Mr. Frankel specializes in complex commercial, consumer class action and intellectual property litigation. For numerous companies, Mr. Frankel has served as lead counsel defending a variety of class actions in both federal and state courts throughout the country. He has also served as lead counsel in complex cases ranging from antitrust, securities, government contracts and ERISA to patent and trade secret disputes. Mr. Frankel has represented a variety of companies and company personnel in both civil and criminal investigations conducted by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice.
Representative Experience
In a transaction closely watched by the insurance and health care industries, Mr. Frankel successfully represented Anthem, Inc. and WellPoint Health Networks Inc. in litigation arising from the proposed merger between the two companies, a $21 billion transaction which resulted in the formation of the nation's largest health care company.
Mr. Frankel represented Sun Microsystems in the prosecution of its antitrust claims against Microsoft, which resulted in one of the largest settlements in history. Pursuant to the settlement, Microsoft made current cash payments to Sun totaling nearly $2 billion, and provided substantial additional long-term benefits, including a broad technology collaboration arrangement to enable the companies’ products to interoperate better. Additionally, Sun stands to receive further payments of up to $450 million from Microsoft over a ten-year period pursuant to a patent agreement entered into as part of the settlement.
Mr. Frankel successfully represented The Boeing Company and McDonnell Douglas Corporation in federal multidistrict litigation arising out of the crash of Alaska Airlines Flight 261. Summary judgment on the plaintiffs' claims for punitive damages was obtained in Boeing/McDonnell Douglas' favor. That ruling led to the favorable settlement of the multidistrict litigation.
For The Prudential Insurance Company of America, Mr. Frankel defended and coordinated the defense of hundreds of consumer fraud and deceptive trade practices actions filed against Prudential in California, and in other states in the western half of the United States, by individuals and groups of individuals who opted-out of a nationwide class action settlement involving alleged improper life insurance sales practices.
In Mertens v. Hewitt Associates, Mr. Frankel presented the successful oral argument of Hewitt Associates in the Supreme Court of the United States in what remains one of the most significant ERISA cases ever decided by the Court. In affirming the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, the Court held in a 5 to 4 decision that ERISA does not authorize money damage actions against non-fiduciary service providers such as actuaries, accountants and lawyers who are alleged to have participated knowingly in a breach of fiduciary duty under ERISA.
Additional companies Mr. Frankel has represented include Argent Healthcare Financial Services, Inc., Burberry Limited, CMC Magnetics Corporation, Fleetwood Enterprises, Insight Communications, Logitech, Inc., Sara Lee Corporation, Salton, Inc., Sears, Roebuck and Co., Skidmore Owings & Merrill LLP, Silicon Integrated Systems Corporation, State Compensation Insurance Fund, The California Independent System Operator and Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.