Mr. Naron is a litigator who has played a key role in some of the firm’s most significant and successful representations. While specializing in First Amendment/Media Law and Intellectual Property, Mr. Naron has broad experience representing Sonnenschein clients in a variety of complex commercial and class action litigation, at both trial court and appellate levels.
For example, Mr. Naron was an important part of the Sonnenschein teams that prosecuted Sun Microsystems' antitrust claims against Microsoft Corporation; and that defended The Prudential Insurance Company of America against hundreds of consumer fraud and deceptive trade practices actions by individuals who opted-out of a nationwide class action settlement.
Also, in Sonnenschein's defense of The Boeing Company and McDonnell Douglas Corporation in federal multidistrict litigation arising out of the January 31, 2000 crash of Alaska Airlines Flight 261, Mr. Naron was an integral part of the effort to obtain summary judgment dismissing plaintiffs' claims for tens, if not hundreds, of millions of dollars in punitive damages. The court's ruling led to the favorable settlement of the multidistrict litigation.
Mr. Naron has successfully defended several purported class actions asserting claims under the RICO Act, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, and state consumer fraud laws, representing Sonnenschein clients such as Wal-Mart, Experian, Burberry, and Fresenius Medical Care.
Mr. Naron also has extensive experience litigating media and intellectual property matters. He has represented publishers and broadcasters such as the Tribune Company, Universal Television Group, and NBC; individual authors; and organizations such as the Better Business Bureau, Better Government Association, and Greenpeace, in matters involving defamation, invasion of privacy, media access, reporter's privilege, and prior restraint issues.
In one matter of note, Mr. Naron was part of the litigation team that won summary judgment in defamation/ privacy actions filed in Illinois, California and Mississippi federal courts against the author and publisher of The Promised Land: The Great Black Migration and How It Changed America, a highly-acclaimed history book. The Fifth, Seventh and Ninth Circuit Appellate Courts affirmed in each case the entry of summary judgment for defendants. Judge Posner’s decision for the Seventh Circuit is one of the leading precedents in this area. Haynes v. Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 8 F.3d 1222 (7th Cir. 1993).
In addition, when issues of significance to the media are raised in the Illinois Supreme Court or Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, Mr. Naron has frequently been called upon to author friend-of-the-court briefs on behalf of a consortium of media entities.
Mr. Naron has represented a variety of clients, including McDonald's, Prudential, and Juno Lighting, in ex parte and inter partes proceedings before the Patent and Trademark Office, and has represented many other businesses in litigation involving trademark infringement and dilution; copyright infringement; trade secrets and covenants-not-to-compete; and unfair competition under both the Lanham Act and state law.
Recently, Mr. Naron counseled Scholastic Inc. with respect to enforcing its embargo of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in the United States before the book’s much-anticipated worldwide release on July 21, 2007.
Among the trials in which Mr. Naron has assisted are: a multi-million dollar libel case brought against the Hammond Times by an East Chicago hazardous waste disposal company (the Sonnenschein team obtained a jury verdict for the Times on all counts); Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's litigation against The Walt Disney Company involving a license of intellectual property rights (a California state court jury returned a verdict granting MGM the relief it sought); and a major trade secret/unfair competition case in which our clients prevailed and were awarded their attorneys' fees under the California uniform trade secrets act.
Mr. Naron's pro bono practice has included successfully appealing the denial of a freelance writer’s request for information under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act, Cooper v. Department of the Lottery, 266 Ill.App.3d 1007, 640 N.E.2d 1299 (1994); representation of individuals seeking political asylum; and challenging the constitutionality of a key section of the Illinois Sex Offender statute, Doe v. Biang, 494 F.Supp.2d 880 (N.D. Ill. 2006) (noting the "first-rate work done” by “appointed pro bono counsel . . . the arguments in support of the complex legal issues involved were presented in the best professional tradition").