O’Melveny Takes Home Six Awards at Benchmark Litigation US West Coast Ceremony
March 18, 2019
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
LOS ANGELES—March 18, 2019—O’Melveny won six awards, including two recognizing the firm’s litigation victories in cases with a national impact, at Benchmark Litigation’s US West Coast ceremony in San Francisco.
O’Melveny’s National Impact Case Awards recognize the firm’s victories on behalf of:
- AT&T and Time Warner in the “antitrust trial of the century,” defeating an attempt by the DOJ’s Antitrust Division to block the companies’ US$85.4 billion merger; and
- China Agritech in a US Supreme Court win that gives companies significant new protections against successive class action suits, widely regarded as one of the biggest securities decisions of the year.
The firm also picked up awards in the following categories:
- California – Environment/Natural Resources Litigation Firm of the Year
- California – Environment/Natural Resources Litigation Attorney of the Year (Matt Kline)
- California – Securities Litigation Attorney of the Year (Seth Aronson)
- California – Trial Lawyer of the Year (Dan Petrocelli)
O’Melveny’s recent environmental and natural resources litigation victories include a significant trial win for California Resources Corporation (CRC). The Monterey County Superior Court ruled that Measure Z, a voter initiative seeking to shut down an entire industry in Monterey County, was an unconstitutional taking of CRC’s mineral rights and violated due process.
Matt Kline led the O’Melveny team representing CRC. The win avoided years of future litigation and is the latest in a string of constitutional victories O’Melveny has secured for CRC. The Water Practice that Kline leads is involved in important water litigation for a range of clients throughout the country.
Seth Aronson secured the unanimous US Supreme Court ruling in China Agritech, Inc. v. Resh. The case tackled “stacked” class actions, addressing whether the statute of limitations should be tolled to permit a previously absent class member to bring a subsequent class action.
In addition to his work leading the defense of AT&T and Time Warner against the government’s challenge to their merger, Dan Petrocelli secured a series of critical, precedential victories for Sirius XM and a complete defense verdict for Janssen Pharmaceuticals and Johnson & Johnson in the first, bellwether trial in a California Coordinated Proceeding involving the antipsychotic medication Risperdal. He also delivered a knockout blow for Top Rank, Inc. and Manny Pacquiao in multidistrict litigation.
The awards are the culmination of Benchmark Litigation’s months-long research process, which includes extensive interviews with litigators and their clients to identify leading litigators and firms.
About O’Melveny
It’s more than what you do: it’s how you do it. Across sectors and borders, in board rooms and courtrooms, we measure our success by yours. And in our interactions, we commit to making your O’Melveny experience as satisfying as the outcomes we help you achieve. Our greatest accomplishment is ensuring that you never have to choose between premier lawyering and exceptional service. So, tell us. What do you want to achieve? Visit us at omm.com.
Contact:
Christopher Rieck
O’Melveny & Myers LLP
+1 212 326 2218
crieck@omm.com