The Legal 500

Within Leading trial lawyers,

Fred Bartlit, Bartlit Beck Herman Palenchar & Scott LLP: Based in Denver, Fred Bartlit has established himself as one of the country’s pre-eminent trial lawyers, and under his guidance, the firm is, according to clients ‘the best we have used’. During a career that has spanned over 40 years, Bartlit has tried over 50 major cases, including trials in state and federal courts and before the regulatory agencies. His experience as trial counsel on major matters such as the investigation into the 1989 Piper Alpha oilrig disaster has led to his most recent appointment as Chief Counsel to the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Spill. More recently, Bartlit helped bring to an end a major 11-year federal antitrust class action on behalf of Bayer, in a dispute that arose concerning a patent settlement related to Bayer’s antibiotic, Cipro. Ultimately the Supreme Court denied certiorari, thus bringing the matter, which is worth billions of dollars to Bayer, to a close. Bartlit’s expertise extends to major technical, patent and product litigations, as well as white-collar crime, financial and securities-related disputes. In 2000, Bartlit also represented George W Bush in the Presidential election trial.

Within Product liability and mass tort defense: pharmaceuticals and medical devices, Bartlit Beck Herman Palenchar & Scott LLP is a second tier firm,

Bartlit Beck Herman Palenchar & Scott LLP’s ‘outstanding lawyers’ display top-end trial capability and have built a strong reputation in the product liability space following a succession of significant Vioxx cases for Merck & Co as well as matters for other leading multinationals such as AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson and Bayer. The practice also represented Bayer on the MDL centered in the Southern District of Illinois concerning the recall of Yaz and Yasmin birth control pills, following the emergence that the pills posed an increased risk of thrombosis. Unlike many of its counterparts, the firm eschews the full-service model and instead dedicates itself to winning trials, stepping into key cases and winning dismissals or jury verdicts with repeated success. It appears to have weathered the loss of several partners in 2009 – who went on to found Goldman Ismail Tomaselli Brennan & Baum LLP – and remains ‘a go-to firm’ for many in the industry. Philip Beck, ‘a phenomenal lawyer’, and senior statesman Fred Bartlit are particularly well renowned and widely viewed as trial lawyers at the top of their game. Younger partners such as Adam Hoeflich and Steven Derringer are also ‘very good’. All four are based in Chicago.

Within Trade secrets, Bartlit Beck Herman Palenchar & Scott LLP is a third tier firm,

As highly experienced general trial lawyers operating nationally on behalf of clients in sectors as diverse as chip design, plant genetics, vacuum cleaner technology and jet engines, Bartlit Beck Herman Palenchar & Scott LLP is capable of taking complex issues and simplifying them into a trial-friendly package as quickly and cost-consciously as possible. Recent cases in the trade secrets forum include successfully representing Creeden in litigation involving misappropriation of trade secrets against Infosoft, and Sensormatic Electronics against The TAG Company for misappropriation of trade secrets. Following a three-week bench trial, the Court entered judgment in favor of Sensormatic on all counts.