Leading trial lawyers in United States

Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP

Karen Dunn at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP is a ‘high-energy, smart, creative, and strategic trial lawyer with great instincts.’ Dunn is an experienced trial lawyer who is often involved in bet-the-company litigation, especially where technology, consumer and antitrust law meet. Dunn has a strong track record of winning in trials for the biggest global corporations, including the trial of Epic Vs Apple, and has continued to represent Oracle, for whom she secured a significant trial victory in July 2023. Dunn also counsels such household names as Amazon on an ongoing basis. Her work spans the country, from Washington DC and the Department of Justice to state courts nationwide.


Testimonials

‘Karen Dunn is a high-energy, smart, creative, and strategic trial lawyer with great instincts. Her can-do attitude is infectious and she drives the team to think strategically about winning the case.’

Work highlights


Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP

William Isaacson at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP in New York counsels clients including billion-dollar multinational companies such as Oracle, Uber and Amazon and is particularly successful in antitrust cases and financial services litigation. Isaacson handles cases on the plaintiff and defense side. On top of antitrust, his practice spans commercial, IP, consumer class action and pro bono matters which all have a sizeable effect on the clients represented. His court experience is diverse, able to represent clients in a range of courts, from district courts to the DC Superior court.


Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP

Brad S. Karp at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP in New York, who acts as the firm’s chair, is a strong litigator and has a particularly strong reputation in the sports domain. Karp acts for a number of large, global banks which recently included Credit Suisse. Karp is also active in the entertainment industry and went to trial for a multibillion-dollar shareholder class action and derivative action case involving CBS Corp in 2023. Karp is also prominent in financial services litigation, demonstrating his versatility as a trial lawyer.


Work highlights


Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP

David Lender is co-chair of the litigation department at Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP in New York, with proven trial experience on both the plaintiff and defendant side. Among his varied workload is patent litigation as well as high-stakes class actions which recently included acting for Grubhub in defense of a large antitrust class action which had ramifications for the e-commerce food delivery industry. Key clients for Lender are AIG and Exxonmobil, for whom he acted in a breach of contract trial in October 2023.


King & Spalding LLP

Randy Mastro at King & Spalding LLP, based in New York is an experienced trial lawyer and former federal prosecutor who has called upon this experience to appear in state and federal courts across the country on countless occasions. Since joining the firm from Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP in August 2022, Mastro remained active in the trial space and in 2023, he was hired by New Jersey Governer Phil Murphy in a case regarding New York City’s congestion pricing plan, demonstrating considerable public sector expertise alongside complex civil cases which include white collar crime cases. Mastro is often involved in groundbreaking cases and has a broad practice which encompasses work which ends up in the Supreme Court.

Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP

Diane Sullivan at Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, who operates between New Jersey and New York, is a leading trial lawyer in the area product liability and environmental mass torts, but also has a wide-ranging and versatile practice across commercial, antitrust, patent, mass tort, and class action cases. Sullivan appears in cases which are often groundbreaking in their respective industry, a recent example of which was securing victory in an important plaintiff patent infringement jury verdict. This trial for Altria and Philip Morris USA against competitor RJ Reynoldsworth had ramifications for the future of the e-vapor technology industry.


Winston & Strawn LLP

Among recent cases for Dan Webb at Winston & Strawn LLP in Chicago, are tort, wrongful death, and defamation matters, and he is also well versed in white collar crime matters. Webb acts for Fox News on an ongoing basis and was retained by the company in 2023 in the extremely high value defamation case initiated by US Dominion Voting Systems. Webb’s multidisciplinary practice is evident in a recent matter in which he continued to represent Versata Software as first chair in a case encompassing trade secret, breach of contract, and patent claims.

Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP

Theodore Wells at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP often works on long-running, business-critical litigation for high-profile clients and appears in high value, industry-defining cases. A longstanding client of his is ExxonMobil, for whom he recently acted in a long running tort case which settled in May 2023. Wells has also appeared in high-profile criminal cases in his career and recently acted in a FCPA action brought by the DOJ, utilising his experience in cases in front of the DOJ. Indeed, Wells has acted in front of a range of civil courts including district courts. Wells is based in the firm’s New York office.


Wilkinson Stekloff

Beth Wilkinson, founder of Wilkinson Stekloff in Washington DC, has acted as lead trial counsel in several major disputes in 2023, with high-stakes trials at regular intervals. One such trial was for Microsoft Inc in which Wilkinson was successful leading the way to finalising the second-largest merger in American history, and the largest ever involving a technology company, Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard. a case which garnered a great deal of press coverage. Wilkinson also has a strong track record in a number of federal courts and district courts.

Testimonials

‘Beth Wilkinson is one of the finest trial lawyers in the country. Her judgment and strategic thinking are almost unmatched. She is also a terrific leader for her diverse team, and you can see how they react to her.’

Key clients

Microsoft, Inc.


Altria Group, Inc.


3M Corporation


Bayer and Monsanto


National Football League (NFL)


Cargill


Covidien and Medtronic


Glenmark Pharmaceuticals


Plaid, Inc.


Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP

Greg Andres, based in New York at Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, has deep trial experience and a portfolio of trial work which spans a range of practice areas, from antitrust to criminal work including financial crime and securities. He represents multinational clients and recently represented Pfizer in a pioneering technology litigation in federal court in California which was successful for the client, settling in July 2023. Andres is co-head of the firm’s white collar defense & investigations group and is therefore a go-to lawyer for trials in this practice area.

Gibbs & Bruns LLP

Robin Gibbs in Houston, who founded litigation boutique Gibbs & Bruns LLP, is well versed in trials, handling an array of commercial disputes in a variety of sectors. In 2023, he was one of the team at the firm who acted as the lead counsel for Trustmark National Bank in a billion-dollar putative class action which settled in May 2023. Gibbs is also active in the energy sector, and oil and gas in particular.

Kasowitz Benson Torres LLP

Marc Kasowitz, founder of Kasowitz Benson Torres LLP in New York, in the words of one client, ‘is masterful with strategy, provides great leadership, and has brilliant instincts as a litigator.’ Kasowitz has a long track record in high profile trials, both commercial trials and for state attorneys, including representing Donald Trump. In 2023, he represented three Jewish students in a groundbreaking lawsuit against New York University (NYU), and continues to be active in a range of cases, from antitrust litigation and other commercial litigation to criminal litigation.

Testimonials

‘Marc Kasowitz is masterful with strategy and provided great leadership. He has brilliant instincts as a litigator.’

Gibbs & Bruns LLP

Kathy Patrick at Gibbs & Bruns LLP in Houston continues to be involved in ongoing high-profile cases such as a high value alleged damages case in an antitrust matter against Visa and Mastercard as well as being ongoing counsel for Occidental in which a court ordered a supplemental summary judgment in June 2023. Patrick regularly represents Occidental in high profile matters, an indication of her ability to represent large corporates. Patrick’s workload, though, displays a wide range of cases, which include large environmental harm cases and securities litigation.

Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP

John Quinn, founder of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP in Los Angeles, is a skilled and experienced trial lawyer who often works on cutting edge cases. Among his recent standout cases was representing LIV Golf, Inc in a case regarding unlawful monopolization, a high-stakes trial in the sport industry involving the Saudi Public Investment Fund. Quinn also counts major global pharmaceutical companies as clients, and often works for these clients in IP litigation often, recently representing NantCell, NantPharma, and NANTibody in derivative actions.

Morvillo Abramowitz Grand Iason & Anello P.C.

In Elkan Abramowitz‘s career at Morvillo Abramowitz Grand Iason & Anello P.C., white collar crime trials have been particularly successful. Abramovitz continues to build on his reputation in sensitive white collar crime cases though, and white-collar crime remained a focus for him in 2023, such as fraud cases, including representing the CEO of MBE Capital. These matters are examples of his ability to work on high stakes criminal matters, utilizing his prior experience as the Chief of the Criminal Division in the US Attorney’s Office, and is also equally adept in a range of civil cases.

Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP

New-York based Barry Berke, who is part of Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP, is a seasoned trial lawyer who is particularly skilled at securities and shareholder litigation, and recently represented a client in a case brought by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the SDNY and the Securities Exchange Commission. Berke is particularly known for his white-collar crime work, and continues to defend former Lieutenant Governor of New York Brian Benjamin in 2023 against bribery and wire fraud charges initiated by the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York.

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP

Peter Bicks, who works out of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP‘s New York office, has worked on bet-the-company litigation with billions at stake throughout his career. Bicks has a diverse practice, encompassing litigious IP matters as well as complex commercial litigation, large scale mass tort disputes and product liability cases. Recent clients include large multinational companies, notably industry giants Johnson & Johnson and Avon, as way as a roster of many other major clients for whom he has notable victories.

Latham & Watkins LLP

Andrew Clubok, based in New York and Washington DC, is global chair of Latham & Watkins LLP’ securities litigation and professional liability practice, is a renowned trial lawyer in a range of industries, including the financial services, automotive, technology, and pharmaceutical sectors. In 2023, Clubok has been involved in securities litigations and class actions, including a high-profile class action case in the Northern District of California for Coinbase Global, Inc, a longstanding client.

Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP

Jay Cohen in New York, who was previously the chair of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP‘s litigation department, recently secured an extremely favorable outcome on behalf of Barnes & Noble in a defamation matter as well as representing Citigroup in derivative lawsuit. On top of significant expertise in antitrust trials, Cohen is a particularly prominent lawyer in the digital rights and licensing rates arena and was instrumental in the cable industry’s defense against carriage discrimination complaints.


Morrison Foerster

Arturo González at Morrison Foerster is based in San Francisco, and maintains an extremely broad trial practice. Over the course of 2023, González appeared in a case for Lime in relation to fraud, intentional interference and unfair business practices.  González notably excels in IP litigation, including copyright and trademark disputes, and recently represented Novartis in a patent infringement case.


Winston & Strawn LLP

Tom Melsheimer at Winston & Strawn LLP in Dallas is a strong litigator and trial lawyer with longstanding experience in jury trials on both the civil and criminal side, including time as a federal prosecutor during which he built experience which utilizes into his current work on government matters. IP litigation is a key area for Melsheimer, who successfully acted for US. Well Services, Inc.  in a jury trial in August 2023 concerning patent infringement.

Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP

David Marriott, who operates out of Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP‘s New York office, has acted in precedent-setting trials in recent years, including the first vertical merger challenge to go to the FTC in 40 years. In 2023, Mariott was lead counsel in a case for Amgen Inc, one of the biggest biopharmaceutical companies in the world in relation to its $27.8 billion acquisition of Horizon Therapeutics. Marriott is an experienced trial lawyer with many successes, and has a strong record in areas such as antitrust, employment, and IP.

Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP

Craig Martin, Midwest chair at Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP in Chicago, is a well-respected trial lawyer with the ability to act in both civil and criminal trials. Martin represents clients in court at both state and federal level and has a great deal of trial experience. A standout matter in 2023 was an ongoing matter for Northwestern University, a case whose significance lies its impact on retirement plans for corporate America and specifically, individuals in higher education more generally.

Winston & Strawn LLP

Acting as co-chair of government investigations, enforcement, and compliance practice at Winston & Strawn LLP, Abbe Lowell splits his time between Washington DC and New York and is a standout trial lawyer in the US. Lowell, who is skilled in white collar crime matters, has represented clients in trials throughout the country on both the civil and criminal side, notably representing Hunter Biden, in which Lowell defended the client as lead counsel in relation to an ongoing investigation by the Special Counsel and US Attorney of the District of Delaware.

Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP

Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP‘s Daniel Slifkin in New York, who has a strong track record in complex litigation and securities law, counts Tesla as a key client because of his continuing involvement in cases involving Tesla, including a multi-billion dollar trial. Notably, Slifkin is one of the few lawyers to take a securities fraud class action litigation through to jury verdict, and is adept in trials for large corporations such as Morgan Stanley, often working on matters in the banking sector.

Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP

Based in New York, Orin Snyder is co-chair of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP‘s global trial practice group and brings with him experience gained in a former position as federal prosecutor. A veteran trial lawyer, Snyder recently helped land a significant judgment victory and a trial win in a dispute in Bankruptcy Court in Texas in relation to a transaction in early 2020. Among his standout clients are Meta, Invesco, and PayPal. Snyder is also a key contact for Silicon Valley clients and other clients in the technology industry.

Work highlights


Williams & Connolly LLP

Dane Butswinkas of Williams & Connolly LLP, located in Washington DC, has a broad practice which encompasses trials in both state and federal courts as well as arbitration. Sectors of note for Butswinkas include pharmaceuticals and chemicals, with AstraZeneca a key client as well a range of global chemical companies and life sciences companies including manufacturers.

Greenberg Traurig LLP

Located in Atlanta, Lori G. Cohen at Greenberg Traurig LLP, whose focus mainly lies in the pharmaceutical and medical industries, is vice chair of the firm and co-chair of the firm’s global litigation practice. As such, Cohen brings with her a range of experience to trial proceedings, and continues to work on precedent setting matters which shape industries. Of late in 2023, this included a large and complex mass tort for Becton, Dickinson and Company, with trials taking place across multiple jurisdictions.

Goldman Ismail Tomaselli Brennan & Baum LLP

Tarek Ismail, founder of Goldman Ismail Tomaselli Brennan & Baum LLP and based in Chicago, is described by one client as ‘one of the best first-chair trial lawyers in the country‘ in commercial matters. Ismail is extremely active in the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries and led on a mass tort case in both state and federal courts for Gilead Sciences, Inc. Ismail also excels in the healthcare and product liability space.

Practice head(s):

Tarek Ismail


Testimonials

‘Tarek Ismail is one of the best first-chair trial lawyers in the country.’

Work highlights


Winston & Strawn LLP

Jeffrey Kessler – Winston & Strawn LLP is described by one client as ‘extremely hands-on, always available and gives tailored, sharp, on point advice’ as well as being ‘very reliable and the absolute go to lawyer for any settlement and trial assistance especially in the sports sector.’ Indeed, Kessler continues to work on high profile cases within the sports industry, recently representing in the Hubbard v. NCAA case, regarding class damages for lost Alston benefits, which is due to stand trial in November 2024, representing a former former NCAA athlete.

Testimonials

‘Jeffrey Kessler is extremely hands-on, always available and gives tailored, sharp, on point advice. He is very reliable and the absolute go to lawyer for any settlement and trial assistance especially in the sports sector.’

Winston & Strawn LLP

George Lombardi, based in Chicago, has a broad practice, with distinguishing features including mass torts and product liability. Lombardi is co-chair of Winston & Strawn LLP‘s litigation department and has acted in lead trial counsel in many significant trials such as successfully defending Monsanto as lead trial counsel in a roundup product liability trial, a case which attracted a great deal of media attention. A standout recent matter was the first part of an ongoing IP dispute for Corning. Inc.

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP‘s Lynn K. Neuner in New York, who is global co-chair of the firm’s litigation department, works on matters in a range of areas. More recently in 2023, Neuner was involved in significant insurance litigation, including representing Federal Insurance Company in high exposure bad faith litigation, an example of her ability to work on high-value, high-stakes cases. Securities litigation is another key feature of Neuner’s practice.

O'Melveny & Myers LLP

Daniel Petrocelli at O'Melveny & Myers LLP in Century City has a strong reputation in the media and entertainment industry and is an experienced trial lawyer in high profile trials, with Walt Disney Company a long standing client. Petrocelli has a national practice and covers a broad range of areas including sport, IP, employment, and a range of criminal matters.

Work highlights


Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP

Ashok Ramani at Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP in California acted as lead counsel to Pfizer in several trade secret cases in 2023. Ramani is an experienced trial lawyer, having taken over 20 cases to trial, and is a go-to lawyer for IP litigation and trials. He is also head of the firm’s IP practice. Clients of his include Magnolia Medical Technologies.

Proskauer Rose LLP

Bart Williams at Proskauer Rose LLP in Los Angeles has had a successful year as first chair on several trials, and won a full defense verdict in a complex, billion-dollar antitrust trial for Gilead Sciences, Inc. in 2023 as joint first chair, reflecting his strength in the pharmaceutical industry. Williams is equally comfortable with judge and jury trials, with a strong track record in both types of trial.

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP

Jonathan K. Youngwood at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP in New York, whose clients include Bumble, is the firm’s global co-chair of litigation. Securities litigation is a key forté of Youngwood’s practice, including a notable securities class action in 2023; namely the case of Baker v. SeaWorld Entertainment, Inc. Youngwood also offers significant experience in high profile civil and commercial litigation and trials.