Year: 2019

Hennigan and Hueston Named “Top 100 Trial Lawyers” in America For Second Consecutive Year

Benchmark editors noted Mr. Hueston’s defense of Elon Musk and Southern California Edison against civil claims arising out of the 2017 Thomas Fire, the 2018 Montecito mudslides, and the 2018 Woolsey Fire. “John is emerging as one of the most prominent trial lawyers in the country,” offers one peer. “He’s gone from being someone who was a go-to in California to someone who is just everywhere.”

The firm was also recognized as a “Top Boutiques” in the United States, one of only 12 firms selected nationwide. In addition, we were selected as one of the “Top 20 Trial Firms” in the United States, for the second year in a row.

Benchmark Litigation is the definitive guide to America’s leading litigation law firms and lawyers. Research is conducted through extensive interviews with litigators, dispute resolution specialists and their clients to identify the leading litigators and firms. During these interviews, we examine recent casework handled by law firms and ask individual litigators to provide their professional opinions on peers and practitioners within their jurisdiction or practice area.

Hueston Hennigan Named “Top 10 Boutique” in U.S. for Fourth Consecutive Year

For the fourth consecutive year, Hueston Hennigan earns a spot on the list of “Top Boutiques” in the United States, one of only 12 firms selected nationwide. In addition, we were selected as one of the “Top 20 Trial Firms” in the United States, for the second year in a row.

Hueston Hennigan also earned national – and California – tier 1 rankings in the General Commercial, White Collar, Securities and Entertainment practice areas.

The Benchmark analysis noted Hueston Hennigan’s “rise to a dominant position not only in the Southern California region but also through the state and indeed across the country.” The editors quoted an out-of-state peer citing, “their profile is going national at this point! They have just been massively successful.” With a trial-centric vision and an aggressive business model, “the firm is also [on] a first-call for crisis-based ‘event-driven litigation.’”

A number of our partners were also individually recognized, as noted below:

Marshall A. Camp, Local Litigation Star

Douglas J. Dixon, Future Star

Brian Hennigan, Local Litigation Star, National Practice Area Star

John C. Hueston, Local Litigation Star, National Practice Area Star

Moez M. Kaba, 40 & Under Hot List, Local Litigation Star

Robert N. Klieger, Local Litigation Star

Allison Libeu, 40 & Under Hot List

Benchmark Litigation is the definitive guide to America’s leading litigation law firms and lawyers. Research is conducted through extensive interviews with litigators, dispute resolution specialists and their clients to identify the leading litigators and firms. During these interviews, we examine recent casework handled by law firms and ask individual litigators to provide their professional opinions on peers and practitioners within their jurisdiction or practice area.

Hueston and Kaba Named Top 100 Lawyers

Making his tenth appearance on the list of “Top 100 Lawyers” in California, the Daily Journal noted Mr. Hueston’s recent unanimous victory at the United States Supreme Court in a case that has significant implications for class actions defense. Mr. Hueston noted it was his first appearance at the high court and a “career moment for me.” The article also commented on Mr. Hueston’s success in steering Tesla’s Elon Musk to safety when he ran afoul of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. To defend against the SEC, Hueston developed a “number of creative arguments” that ultimately led to setting aside the government’s contempt request.

For the third consecutive year, Mr. Kaba has been commended for his “significant victories for clients,” including Amgen in its battle to prevent state authorities from disclosing pricing information; for social networking app Grindr in a case over its potential liability for the acts of users; and Bausch Health Companies in separate trade secret and FCA actions. Responding to the Daily Journal’s recognition of his “extensive litigation work as a whole,” Mr. Kaba noted, “we like to take on important and difficult cases.”

Click here to read Mr. Hueston’s full profile.

Click here to read Mr. Kaba’s full profile.

Chou to Moderate Korean American Bar Association Panel

APA women will discuss how the skills they developed while working in the public sector helped advance their careers in a variety of legal fields, from white collar litigation to white collar investigations and elevation to the bench.

Speakers include:

Vicki Chou (Moderator)
Of Counsel, Hueston Hennigan
Former Assistant United States Attorney

Hon. Dorothy C. Kim
Associate Justice, California Court of Appeal
Second Appellate District, Division 5

Ann C. Kim
Partner, Hogan Lovells
Former SEC Enforcement Senior Counsel
Former Assistant United States Attorney

Naeun Rim
Partner, Bird Marella
Former Deputy Federal Public Defender
Former Public Counsel Fellow

This activity has been approved for Minimum Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) credit by the State Bar of California in the amount of 1.25 hours of participatory credit.

Click here for more information.

Hueston Hennigan Named California Powerhouse

“The key to [our] success has been our ability to quickly focus on the key determinative issues in bet-the-company litigation, and to move at an accelerated pace to either very favorable settlements or wins at trial,” said John Hueston to Law360.

Law360 noted Hueston Hennigan’s recent high-profile successes in helping Elon Musk hammer out a settlement with the SEC; handling a string of legal actions involving Sumner Redstone, the former CEO of Viacom; and reaching a $6.5 million settlement on behalf of the Navajo Nation in its claims against Wells Fargo.

Managing partner Brian Hennigan said “we partner with, invest in and listen carefully to our clients before crafting legal strategies to obtain the optimum results.”

Peloton Defeats Flywheel’s Motion to Dismiss Patent Infringement Suit

In its Order, the Court rejected Flywheel’s argument that Peloton’s patents described inventions that were well-understood, routine and/or conventional, agreeing with Peloton that “at the very least, questions of fact remain.”

“We are thrilled with this victory and look forward to proceeding toward trial,” said Peloton’s lead counsel.

Peloton’s patents, which Flywheel unsuccessfully challenged, relate to Peloton’s state of the art leaderboard technology, which allows Peloton users to–for the first time ever–compete with a group of thousands of other riders in all corners of the world—even those riding at different times—and still easily see where his or her performance stands in comparison to the other riders at any given point in the class. When Peloton implemented these innovations in its Peloton Bike, it received universal praise from publications and fitness experts, who hailed the product as “category-creating,” “revolutionary,” and “the best cardio machine on the planet.”

Just last month, the Court denied Flywheel’s motion to stay the litigation, and granted Peloton’s motion for sanctions against Flywheel for discovery abuses.

Peloton is represented by Doug Dixon, Christina Von der Ahe Rayburn, Karen Younkins and Neil Anderson of Hueston Hennigan LLP.

Click here to read Law360 article.

Ninth Circuit Victory After Prevailing at U.S. Supreme Court

The question presented was whether Rule 23(f) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and other mandatory claim-processing rules are susceptible to equitable tolling. The Supreme Court adopted Hueston Hennigan’s argument that these rules are unalterable if properly raised, reversed the Ninth Circuit’s contrary ruling, and remanded the case to the Ninth Circuit for further proceedings. See Lambert v. Nutraceutical.

The Ninth Circuit issued its order on remand and denied Petition Troy Lambert’s appeal in full. The Ninth Circuit rejected all of Lambert’s arguments as to why his appeal was timely and reaffirmed the ruling Hueston Hennigan obtained at the Supreme Court “that Rule 23(f)’s time limit is purposefully unforgiving.”

This ruling also preserves Hueston Hennigan’s victory at the lower court, where it obtained decertification of the putative plaintiff class.

Nutraceutical is represented by John Hueston and associate Joseph Reiter.

Navajo Nation Reaches Substantial Settlement with Wells Fargo

The settlement resolves the Nation’s lawsuit detailing the Bank’s long campaign of predatory and unlawful practices and reflects a larger recovery than that obtained by similarly populous states.

The Hueston Hennigan team was led by John C. Hueston and Moez M. Kaba, and includes associate Lauren McGrory-Johnson.

Media Coverage

Navajo Nation Press Release

“Wells Fargo Pays Navajo Nation $6.5 Million In ‘Predatory’ Lawsuit Settlement,” Forbes, August 22, 2019.

“Navajo Nation Ends Appeal Of Wells Fargo Fake Accounts Suit,” Law360, August 20, 2019.

“Wells Fargo pays $6.5 million to Navajo Nation over ‘predatory’ practices,” Reuters, August 22, 2019.

Hueston and Kaba Named Top Litigators

The LABJ noted that under Mr. Hueston’s “leadership, and in just over four years, Hueston Hennigan has gained national accolades and a stellar reputation for a creative and often disruptive approach to litigation. With ever-increasing frequency, the firm is asked by new clients to replace “big law firms” in important and complex litigation.”

The article also noted that clients have called Mr. Kaba “one of the best young trial lawyers I’ve ever seen,” and have said “He is innovative, smart and able to see problems from various perspectives. His oral advocacy skills are second to none.”

The Los Angeles Business Journal recognized the very best litigators and trial lawyers in the business. These are the lawyers you want in your corner in court.

Read Top Litigators Profile.

Hueston Hennigan Named Best Lawyers in America for Bet-the-Company Litigation and White Collar Defense

The following Hueston Hennigan partners are recognized:

Douglas J. Dixon is recognized in the area of Commercial Litigation

John C. Hueston is recognized in the areas of Bet-the-Company Litigation, Commercial Litigation and Criminal Defense: White Collar.

Brian J. Hennigan is recognized in the areas of Commercial Litigation, Criminal Defense: White Collar, and Litigation – Securities.

Moez M. Kaba is recognized in the area of Commercial Litigation.

Robert N. Klieger is recognized in the area of Litigation – Intellectual Property.

To compile the list of distinguished lawyers, Best Lawyers conducts an extensive peer-review process during which tens of thousands of leading lawyers confidentially evaluate their professional peers. The latest edition includes 58,000 lawyers in 140 practice areas, covering all 50 states and the District of Columbia, and inclusion in this year’s publication is based on 7.4 million detailed evaluations of lawyers by other lawyers.