Author: Jason Armstrong

Richard’s complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleged that Tri Star infringed her copyright in the song “Deliver Me,” on which Richard was a featured artist. On May 8, 2025, Hueston Hennigan filed a letter with the court explaining that Richard’s claims were “replete with factual inaccuracies” and “clearly foreclosed by controlling law.” Less than a week later, Richard voluntarily dismissed her claims against Tri Star.

“Tri Star simply did not belong in this lawsuit,” said Hueston Hennigan founding partner John Hueston. “We persuaded the plaintiff that any attempt to pursue claims against Tri Star was a losing proposition that could come with a heavy price.”

The team also included Michael Todisco and Cassidy O’Sullivan.

In 2022, the firm obtained a $293 million jury verdict for Monster in a high-profile lawsuit involving claims of false advertising, tortious interference and trade secrets theft against VPX—the third-largest energy drink manufacturer in the U.S.—and Owoc. It is believed to be the largest Lanham Act award in history.

The jury found VPX and Owoc falsely advertised the alleged “Super Creatine” ingredient in VPX’s billion-dollar Bang energy drink. The jury awarded $272 million against both Owoc and VPX for false advertising and another $21 million against VPX itself for tortious interference and trade secrets theft. In its post-trial judgment, the court added over $43 million in attorneys’ fees, expenses and prejudgment interest to the jury’s award, with over $39 million of that tacked onto the false advertising claim against Owoc and VPX.

In addition to Ms. Libeu, the appellate team included John Hueston, Moez Kaba, Sourabh Mishra, Justin Greer and Christopher Galeano.

The circuit’s ruling garnered press including in Bloomberg Law and Reuters Legal. 

Allen sued McDonald’s in California state court in 2023, after McDonald’s announced its goal to increase spending with diverse-owned media companies, production houses and content creators. Allen’s suit claimed McDonald’s goal was an enforceable promise and that McDonald’s engaged in fraud by failing to spend at least $50 million per year with his companies. Hueston Hennigan persuaded the trial court to grant McDonald’s special anti-SLAPP motion to strike, dismissing Allen’s lawsuit in full after determining McDonald’s conduct was protected and Allen failed to make a prima facie showing that he could prevail. The court ruled that McDonald’s was entitled to attorneys’ fees and costs for defending against the lawsuit.

In addition to Mr. Kaba, the Hueston Hennigan team included John Hueston, Michael Todisco, Karen Ding, Justin Greer and Arianna Demas.

The appellate ruling garnered press including in Law360, The Recorder, Bloomberg Law and the Daily Journal.