Ms Diane Sullivan > Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP > Princeton, United States > Lawyer Profile

Diane Sullivan – Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP. Splitting her time between New Jersey and New York, Diane Sullivan is renowned for her ability to try complex commercial, antitrust, patent, mass tort, and class action cases in jurisdictions all across the US. In September 2022, Sullivan won a significant jury verdict for Altria and Philip Morris USA regarding e-vapor technology patent infringement, the case is worth more than $100m in past damages and potentially hundreds more in future royalties. She will appear as lead trial counsel in Delaware in March 2023, representing Repsol in a $14 billion multi-jurisdictional litigation concerning potential liability for polluting the Passaic River.

Diane Sullivan – Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP. Splitting her time between New Jersey and New York, Diane Sullivan is renowned for her ability to try complex commercial, antitrust, patent, mass tort, and class action cases in jurisdictions all across the US. In September 2022, Sullivan won a significant jury verdict for Altria and Philip Morris USA regarding e-vapor technology patent infringement, the case is worth more than $100m in past damages and potentially hundreds more in future royalties. She will appear as lead trial counsel in Delaware in March 2023, representing Repsol in a $14 billion multi-jurisdictional litigation concerning potential liability for polluting the Passaic River.

With a diverse client base spanning the chemical, energy, insurance and pharmaceutical industries, Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP is a well-established practice in commercial disputes, regularly handling class actions in state and federal courts across the United States. The teams expertise include matters pertaining to consumer fraud, unfair competition, alter ego liability, insurance, trade secrets litigation and alleged violations of federal RICO or antitrust laws. The department is co-chaired by David Lender and Gregory Silbert in New York, and Andrew Tulumello in Washington DC. Diane Sullivan is based in New Jersey and specializes in commercial, mass tort, and class action cases in the life sciences, healthcare, pharmaceutical, and consumer product sectors. Chantale Fiebig in Washington and Liz Ryan in Dallas are also key players. Mark Perry joined in May 2022 as co-head of appeals from Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP.

Drawing upon a strong national offering which includes first-chair trial strength, class action prowess and a Washington DC-based regulatory practice, Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP is a popular choice among many leading consumer brands throughout the full spectrum of their product liability defense needs. Noted for her superb advocacy skills and ability to explain often complex technical/scientific concepts to juries, New York-based partner Diane Sullivan is a key player and is regularly parachuted in on the eve of major product liability and mass tort cases in jurisdictions around the country. Her recent successes have included a major bellwether jury trial which led to a favorable settlement mid-trial for a regional pharmacy chain, as one of the defendants in the opioid MDL. She has also recently been working very closely with the firm’s market leading insolvency team, as a result of the growing trend among defendants to manage their exposure to potential tort/product liability claims through the so-called “Texas Two-Step” bankruptcy legal maneuver. Based out of the firm’s Silicon Valley office, David Singh co-heads the team alongside Sullivan and continues to develop an excellent reputation handling class action product liability matters, including for numerous high-profile technology companies. Out of Washington DC, Arianna Scavetti, who was recently promoted to partner, is also a key member of the team, particularly as it relates to the defense of food and beverage companies in consumer class actions alleging misleading labeling and marketing.

Leveraging the expertise of litigators and regulatory practitioners spread throughout its national offices, including in New York and Washington DC,    Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP is well-versed in handling work for life sciences clients throughout the full spectrum of their needs, including in the context of multi-pronged actions initiated by the plaintiffs’ bar as well as government agencies. Under the guidance of the ‘vastly experienced and skilled’ first-chair trial lawyer Diane Sullivan, the firm has gained most acclaim for its trial skills and is frequently parachuted in to act as trial counsel on the eve of important bellwether trials. For example, Sullivan recently led an all-female trial team, including Texas-based Liz Ryan  and Chantale Fiebig, in Washington DC, that secured a favorable mid-trial settlement for Giant Eagle in the first bellwether trial involving pharmacy defendants in the national opioid MDL. Working closely with the firm’s market-leading insolvency offering, the team is also well-placed to handle work for defendants which have chosen to undertake a “Texas Two-Step” bankruptcy process. Silicon Valley-based partner David Singh co-heads the overarching product liability and mass tort team alongside Sullivan.

Noted in particular for its trial skills, both at first instance and appellate level, Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP is a popular choice to represent high-profile clients from a range of industries, including energy, consumer products, manufacturing and chemicals, in their highest-stakes, often reputational threatening disputes. The scope of work in the space is broad, covering pharma-related infractions, including its work for retailers in the opioid MDL, as well as environmental issues, including chemical contamination and plastics pollution. Eminent New York-based litigator Diane Sullivan has significant experience trying cases in the space, regularly being brought in for bellwether trials as a result of her skill in the courtroom, honed over many years’ practice. Alongside Miami-based Edward Soto , she continues to represent Spanish energy company, Repsol, in litigation related to clean up costs in connection with the pollution of the Passaic River in New Jersey, one of the EPA’s largest superfund projects in history. New York-based Theodore Tsekerides also regularly handles toxic tort and product liability matters throughout the litigation continuum and has niche experience in the defense of claims in a bankruptcy context, as well as litigating insurance coverage disputes relating to environmental clean-up obligations. Sullivan co-heads the overarching products liability and mass torts team alongside Silicon Valley-based David Singh.