Alison L.
Plessman

Won a complete victory for Tesla CEO Elon Musk in an extremely high-profile contempt proceeding brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over Musk’s extemporaneous tweets about Tesla. (See “How Hueston Hennigan Steered Tesla’s Musk to Safety,” The American Lawyer).

Represented Western Digital and its SanDisk subsidiaries in their widely publicized dispute with Toshiba over anti-transfer provisions in joint venture agreements governing the manufacture and development of NAND flash memory. The dispute encompassed multiple ICC arbitrations and litigation in the California trial and appellate courts, where SanDisk secured injunctive relief in aid of the arbitrations.

Served as trial counsel for T-Mobile in a successful trade secrets lawsuit against the Chinese smartphone maker Huawei Technologies alleging the manufacturer stole T-Mobile’s smartphone testing robot.

Represented InterDent, Inc. in a breach of contract dispute with Levine Leichtman Capital Partners, II, L.P., which culminated in a full dismissal of the case following a successful summary judgment motion.

Defended a senior executive at an international gaming company in a whistleblower suit investigated by the SEC, resulting in no charges or fines.

Represented a Hong Kong investment company in a multiparty RICO and breach of contract action alleging violations of U.S. export control laws leading to a successful motion to compel arbitration between third parties and stay of the litigation with respect to the client.

Defended a leading global professional services company against an $830 million actuarial malpractice lawsuit brought by the City of Houston in connection with the city’s $6.2 billion pension crisis and obtained a favorable settlement.

Obtained $20 million for Pacific Life against Bank of New York Mellon at the summary judgment stage in a breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty matter in investment mismanagement litigation.

Represented Southern California Edison and Edison International in litigation arising out of the 2017 Thomas Fire and 2018 Montecito mudslides.

Obtained a settlement for only attorneys’ fees, after filing a motion for summary judgment, in a professional liability matter against a security assessment firm facing alleged damages of over $150 million.

Represented Universal Music Group in a nine-figure negligence and breach of contract lawsuit concerning media assets that were destroyed in a fire at NBC Universal’s studio lot. Reached a favorable settlement shortly before the start of trial and after successfully adding a punitive damages claim.

Successfully defended an investment bank professional in a U.S. Treasuries probe conducted by the SEC and the Commodities Future Trading Commission, resulting in no charges or fines.

Successfully defended a senior executive at a global investment firm in a multiyear investigation being conducted by the SEC, resulting in no charges or fines.

Represented Glaukos against a claim of inequitable conduct in a complex patent matter in Delaware federal court. The case was settled three days before trial on favorable terms for our client.

Won a dismissal of a criminal mortgage fraud indictment after evidentiary hearings for prosecutorial misconduct.

Secured early dismissal of a trade secret misappropriation lawsuit brought against an executive by his former employer Cisco alleging that he misappropriated trade secrets when he resigned from Cisco and went to work for a competitor; won a motion to compel arbitration in favor of the executive.

Secured early dismissal of an age discrimination and whistleblower retaliation lawsuit brought by a former employee against a law firm.

Successfully resolved without litigation a matter on behalf of an entertainment services corporation against former employees who violated restrictive covenants and confidentiality obligations when they went to work for a competitor.

Conducted a confidential internal investigation on behalf of a talent agency concerning allegations of sexual harassment.

Conducted a confidential internal investigation on behalf of a publicly traded company concerning the company’s compliance with the Telephone Consumer Protection Act and allegations of whistleblower retaliation.

Conducted a confidential internal investigation on behalf of an institutional health care provider concerning allegations of patient safety and standard of care violations and whistleblower retaliation.

Conducted a confidential internal investigation on behalf of an interactive entertainment corporation concerning allegations of trade secrets misappropriation by a former employee.

Advised an investment fund on several employment matters concerning separation agreements, restrictive covenants, discrimination and harassment, policy violations, breach of fiduciary duties, breach of employment agreements, and Labor Code compliance.

Advised an e-commerce company in negotiation of a confidential separation agreement with its former CEO alleging discrimination.

Served on the winning trial team in the $2.2 billion insurance dispute between Silverstein Properties and several insurance companies concerning the collapse of the World Trade Center in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks.

Successfully defended Kenneth Langone’s Invemed Associates in a disciplinary proceeding before the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD, now FINRA) that resulted in what The New York Times called a “withering” and “high-profile defeat” for the regulators.

Represented the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in litigation with dissident seatholders following the announcement of the NYSE’s historic merger with Archipelago. During the preliminary injunction hearing, the parties reached a settlement that allowed the vote on the merger to proceed as scheduled.