"Enormously talented, extremely organized and a fantastic leader . . . you can put him in front of a jury anywhere and he'll connect with it," according to the 2008 Chambers USA Guide to America's Leading Lawyers for Business. Peter Bicks, the partner-in-charge of the New York office, has extensive trial success nationwide in the areas of mass tort, complex commercial contracts, intellectual property, corporate governance, accountant's liability and bankruptcy.
The following are some of his notable engagements.
Nintendo. Mr. Bicks, together with partner Alex Chachkes, is lead trial counsel for Nintendo of America Inc and Nintendo Co., Ltd. in a patent infringement action relating to the Wii system. The plaintiff is a company called Motiva, LLC and is represented by Mark Lanier of the Lanier Law Firm, P.C. The case was originally filed in the Eastern District of Texas. The Orrick lead team recently obtained a writ of mandamus from the Federal Circuit, In re Nintendo Co., LTD and Nintendo of America Inc., 589 F.3d 1194 (Fed. Cir. 2009), which directed the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas to transfer the case to the Western District of Washington.
Union Carbide Corporation. Mr. Bicks is and has been lead trial counsel for some of the companies' biggest cases.
- He is lead trial and appellate counsel for Union Carbide in Hamilton Materials v. Union Carbide, _F 3d. 8911 (9th Cir. 2007), where the 9th Circuit affirmed the district court's summary judgment dismissal of Hamilton's commercial fraud lawsuit, seeking from Union Carbide in excess of $100 million in compensatory damages, as well as punitive damages.
- He was lead trial counsel in the highly publicized 2004 landmark trial in Texas State Court, Brazoria County, where Kelly-Moore Paint Company sued Union Carbide for $1.4 billion in compensatory damages and $4.2 billion in punitive damages, alleging fraud when Union Carbide sold raw asbestos to Kelly-Moore for use in its asbestos containing products. After a six-week trial, the jury deliberated for less than three hours and ruled 11 to 1 in Union Carbide's favor, finding no fraud. The Kelly-Moore case was covered extensively by The American Lawyer and named one of the "Top Defense Wins of 2004" by the National Law Journal. According to 2007 Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business, "Peter Bicks' victory over star plaintiff lawyer Mark Lanier in the landmark multibillion-dollar case filed against Union Carbide is still sending shockwaves through the industry and taking on 'something approaching legendary status'."
- He was also lead counsel in the highly publicized "mass" asbestos trial in West Virginia where, after a five-week jury trial, the jury rendered a partial verdict in Union Carbide's favor, finding no conspiracy, no punitive damages and no product defect during the vast majority of time Union Carbide sold raw asbestos.
Mutual Credit Corporation. Mr. Bicks is currently representing several parties, including Mutual Credit Corporation, a California licensed premium finance agency, in connection with litigation relating to non-recourse financed life insurance policies. To date, the clients have successfully obtained a TRO, preliminary injunction and most recently, in The Lincoln Life Insurance Company v. The Gordon R.A. Fishman Irrevocable Life Trust, 638 F.Supp. 1170 (C.D. Ca. 2009), summary judgment upholding the validity of the non-recourse premium finance loans.
Manville Personal Injury Settlement Trust. Mr. Bicks was a lead member of the trial team representing the Manville Personal Injury Settlement Trust, through the Claims Resolution Management Corporation, other trusts and the asbestos manufacturer successor corporations in a series of multibillion-dollar suits in federal court against the tobacco industry to recover tobacco's share of liability to those injured by occupational and other exposure to asbestos.
Talley Industries, Inc. In TRW v. Talley Industries, a complex intellectual property action in the United States District Court for the District of Arizona, Mr. Bicks was a member of the trial team that obtained a $138 million jury verdict, the second largest jury verdict nationwide in 1995, for Arizona-based Talley Industries, Inc. Subsequently, this verdict was affirmed by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The preliminary injunction, which was obtained in the first action and then affirmed on appeal to the Ninth Circuit, was unique in that it required TRW to make seven-figure royalty payments each quarter to Talley during the duration of the litigation. In total, approximately $200 million was recovered for Talley.
Chesterfield Investment Partnership. Mr. Bicks was a lead member of the trial team representing Chesterfield, an investment partnership, in a $100 million breach of contract claim against Stone Container Corporation that was tried before a jury in Los Angeles County Superior Court in 1999. The case settled in Chesterfield's favor for over $30 million during jury deliberations.
In Re 105 East Second Street. Mr. Bicks first-chaired the successful trial defense of a United States Trustee in Federal Bankruptcy Court in a multifaceted real estate partnership dispute, affirmed by the Southern District of New York and the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.
Po v. Wild. In this highly publicized case, Po v. Wild, et al., Mr. Bicks successfully obtained, on behalf of the top world-ranking professional women’s tennis players, a preliminary injunction thwarting an attempted takeover of the WTA players' union.
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (formerly Price Waterhouse). Mr. Bicks successfully defended Price Waterhouse in the first SEC enforcement action to go to trial.
Mr. Bicks has written and lectured on trial strategy and techniques in high-profile, high-stakes cases and is often quoted in the Wall Street Journal and appears on Bloomberg Radio and Television to discuss trial tactics and strategy.
Before joining Orrick, Mr. Bicks was a partner at Donovan Leisure Newton & Irvine LLP from 1995 to 1998.
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