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Power Lawyers Appellate attorneys who frequent the high court top the list of leading civil litigators. NLJ - March 29,1999 By: Margaret Cronin Fisk The top 10 civil litigators in Washington, D.C., include attorneys who rarely or never argue before juries. In contrast to other jurisdictions, appellate attorneys and settlement specialists rank high among the leading litigators in the district. John G. Roberts Jr. Washington, D.C.'s Hogan & Hartson L.L.P. John G. Roberts Jr. is head of the appellate practice group at Hogan & Hartson, and one of the hottest appellate lawyers in the United States. Over the past two years, he has argued five cases before the Supreme Court, winning four of them, including State of Alaska v. Native Village of Venetne Tribal Government (Seventh Amendment) and National Collegiate Athletic Association v. Smith (Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972). Mr. Roberts' 30 oral arguments before the Supreme Court have covered a wide array of subjects, including admiralty, antitrust, environmental law, the First Amendment, interstate commerce, civil rights and criminal law. During the Bush administration, he was the principal deputy solicitor general of the United States. Bruce J Ennis Washington, D.C., office of Chicago's Jenner & Block Bruce J. Ennis is the most respected appellate attorney in the United States when it comes to First Amendment Internet and media law cases. Over the years, he has argued numerous significant cases before the Supreme Court, including the landmark Pacific Mutual Life Insurance Co. v. Haslip, concerning the constitutionality of government regulation of cable television. Mr. Ennis led the successful challenge before the Supreme Court to the Communications Decency Act, which sought to curtail speech on the Internet. He also recently won before the high court in Turner v. FCC, regarding the constitutionality of government regulation of cable television. He represents General Dynamics Corp. in its lawsuit against the federal government arising from the cancellation of contracts to build the Stealth fighter plane, and he also represents Capitol Cities/ABC Inc. in its appeal of the verdict in Food Lion, which condemned the broadcasting company's newsgathering methods. Theodore B. Olson Washington, D.C., office of Los Angeles' Gibson, Dunn & Grutcher L.L.P. Theodore B. Olson is a leader of the inner circle of the Supreme Court bar and has argued cases involving a variety of issues. He often is called in by defendants who have lost huge judgments. He represents Chrysler Corp. in its appeal of a $262.5 million products liability verdict, Dow Jones & Co. Inc. in its appeal of a $220 million libel verdict, and Beverly Enterprises Inc. in a case alleging fraud and elder abuse that yielded a $95 million verdict in 1998. His big wins include the 1996 decision in Gasperini v. The Center for Humanities Inc., in which the Supreme Court affirmed federal appellate courts' power to review excessive jury awards and the landmark decision in Hopwood v. Texas, in which he obtained a ruling striking down affirmative action policies at the University of Texas. Michael D. Hausfield Washington, D.C.'s Cohen , Mistein, Huasfeld & Toll P.L.L.C. In the past decade, Michael D. Hausfeld has earned an international reputation as one of the best plaintiffs' lawyers. He was plaintiffs' co-counsel in the Exxon Valdez litigation, plaintiffs' co-counsel in the $950 million polybutylene pipe settlement, co-lead counsel for the plaintiffs in the $176 million Texaco race-discrimination settlement and the co-lead counsel for the plaintiffs in the international litigation against banks, insurers and industrial companies seeking damages for Holocaust victims. In 1998, two Swiss banks agreed to pay $1.25 billion to the plaintiffs in this last action; further settlements by German companies are expected later this year. Mr. Hausfeld was named last year as one of the nine lawyers to serve on the plaintiffs' steering committee in the fen-phen diet drug litigation. Barr J. Nace Washington, D.C.'s Paulson & Nace Barry J. Nace is another plaintiffs' attorney with a national reputation. In 1993 and 1994, Mr. Nace was president of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America (ATLA), through which he led efforts to defeat attempts to reform federal products liability law. He specializes in medical malpractice and products liability actions. He is best known for verdicts in the Bendectin litigation, including one of $33.75 million that later was erased on appeal. He also has won more than a dozen verdicts in excess of $1 million while practicing in a jurisdiction not noted for seven-figure awards. He also tries cases in nearby states, recently winning a $2 million verdict in a medical malpractice action in West Virginia. Patrick M. Regan Washington, D.C.'s Regan, Halperin & Long P.L.L.C. Patrick M. Regan handles only plaintiffs' work in personal injury, medical malpractice, products liability, libel, slander and legal malpractice actions. He tries cases in the district and surrounding states, and he holds several records for large verdicts in the area, including the largest ever in Charlottesville, Va., and last year, the largest verdict ever upheld by the Virginia Supreme Court: $6.2 million against the operator of a ski resort. In all, he has won more than a dozen multimillion-dollar verdicts and garnered considerably more settlements in that range. Mr. Regan is past president of the Trial Lawyers Association of Metropolitan Washington D.C., and a member of the ATLA board of governors. John R. Phillips Washington, D.C.'s Phillips & Cohen The district is home to several litigation pioneers, including John R. Phillips, who is considered the nation's premier whistleblower attorney, Mr. Phillips helped write Congress' 1986 revision of the False Claims Act, which allows private citizens to sue companies that are defrauding the government and to recover damages and penalties on the government's behalf. This set off a wave of quitam litigation, much of it handled by Mr. Phillips and his firm. Quitam actions brought by Mr. Phillips have resulted in settlements recovering more than $700 million for the federal government. Mr. Phillips' pending unsealed false-claims suits include actions against Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corp. (alleging medicare fraud) and against TRW Inc. (charging false billing in the company's space and technology division). Charlie J. Cooper Washington, D.C.'s Cooper, Carvin & Rosenthal Charles J. Cooper is another innovative litigator. Mr. Cooper is best known for his work in the Winstar cases, in which the Supreme Court held the federal government liable for breaching agreements made during the 1980s to encourage investors to take over ailing savings-and-loan institutions. More than just the advocate for the thrifts in Winstar, Mr. Cooper was the creative mind that invented and developed this cause of action. He was lead counsel in more than a dozen other thrift cases and seeking billions of dollars from the federal government. Mr. Cooper, as lead counsel for the plaintiffs in several other actions, is applying the Winstar principle to a variety of other contexts, most notably in the energy industry's attempts to recover stranded costs. These cases have already led to massive settlements. Robert N. Sayler Washington, D.C.'s Covington & Burling No list of the district's top litigators would be complete without naming Robert N. Sayler, of D.C.'s Covington & Burling. Mr. Sayler has been lead counsel in many of the largest insurance coverage disputes in history. He was lead counsel for the Hoeing Co. in the breast-implant coverage action, in which he won a jury verdict that triggered coverage of $2 billion. He was co-lead for Exxon Corp. in a 1996 dispute with insurers over coverage for the company's losses in the grounding of the tanker Exxon Valdez, which led to a $780 million settlement. In the last year, he won a defense verdict for Monsanto Co. in the first case involving high-tech biotech patents to come to trial. He has two Monsanto cases scheduled for trial. This article republished with permission from law.com Copyright © 2001 NLP IP Company. All rights reserved. |
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