Commercial Litigation

Providing effective, creative and efficient representation for clients’ most complex commercial disputes.

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Experience

  • Secured an arbitration award of more than $100 million for breach of contract—which was paid in full by the losing party—for a major medical device manufacturer.
  • Successfully defended a Fortune 50 company in a post-acquisition breach of contract case, a 10-day trial in New York that arose from a $240 million business acquisition.
  • Represented a leading innovator of less invasive, miniaturized circulatory support technologies for the treatment of advanced heart failure, and its president and chief executive officer, in a securities fraud class action suit filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York.
  • Also in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, secured the dismissal of fraudulent transfer and unjust enrichment claims for three subsidiaries of global financial institutions.
  • For IGEN International, secured a jury verdict that allowed the termination of a licensing agreement, awarded the company $505 million in damages, and ultimately resulted in the sale of the business at issue to IGEN’s former adversary for more than $1.25 billion.
  • For a major high-tech company, provided defense in a case involving alleged breach of licensing and collaboration agreements and theft of trade secrets relating to the development of complex location technology.
  • Have defended multiple multinational companies and individuals in putative class actions alleging breaches of ERISA fiduciary duties, including in several cases which alleged that employer stock held in an employee stock ownership plan was an imprudent investment because of artificial inflation caused by undisclosed information.
  • For Mirror Image International, obtained dismissal of a long-running, $600 million breach of fiduciary duty case pending in the Delaware Court of Chancery.
  • Represented Chesapeake Energy who was charged, along with a competitor, by the Michigan Attorney General with price fixing/bid rigging and attempted bid rigging. We handled the civil and criminal investigations, as well as related private litigations, and achieved dismissal of the attempt charge and substantive price fixing charge.
  • Won a significant victory for a client in litigation in Florida challenging intellectual property outsourcing practices under civil Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act (RICO) and federal immigration laws, and representing the same client in employment discrimination litigation concerning the same subject.

Recognition

  • In 2019–2024, Chambers USA Guide ranked the firm's Litigation: General Commercial practice in Massachusetts, New York and Washington DC, recognizing our New York practice as Highly Regarded. 
  • From 20212024, U.S. News – Best Lawyers® Best Law Firms List, ranked tier 1 nationally and in Boston, New York and Washington DC for commercial litigation
  • The American Lawyer – Named WilmerHale the 2020 Law Firm of the Year—an award recognizing one firm that has had an exceptional year across its service offerings and for its work on behalf of clients in high-stakes matters. 
  • Benchmark Litigation –  Ranked WilmerHale among the top firms in the nation across 7 practices, including General Commercial and recognized a number of WilmerHale lawyers as Litigation Stars and Future Stars in 2022 and 2023. 
  • The Legal 500 United States ranked the firm for general commercial disputes in its 2020–2024 editions.
  • US News & World Report's “Best Law Firms” guide has ranked WilmerHale a national tier 1 firm for commercial litigation since 2019.

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