Overview
(July 27, 2016, Washington, DC) — Law360 has named Steptoe a Litigation Powerhouse for 2016. The inaugural list, published July 27, ranks the top law firms for litigation by examining the total number of litigators and litigation partners, notable wins in litigation between March 1, 2015, and March 1, 2016 and the significant new cases the firm was hired to work on over the same time period.
Among Steptoe’s biggest trial wins in 2015 was the complete defense acquittal for David Rainey, the highest ranking BP executive charged in the fatal 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster, the largest oil spill in US history. Steptoe also scored the largest jury verdict in Virginia in 2015 when a federal court jury returned a $25 million verdict in favor of BMG, finding Internet Service Provider Cox Communications guilty of willful contributory copyright infringement for enabling its subscribers’ illegal downloading of music created by BMG song writers. A team from Steptoe’s Palo Alto office successfully defended the city of Seattle and its mayor in a lawsuit challenging a city ordinance to impose a $25 per firearm tax on retailers to address the costs of gun violence, dashing an attempt by the NRA and several other groups to overturn the law.
At the appellate level, Steptoe secured a Federal Circuit win for Sandoz Inc. in a patent dispute over a children’s asthma drug. The firm also obtained a significant victory on behalf of Southern California Edison Company (SCE) when a panel affirmed the trial court’s dismissal of a putative class action alleging that SCE overcharged customers by having them subsidize low rates for ineligible participants in the California Alternate Rates for Energy discount program. In addition, Steptoe’s insurance team scored a slew of appellate successes, including one in which the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals reversed a jury verdict and post-trial orders and ordered judgment as a matter of law.
Steptoe’s pre-trial dismissals included a $1.2 billion summary judgment for Zurich Insurance Co. at the US District Court for the District of Delaware, and the dismissal of a claim with prejudice that had been brought under the Sherman Act and California’s unfair competition act against Republic Services, Inc., a national provider of non-hazardous solid waste and recycling services. Steptoe also helped defeat a proposed class action against seven airlines.
The full list can be read at Law360 (subscription required).
About Steptoe
Steptoe & Johnson LLP is an international law firm widely recognized for vigorous advocacy in complex litigation and arbitration, successful representation of clients before governmental agencies, and creative and practical advice in guiding business transactions. The firm has more than 500 lawyers and other professionals in offices in Beijing, Brussels, Chicago, London, Los Angeles, New York, Palo Alto, Phoenix and Washington. For more information, visit www.steptoe.com.