Representative Experience

  • Won a unanimous jury verdict of “no liability,” denying $40 million in an alleged damages claim by the reneging purchaser of a luxury jet. The jury deliberated just three hours following a five-week trial.
  • Defeated a €20 million claim and secured a €10 million award for a Scandinavian equipment manufacturer accused of falling far short of a contractual performance guarantee when it outfitted a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Central Europe.
  • Recovered a $20 million international arbitration award for a pioneering Chinese manufacturer/seller of photovoltaic models when a product purchaser reneged on its purchase agreement because it would not qualify for energy tax incentives.

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  • Aviation
    • Defended Bombardier against novel claims that a draft aircraft purchase agreement, together with a letter of intent and other communications, created an obligation for Bombardier to execute an aircraft purchase agreement.
  • Construction
    • Secured an appellate win upholding a record-breaking $54 million award for our client Sacramento Municipal Utility District on a breach of contract claim against Fru-Con, which was hired to build a California Central Valley power plant.
  • Corporate
    • Achieved a complete victory for our client and an important precedent regarding LLC governance through a unanimous reversal from New York’s highest court. The case addressed the manager’s fiduciary duties in the buyout of former LLC members.
  • Finance
    • Won an award of more than $6 million plus attorneys’ fees and costs for a hedge fund client seeking repayment of a loan defaulted on by a tech company borrower.
  • Food & Beverage
    • Achieved the successful termination of a regional distribution arrangement that threatened to severely limit our client Yogurtland’s burgeoning business. The arbitrators found that the distributor failed to show damages and awarded Yogurtland attorneys’ fees.
  • Real Estate
    • Won an appellate reversal awarding summary judgment and costs, and allowing our client Pathmark to retain the deposit on an uncompleted $87 million real estate sale. The case was unanimously affirmed on appeal.
    • Won an appeal of a lower court’s auction order and other unusual decisions. The previously ordered sale of the property was stayed and ultimately reversed.
  • Technology
    • Secured a multimillion-dollar jury award for AOL — the full amount spent on its primary contract with consultants — when the Order-to-Cash system that consultants recommended wholly failed to meet AOL’s needs.
    • Won the dismissal of a breach of contract claim brought in Texas by an indirect purchaser of our client Lexware GmbH’s software module. The court found personal jurisdiction lacking, and the Fifth Circuit affirmed victory.
  • Telecommunications – Global Sourcing
    • Defeated a large vendor’s multimillion-dollar contract termination claim in arbitration and secured a damages award on a counterclaim for our telecommunications services company client.

Practice Area Highlights

  • U.S. News - Best Lawyers Best Law Firms 2023 National Tier 1 Commercial Litigation ranking.
  • Pillsbury is recognized as among the most feared law firms for litigation by BTI Consulting Group.
  • Chambers USA 2023 ranked our Washington, DC General Commercial Litigation practice as “Highly Regarded” in Band 3.

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  • The Legal 500 U.S. 2019 recognizes our leading litigation strengths including Civil Litigation/Class Action, Insurance, Construction and Construction Litigation.
  • U.S. News – Best Lawyers Best Law Firms 2019 Tier-1 Environmental Litigation practice ranking.