Complex Litigation & Dispute Resolution
Resolving Business Disputes
In and Out of Court
Our Complex Litigation & Dispute Resolution group puts the firm’s trial and arbitration prowess to work resolving the largest, messiest business disputes our clients face – in and out of court.
As American Lawyer put it in their headline in naming Orrick a finalist for litigation department of 2023: “Against all odds: Orrick doesn't back down, and opponents know it.”
Of course, this reputation also helps us secure favorable settlements.
With more than 450 litigators worldwide and experience in more than 50 trials over the past four years, we have the bench strength for the most complex dockets. We assemble trial teams with deep subject area knowledge and diverse perspectives, drawing on a large stable of first chairs. This team is supported by an in-house trial graphics shop, and e-discovery, analytics and case management platforms that have won numerous Financial Times Law Firm Innovation Awards.
And our 10-partner Supreme Court & Appellate team backs up our results on appeal.
Of course, all of this experience informs our compliance and other counseling to help our clients avoid litigation and regulatory risk in the first place.
Industry leaders respect our team’s nuanced understanding of complex issues and products – particularly in the sectors on which we focus firmwide: Tech & Innovation, Life Sciences, Financial Services and Energy & Infrastructure.
Mass Torts & Product Liability
Our globally recognized Mass Torts & Product Liability practice provides clients facing high-risk, reputation-threatening, bet-the-company litigation with creative strategic planning, national and international coordination, and successful courtroom advocacy. Helping industry leaders through the litigation and reputational minefields mass torts and product liability battles present, we provide the cutting-edge strategies required to win and minimize follow-on risk on headlining issues – from fossil fuels to talc to student athlete concussion litigation.
Financial Services Litigation
Our powerhouse 70+ lawyer Financial Services Litigation team delivers courtroom success for many of the world’s largest financial institutions, funds and fintechs. We deliver market-moving results in the courtroom, often with billions of dollars on the line. We also guide these companies through emerging regulatory shifts before federal agencies such as the Securities and Exchange Commission, Federal Trade Commission and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, among others.
Class Action Defense
Our team has successfully defended more than 400 class actions in federal and state courts across the United States. We focus on early dismissals and favorable settlements, but are ready to go to trial when it makes sense to do so.
We’ve defended class actions in every state and have class action and collective redress lawyers in all of our U.S. offices as well as the UK. Our reputation with plaintiffs’ lawyers helps us to obtain early settlements on favorable terms, when that is the client’s preferred result. Our credibility is built on our win rate on motions to dismiss, and our proven ability to try cases to verdict when necessary – and win. We handle a variety of claims: from traditional breach of warranty, product liability, employment and securities class actions to novel false labeling and massive Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) cases.
Insurance
We are the standout firm for cost of insurance litigation, representing banks, financial institutions and alternative investment managers. While less than a handful of firms have capabilities in this space, none match our caliber. Life settlements are a unique product for which clients often face novel challenges, and our team excels at developing creative solutions and legal strategies to combat these challenges in whatever form they may take.
Global Coverage & Cross-Border Disputes
We offer clients global coverage, with a team that includes nearly 100 litigators in Europe and Asia. We handle closely watched matters all over the world involving everything from multibillion-dollar financial industry cases to some of the most closely watched accounting disputes. We are one of the most experienced firms in representing foreign-owned enterprises in U.S. litigation.
Named in the Global Arbitration Review’s GAR 30 year after year, we also have a team of international arbitrators who represent clients in high-stakes arbitration proceedings in multiple languages under all the major arbitral rules.
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Credit Suisse in defending all their outstanding RMBS litigation claims brought by investors, RMBS trustees, monoline insurers, government agencies, and state regulators. We won a “Market Moving Reversal” precedent-setting decision from the New York Court of Appeals, that significantly reduces Credit Suisse’s damages exposure in RMBS litigation. For our work on this matter, the team was named Litigators of the Week by The American Lawyer.
NCAA as national trial counsel in its student-athlete concussion litigation. In this role, we are coordinating and executing strategy, and successfully defending the NCAA in courts across the country, including in California, Indiana, Oregon, Hawaii and Washington, D.C. In the first-ever concussion/CTE action against the NCAA to go to trial, we won a complete defense verdict where the Plaintiff alleged the NCAA failed to protect against known risks in football. This was a nationally recognized victory, including "defense verdict of the year" by the Courtroom View Network. Orrick also obtained a complete defense verdict for the NCAA after a four-week jury trial in which the Plaintiff was seeking $125 million in damages for alleged injuries resulting from a football workout. And, in fewer than ten months, we won a third total defense verdict on behalf of the NCAA in another concussion/CTE case, where the Plaintiff alleged the NCAA was responsible for an award-winning quarterback's unfortunate death.
Johnson & Johnson in numerous unprecedented successes, trial wins and significant settlements for J&J in its high-profile talc litigation for many years, including a Prop 65 case in California that the plaintiffs dropped shortly before trial with an order to reimburse J&J for close to $600,000 in legal fees. In another significant win, the Orrick team convinced a federal judge to dismiss with prejudice a consumer class action alleging that J&J misled consumers in connection with its marketing of talc products. Most recently, Orrick beat back claims for millions in damages against Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Ethicon alleging that its transvaginal mesh device had a design defect and that warnings about the device were inadequate.
Marathon Oil Company as national coordinating counsel in claims by both government and private entities relating to climate change as a result of the production and sale of fossil fuel products. These cases, which assert a variety of claims under private and public nuisance theories as well as products liability doctrines, are pending in a variety of courts across the country.
Public University System in securing a complete dismissal of nine state class action and two federal court complaints in which students claimed entitlement to refunds of tuition and fees as a result of the university system transitioning from in-person instruction to remote instruction due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Freedom Holding Company, Elite Worldwide Group, and Silvio Scaglia in going toe-to-toe against reality star Julia Haart in a case involving control of a leading international model and talent company. Our complete win for the client was headlined by the media.
Ocwen in securing a huge win in a civil RICO consumer class action. We filed a novel motion for decertification based on a new Supreme Court decision mere months before trial was about to start on a $210 million case and won, rendering the case worthless.
LinkedIn in scoring a remarkable come-from-behind win in its long-running legal showdown over web-scraping with a now-defunct workforce analytics company.
ExamWorks Group in a misappropriation of trade secret case. Several ExamWorks employees including the two executives left the company after stealing detailed spreadsheets that identified over 150,000 of ExamWorks’ clients and doctors, pulling significant trade secrets and confidential information in order to start a competing business.
Chinese National Building Material Group, the largest gypsum-board producer in the world, and related entities as lead counsel in the federal MDL litigation regarding allegations of defective drywall manufactured in China. The litigation involves buildings and individuals allegedly harmed as a result of post-Hurricane Katrina construction.