Author: Kristy Werness

The roughly 80-lawyer boutique, founded by John Hueston, is opening an office in New York to complement its two in Southern California and shows no sign of slowing down.

“From the very founding of our firm, our philosophy has been we will always hire every talented person that we can,” said Moez Kaba, the firm’s new managing partner.

In September, a California federal jury awarded Monster Energy Co. nearly $293 million after finding Vital Pharmaceuticals Inc. and its CEO falsely advertised a “super creatine” ingredient in the Bang energy drink. The nine-person jury also found that Vital — which does business as VPX — and its CEO Jack Owoc acted willfully and deliberately in violating the federal Lanham Act by falsely advertising the health benefits of Bang.

VPX then filed for bankruptcy.

The California jury also ruled in Monster’s favor on several state law claims. The jury cleared Owoc of any liability on the contract claim, and he was not a defendant with respect to the trade secrets claim.

VPX went from an obscure company facing financial ruin in 2015 to the No. 3 energy drink company in the United States within a few years, but Monster convinced the jury that VPX’s meteoric rise was due largely to the false advertising of super creatine.

Owoc is the founder, CEO and sole owner of VPX, and much of the trial focused on his social media statements about the wonders of super creatine, which included his saying it can help people suffering from Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease.

Computer programmer Brent Tuominen, the jury’s foreperson, told Law360 that none of the jurors felt that super creatine was the equivalent of creatine. “The first question is: Is super creatine, or creatyl-L-Leucine — see, I can rattle these things off now — is it creatine?” Tuominen told Law360. “There was not anybody in the room at any point that said ‘yes’.”

It was Monster’s second nine-figure court win over Vital Pharmaceuticals this year under Hueston Hennigan’s guidance. In April, Monster and a small family-owned business called Orange Bang Inc. scored a $175 million trademark win in arbitration against VPX that also requires the company to pay $9.3 million in attorney fees.

Vital Pharmaceuticals must pay $175 million to disgorge the profits it made off the back of the Bang mark after it breached a years-old deal with Orange Bang, in which it agreed to use the mark only in relation to creatine-based sports beverages, according to a 25-page motion to confirm the arbitration award.

Hueston Hennigan also won an arbitration for investors in a vineyard that claimed their business partner, part of a storied Napa Valley wine family, had “bamboozled” them and was misappropriating revenue for his own uses. An arbitrator awarded $6 million and had the defendant “dissociated” from the vineyard, an “extraordinary remedy,” according to Hueston. During the two-week hearing, witnesses were put on live, but remotely from the courtroom that the firm has built in its office.

The firm also successfully defended Endo Pharmaceuticals in opioid litigation in California.

Printed with permission from Law360.
Trials Group Of The Year

“I had more trials in the last two years than I had in any other two-year period of my life,” noted Mr. Hueston. He further explained that he handled six trials in those years, more even than when he was a federal prosecutor. Daily Journal editors further described his recent successes including the largest trademark award in U.S. history, the largest unfair business practices Lanham Act jury award in U.S. history, and “the only opioids trial that resulted in a win for an opioid manufacturer.”

The Daily Journal editors noted Doug Dixon’s focus on intellectual property law, white collar crime and general commercial disputes. He currently represents a leading online dating service Match Group LLC in a bet-the-company suit against Google accusing the tech giant of illegally monopolizing and exploiting the markets for the distribution of mobile apps for Android devises. “Google is engaging in business practices in its Play Store that harm developers and users by tacking on a service fee and requiring developers to use Google’s proprietary payment system so that Google gets a cut,” Dixon said. Editors also noted his recent victory for Amazon.com, obtaining summary judgement of non-infringement in a patent matter asserted by MasterObjects, a serial patent litigator.

“Sourabh Mishra is a rising star,” noted editors. “Mishra—who has a record of six trial victories over the past seven years, including two wins at trials occurring only weeks apart—is a valued member of multiple high-profile trial teams.” Mr. Mishra was a key member of the team that won a record $293 million verdict for Monster Energy against rival beverage company Vital Pharmaceuticals, the largest Lanham Act award ever, and earlier in the year won “the largest-ever U.S. trademark award” for Monster Energy against Vital. Following a two-week trial, an arbitrator awarded Monster and Orange Bang $175 million in damages, nearly $10 million in attorney’s fees and costs, and an extraordinary 5% royalty on all future sales of Bang Energy.

The Los Angeles Business Journal recognized influential professionals with minority backgrounds. The attorneys on this list are considered to be particularly impactful on the legal scene while serving as trusted advisors in the LA region.

Click here to view full profile.

Ms. Libeu has been instrumental in securing victories in high-profile arbitrations and at trial, including winning a “record-setting” $293M verdict for Monster Energy Company against rival beverage company Vital Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in a false advertising, tortious interference, and trade secret case after a monthlong trial. The jury found Vital Pharmaceuticals Inc. and its CEO falsely advertised the “super creatine” ingredient of its billion-dollar Bang energy drink. Earlier this year, Ms. Libeu also obtained “the largest-ever U.S. trademark award” for Monster Beverage Company in an arbitration against VPX for breach of contract and trademark infringement relating to VPX’s misuse of the “Bang” trademarks.

Described by clients as “a fierce advocate” and “intensely brilliant at understanding the detail and complexity of the subject matter, while retaining a clear view of the big issues and impact on strategy,” Ms. Rayburn has a depth of experience in patent, copyright, and trade secret litigation at every stage. She recently obtained summary judgment of non-infringement in favor of Amazon.com against claims for patent infringement brought by serial patent litigant MasterObjects, Inc., and also won two trials and a Federal Circuit appeal in 2021. In early 2021, she won a $25 million trial victory for Acorn Technologies in a patent infringement case against Samsung relating to its semiconductor technology.

The Los Angeles Business Journal recognized leading business professionals in the region that are in their 40s.

 

Click here to view full profile.

Ms. Chou served as a U.S. Attorney in Los Angeles where she prosecuted hundreds of criminal cases involving computer and internet fraud, intellectual property, money laundering, bank fraud, tax fraud, immigration and racketeering offenses. Ms. Chou notes that this background and experience is “helpful to know what the government’s playbook is for charging decisions and litigation tactics.” Ms. Chou is currently prepping for trial in January in a case where client former Outcome Health CEO Rishi Shah, once one of the richest men in Chicago, was accused of one of the largest corporate fraud schemes in U.S. Department of Justice history.

The Daily Journal editors noted Mike Purpura’s “wide range of matters” including, representing a high-profile sports entertainment executive who is being investigated by the SEC, the Department of Justice and the company board for allegedly paying at least $12 million to settle allegations of sexual misconduct, representing a company’s board of directors in an investigation and related litigation regarding allegations of sexual harassment at the company, and representing Pat Cipollone before the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, to name a few. Mr. Purpura has served as an adviser to two United States Presidents.

The list recognizes 28 of the very best white collar attorneys in California.

According to BTI, “these are the most coveted recommendations — all unsolicited and provided with no lists or suggestions or names. Corporate counsel place enormous trust in these recommendations and will often hire a firm on the basis of a single unprompted recommendation from a peer.”

Earlier in the year, Hueston Hennigan was included – for the second year in a row – among the “Most Feared Law Firms in Litigation” in the United States.

National and Metropolitan rankings include:

Bet-the-Company Litigation
Commercial Litigation
Criminal Defense: White Collar
Litigation – Intellectual Property
Litigation – Securities

In addition, a number of lawyers were also recognized by Best Lawyers in America in the rankings released earlier in the year.

Best Lawyers include:

Marshall A. Camp
Vicki Chou
Douglas J. Dixon
Padraic Foran
Brian J. Hennigan
John C. Hueston
Moez M. Kaba
Robert N. Klieger
Allison Libeu
Harry A. Mittleman
Alison L. Plessman
Michael M. Purpura
Andrew Walsh

Best Lawyers: One to Watch include:

Michael Acquah
Brittani Jackson
Lauren McGrory Johnson
Sourabh Mishra
Rajan Trehan

 

The 2023 rankings incorporate more than 12.2 million evaluations of more than 115,000 individual leading lawyers from more than 22,000 firms. According to editors, achieving a tiered ranking in U.S. News – Best Lawyers^® “Best Law Firms” signals a unique combination of quality law practice and breadth of legal expertise.