BakerHostetler boasts a sizeable commercial litigation team, geared to counsel Fortune 500 companies, financial institutions and trade associations, with especially pronounced representation of clients in energy, healthcare, and oil and gas. The practice is directed by Jonathan Pressment in New York, who routinely leads contract and business tort disputes, including fraud, misrepresentation, and fiduciary duty claims. Also in New York, John Siegal steers trade secrets, employment disputes, and insurance coverage litigation through trial and appeal, while Bradley Pensyl, who joined in April 2025, tries cases featuring fraud allegations, M&A, and bankruptcy-related issues. In Washington DC, Gilbert S. Keteltas has a successful track record in tort and government enforcement disputes, while San Francisco’s Victoria Weatherford skillfully manages technology and consumer products litigation. In January 2025, Jeremy Anderson joined the Wilmington office, adding corporate and commercial trial firepower, including IP and false advertising litigation.
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Key clients
- A&E Real Estate Holdings
- Anheuser- Busch Companies
- Arhaus, LLC
- AT&T
- The Atlanta Braves
- DIRECTV
- Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc.
- Fifth Third Bancorp
- Fortra, LLC
- International Paper Co.
- Marriott International
- Millennia Companies
- National Football League (The NFL)
- Newsmax Media, Inc.
- Roark Capital Group
- Sherwin-Williams
- Sony Interactive Entertainment (Playstation)
- SoundCloud Inc.
- Talkspace Inc.
- Universal Music Group
Work highlights
Represented Newsmax in two major defamation trials brought by Dominion Voting Systems and Smartmatic, voting technology companies, over 2020 election coverage. Retained shortly before trial in both cases and led critical phases, securing highly favorable outcomes - including a settlement with Dominion which was less than 5% of claimed damages and less than 10% of what Fox News paid Dominion for similar allegations.
Representing AT&T in two massive MDLs arising from separate data security incidents impacting tens of millions of customers. The first consolidates more than 60 class actions related to a breach affecting approximately 73 million individuals; the second involves unauthorized access to call and text records of nearly all AT&T wireless customers and mobile virtual network operator subscribers. In 2025, the team negotiated a global settlement resolving both MDLs.
Represented DIRECTV in a high-stakes retransmission-licensing dispute against Nexstar, which allegedly charged premium NBC-affiliation fees while concealing that the station was about to lose the affiliation. The team won summary judgment on DIRECTV’s contract claims in the New York Commercial Division and then secured a rare, unanimous Appellate Division summary-judgment win on fraud, ordering Nexstar to repay $10m+ in fees plus interest and reviving key claims denied below.
Practice head
Jonathan Pressment
Other key lawyers
Gilbert S. Keteltas; John Siegal; Bradley Pensyl; Victoria Weatherford; Joshua Bennett; Jeremy Anderson