (public and private), and traditional credit and finance agreements. We represent both financial institutions and issuers. Our experience structuring complex financings includes work on acquisition financings, mezzanine lending, second lien and subordinated loans, asset-based facilities and project financings.
- Corporate Governance
O’Melveny advises public and private corporate clients, boards of directors, institutional investors and individual officers and directors on a wide range of corporate governance and compliance issues, including Sarbanes-Oxley and the more rigorous listing standards of the major exchanges. Further strengthening our abilities, two of our DC partners recently worked in the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance, where they played key roles in drafting, implementing, and interpreting federal securities laws such as Sarbanes-Oxley. They also played critical roles in interpreting and applying the commission’s requirements in the proxy and shareholder proposal processes and securities offering reform.
- Energy and Natural Resources
Our DC lawyers focus on complex, multiparty proceedings before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the Federal Courts. We handle all aspects of electric power jurisdiction, often involving questions of competition and market power, energy trading practices and exchange rules, and corporate governance issues. We advise and secure regulatory approvals at FERC and state commissions in connection with asset transfers, changes in control, mergers and restructurings in the energy sector. We have represented energy traders in the mega-proceedings before FERC involving claims for refunds from wholesale power suppliers in the western energy markets and in appeals to the US Supreme Court. We also represent clients in investigations by FERC, the CFTC, and state attorneys general into potential energy trading abuses in the wake of the Enron scandal. We also advise wind and solar project investors on FERC requirements for change of control and market-based rate authority.
- ERISA Litigation
O’Melveny’s preeminent ERISA Litigation team includes partners with more than 50 years of combined ERISA experience who have argued before federal district and appellate courts throughout the United States. In fact, the head of our practice, Bob Eccles, litigated and tried a number of cases that established basic precedent on ERISA fiduciary duties. In this complicated area of law, we also provide clients with keen insight into what events trigger litigation, how courts interpret fiduciary obligations, and what best practices to employ to minimize liability risk. Our team includes former US Department of Labor attorneys, including partner Bob Eccles, a former Associate Solicitor of Labor for the Plan Benefits Security Division, and partner Gary Tell who served as a trial attorney in the same office. We have an unrivaled track record in successfully resolving these cases for clients through motions, settlements, and an active trial practice.
- Securities
The financial services industry faces a hostile enforcement climate in which regulators are initiating formal investigations and inquiries at a record pace and intensity. We take an integrated approach to resolving these matters, uniting our in-depth regulatory, adversarial, and transactional experience to provide comprehensive service, from structuring and managing compliance systems to litigating before courts and governmental agencies. We were recognized recently as one of the primary law firms for financial services companies by a BTI Consulting client service survey.
- White Collar Defense and Corporate Investigations
During the last decade, our lawyers have represented public companies, nonprofit institutions and individuals in some of the most prominent investigations launched by the DOJ, Inspectors General, and congressional investigative committees. These representations include grand jury investigations of public officials, such as the insider trading investigation of former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and the bribery investigation of former Representative Randall "Duke" Cunningham; internal investigations on behalf of government contractors, such as Ogilvy & Mather and Humana Military Healthcare Services; and congressional investigations of Ford Motor Company, Imclone Systems, Merck, Harvard University, former New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman, and former Hewlett-Packard general counsel Ann Baskins.
- Health Care
Our health care lawyers understand the critical underlying issues that are an increasingly vital component in a company’s ability to thrive in a changing market environment. These issues include views on clinical trial activity, the impact of Medicare Part D, health care budget cuts, a slowing drug approval process, the increasing globalization of, and merger and acquisition activity within, the health care and life sciences industries, and the ever-growing focus of the plaintiffs’ bar on these industries. Earlier this year, nearly 80 of our lawyers in offices across the United States represented CCMP Capital Advisors and GS Capital Partners in the attempted $6.4 billion acquisition of Triad Hospitals, Inc.
- International Trade
Our attorneys and consultants provide clients with expertise and experience across the spectrum of international trade issues, from U.S. trade remedy investigations to matters arising under the NAFTA, WTO and other international trade agreements. For example, we represented a major Chinese steel manufacturer in a US antidumping investigation of steel beams imported from China. Our client received a "no dumping" determination—the first such determination achieved by a Chinese company in more than 400 antidumping investigations of Chinese products worldwide. In addition, we counsel clients on the risks and opportunities of particular trade developments in order to assist clients to best use available regulatory tools to protect or access markets.
- International Litigation
Our lawyers handle the distinctive legal problems that arise in cases involving foreign parties or events that occur in multiple jurisdictions around the world. These include questions related to personal jurisdiction over foreign entities, alienage jurisdiction, the doctrine of forum non conveniens, choice-of-law and choice-of-forum issues, the enforceability of foreign judgments in US courts, the extraterritorial application of US law, claims arising under international law, and international contract disputes. We have spent the last several years on behalf of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. in a global fight against the predatory and unlawful practices of microprocessor market leader Intel Corporation. In addition to prosecuting Intel in the United States in one of the largest private antitrust actions in US history, we also convinced the European Commission to bring an action against it.
- Labor and Employment
Each day, we counsel employers on a myriad of issues, including the defense of employment class actions or other multiplaintiff cases, and the representation of air carriers under the Railway Labor Act. We have successfully defended numerous certified or putative class actions under Title VII, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, the Labor-Management Relations Act, and ERISA. Our advocacy has resulted in groundbreaking decisions, such as persuading a bankruptcy court to authorize rejection of a collective bargaining agreement—a first in a case involving the airline industry—as part of our representation of US Airways in its efforts to obtain nearly $1 billion in necessary annual labor and benefit cost savings.
- Mergers and Acquisitions
Our lawyers help clients assemble billions of dollars in business combinations, ranging from small, privately negotiated transactions to mergers of large public companies. In 2006, clients entrusted the Firm with more than 155 M&A transactions, with an aggregate combined value close to $100 billion. Among these transactions were our representation of HCA Inc. in the sale of two large hospitals in Florida; SkyTerra and Hughes Communications in their acquisition of Hughes Network Systems; and Lieberman Broadcasting in its acquisition of several radio stations. Notable private equity transactions include our representation of Revolution LLC in its investment in Gaiam, Inc., and American Capital Strategies in the sale of Aeriform Corporation.
- Political Law
The Political Law group develops comprehensive compliance strategies for our clients in the areas of Lobbying Regulation, Gifts and Entertainment/Ethics Laws and Campaign Finance and Pay-to-play Laws, as well as providing individually tailored advice for time-sensitive, complex questions in these areas that arise in the day-to-day course of business. Our Political Law attorneys go beyond compliance to take proactive steps and influence regulatory outcomes by engaging with state and federal regulators in the application of these regimes to our clients’ respective industries. Members of the Political Law group have served in the White House, Congress, in federal agencies and courts, and on Wall Street. This wide range of experience is applied in developing strategies to address the complex legal and political issues underlying problems that implicate both private business and public policy.
- Regulation of Cross Border Trade and Investment
We have extensive experience in the myriad ways that the U.S. Government regulates cross-border commerce and investment. We counsel both U.S. and non-U.S. clients on the application of U.S. export controls, economic sanctions, antiboycott and customs laws to their international activities, and assist clients with both compliance measures and enforcement proceedings. In addition, we advise clients on U.S. laws that restrict direct foreign investments in the United States. Among our attorneys are former senior government officials whose responsibilities included oversight of inward investment reviews and export control matters.
- Securities Enforcement and Regulatory Counseling
With lawyers in the United States, Europe, and Asia, O’Melveny guides financial services organizations through a complex regulatory environment. We handle cases involving industry participants—often involving technical issues that may require the involvement of regulatory lawyers from other parts of the securities practice—and high profile cases involving public issuers, officers, and directors of public issuers, and other persons accused of violating securities laws. We represent one of the nation’s largest subprime lenders in DOJ and SEC investigations after the company sought bankruptcy protection in the wake of substantial liquidity pressures and the repricing of the market for its securities.
- Securities Litigation
We represent financial institutions, companies, and individuals in bet-the-company securities and corporate litigation including many of the most notable matters of the past decade. In particular, we have represented defendants in all civil aspects of multidistrict litigation proceedings involving United Healthcare, Fannie Mae, WorldCom, ImClone, Enron, AOL Time Warner, Delphi, Rite Aid, and Waste Management. With regard to the Fannie Mae matter, we recently obtained dismissal of a shareholder derivative action commenced against its current and former officers and directors.
- Strategic Counseling
Our lawyers develop comprehensive strategies to address disputes that involve legal, legislative, regulatory, and public policy issues. We are involved in major legal disputes engaging simultaneously, and sometimes very publicly, in matters such as high-profile litigation, testimony before Congressional committees or Executive Branch commissions, defending against regulation by an agency or legal action by the government, and legislative battles on Capitol Hill.
- Tax
Our business tax lawyers advise domestic and international clients on tax planning and implementation, including corporate structuring, employee benefits, and executive compensation. . Our tax controversy lawyers have represented many of the largest Fortune 500 US corporate entities and foreign-based multinational corporations before the IRS and in federal courts in a variety of US taxation issues including accounting methods, research and experimental credits, taxation of intellectual property, and international issues (including transfer pricing matters). Recently, we prevailed on behalf of a leading California real estate developer in a closely watched case of first impression decided by the US Tax Court.
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1625 Eye Street, NW
Washington, DC 20006
United States of America
Phone +1-202-383-5300
Fax +1-202-383-5414
Local Weather
Local Time: 2:38 AM
Local Date: 11/21/2009
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