Sonnenschein’s Washington D.C. litigators represent clients in some of the most challenging and complex disputes before courts, regulatory agencies and arbitral panels throughout the United States. We provide expertise in an array of litigation specialties and regularly team with litigators in Sonnenschein’s other offices to handle high stakes litigation that demands the resources of a firm with offices throughout the country. We boast among our ranks in Washington D.C. many accomplished courtroom lawyers who, collectively, have tried more than 100 cases to verdict or judgment in state and federal courtrooms throughout the country.
Practice Specialties:
Appellate Litigation
In this year alone, Sonnenschein’s Washington D.C. litigators have represented clients in more than 30 cases pending before the United States Supreme Court and eight of the thirteen U.S. Courts of Appeals. We represent clients in these cases who we represented in the lower courts and clients who have retained Sonnenschein specifically for our appellate expertise. Recent and ongoing appellate representations include:
- Serving, along with lawyers in our Internet, Communications & Data Protection group, as national appellate counsel to DIRECTV, Inc. in satellite piracy cases.
- Winning an appeal to the Federal Circuit on behalf of McDonnell Douglas Corporation (now The Boeing Company) in which we challenged the government’s default termination of a multi-billion dollar contract for development of the A-12 stealth attack aircraft.
- Representing the Trustees of the United Mine Workers of America Combined Benefit Fund in the federal appellate courts and U.S. Supreme Court in litigation raising novel issues of constitutional law and statutory construction under the Coal Industry Retiree Health Benefit Act of 1992.
- Representing Royal Indemnity Company in appeals relating to coverage under fraudulently induced insurance policies.
- Winning an appeal before the D.C. Circuit on behalf of McDonald's Corporation involving consumer protection claims.
- Serving as counsel for amici curiae in briefing important Title IX and antitrust cases to the U.S. Supreme Court.
- Representing a prisoner in a § 1983 action pending in the Eleventh Circuit in which one of our associates will present argument to the Court of Appeals.
Environmental Litigation
Sonnenschein’s Washington D.C. litigators have expertise in virtually every area of environmental litigation and have successfully litigated environmental cases at all levels of federal and state courts, from state trial courts to the U.S. Supreme Court. Our litigators have a long track record of success as primary counsel and coordinating counsel in complex environmental litigation, including multiparty Superfund cases, Clean Air Act enforcement matters, and toxic tort defense. We are experienced in responding to government investigations and defending clients in non-judicial administrative adjudications. Our practice extends from the defense of environmental claims brought by the government or private-sector plaintiffs, to the recovery of environmental damages and civil penalties on our clients’ behalf, to the defense of government approvals based on NEPA documents.
Government Contracts Litigation
Sonnenschein’s Washington D.C. government contracts specialists litigate disputes relating to performance and termination of contracts with federal and state governments, contract award controversies (bid protests), civil and criminal False Claims Act matters, and disputes between prime contractors and subcontractors. Our government contracts litigators regularly appear on behalf of clients in the Court of Federal Claims, the Federal Circuit, other federal and state courts, agency boards of contract appeals, the Government Accountability Office, and arbitration panels. Recent and ongoing representations include:
- Representing McDonnell Douglas Corporation (now The Boeing Company) in the largest contract claim brought against the United States Government relating to the default termination of a multi-billion contract with McDonnell Douglas and General Dymanics Corporation for the design and development of the A-12 stealth attack aircraft.
- Representing property owners on Lake Michigan in a Takings case against the United States for severe erosion to their lakefront properties caused by Army Corps of Engineers construction and maintenance of massive navigational jetties in the St. Joseph Harbor.
- Representing contractors in False Claims Act suits and investigations involving contracts awarded by the Defense Department, the General Services Administration, the Small Business Administration, the Department of State, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and other government agencies.
Health Care Litigation
Sonnenschein’s Washington D.C. litigators, along with lawyers from our nationally recognized Health Care Group, have extensive expertise helping a wide variety of health care organizations respond to Federal and State health care fraud enforcement. These matters arise under a variety of civil and criminal statutes and regulations, including Federal and State false claims, anti-kickback, and physician self-referral laws, as well as the Federal Medicaid Drug Rebate statute and Prescription Drug Marketing Act. Recent and ongoing representations include:
- Representing a large pharmaceutical manufacturer in a substantial Multi-District Litigation matter involving private party allegations relating to Medicare pharmaceutical pricing fraud and violations of the Federal R.I.C.O. statute.
- Representing a large insurance company in a Federal Civil False Claims Act case involving the Federal Medicare Secondary Payor regulations.
- Representing a large pharmaceutical manufacturer in a State Civil False Claims Act litigation brought by the Attorney General, and alleging price reporting fraud and anti-kickback violations.
- Defending pharmaceutical industry employees in connection with Federal criminal charges alleging violations of the Federal anti-kickback law, the Medicaid Drug Rebate statute, and the Prescription Drug Marketing Act.
- Assisting a major pharmaceutical manufacturer in investigating unfair trade practice claims relating to a medical device licensing agreement.
- Representing a pharmaceutical wholesaler served with a third-party investigative subpoena by a United States Attorney’s Office.
- Representing Maryland health care practitioners in litigation challenging the Attorney General’s interpretation of the State’s self-referral law to preclude non-radiologists from performing MRI and CT scans.
- Helping a health care grant recipient conduct an internal investigation of an employee’s misappropriation of grant funds and disclose the misappropriation to affected Federal agencies.
Insurance Litigation
Sonnenschein’s Washington D.C. litigators have extensive experience representing insurance companies in a wide variety of cases in federal and state trial and appellate courts and in arbitral fora. Often teaming with other insurance litigation and regulatory specialists in Sonnenschein’s other offices, we have litigated insurance coverage disputes involving credit risk, errors and omissions, general liability, property, and long term care insurance. Recent and ongoing representations include:
- Representing Royal Indemnity Company, both as plaintiff and as a defendant, in cases around the country arising from hundreds of millions of dollars of credit risk insurance, where the policies were obtained by fraud.
- Achieving a favorable settlement on behalf of Fireman’s Fund at the close of a month-long federal jury trial against JPMorgan Chase involving a billion dollars of surety bonds issued to Enron.
- Representing insurers in class action litigation, including, on behalf of Allstate Insurance Company, a complete defense jury verdict for Allstate in a 30-state class action tried in St. Clair County, Illinois.
- Successfully defending Fireman’s Fund, Allstate, GE Life and Annuity Assurance Company, Evanston Insurance Company and other insurers in coverage and bad faith actions arising out of a variety of underlying claims, including fraud, misrepresentations, antitrust, hurricane damage, property loss adjusting practices, and agents acting outside the scope of their authority.
- Successfully defending the Prudential Insurance Company of America in hundreds of cases in more than a dozen states, as well as in multi-district class action litigation, against allegations of bad faith and improper practices in the sale of insurance policies and annuities.
Intellectual Property and Technology Litigation
Sonnenschein’s Washington D.C. intellectual property and technology litigators have consistently achieved outstanding results for our clients in patent, copyright, trademark, trade secret and related intellectual property disputes before federal district courts throughout the United States, the International Trade Commission, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and state courts across the country. We work closely with all our offices, combining the talent and experience of the firm’s litigators and intellectual property lawyers to meet our clients’ needs. Recent and current representations include:
- Successfully defending Macronix Semiconductor in a patent infringement action instituted by Atmel Corporation before the U.S. International Trade Commission alleging infringement of a patent covering silicon signature semiconductor technology.
- Representing Sun Microsystems in its landmark antitrust/technology litigation against Microsoft, leading to one of the largest private-party settlements in history.
- Securing a defense verdict for Evapco Corporation against claims that it had misappropriated trade secrets relating to non-chemical water treatment technology. Our litigators are now representing Evapco in related patent litigation.
- Securing a defense verdict for Actuate Corporation against claims that it had misappropriated trade secrets and confidential information relating to business intelligence software.
- Invalidating patent claims asserted against Silicon Integrated Systems Corp. in actions brought in Federal District Court and before the United States International Trade Commission.
Labor and Employment Litigation
Sonnenschein’s Washington D.C. litigators represent clients in the full range of labor and employment matters before federal and state administrative agencies and courts. Our practice ranges from the defense of discrimination cases and wrongful discharge matters, to litigation of employment-related torts such as tortious interference and misappropriation of trade secrets, to matters involving the enforceability of non-competition and confidentiality agreements and claims of breach of employment contracts.
Pro Bono Litigation
Sonnenschein’s Washington D.C. litigators are committed to providing pro bono legal services to individuals in the D.C. area who cannot afford to retain counsel. We have litigated cases, pro bono, in the local state courts, federal appellate courts, the U.S. Supreme Court, as well as before various governmental agencies. Recent and ongoing representations include:
- Successfully defended a tenant in a D.C. Superior Court case in which the landlord sought to have our client evicted for failure to pay rent. After a day of trial led by two D.C. litigation associates, we secured a favorable settlement for our client, including forgiveness of all back rent owed, many additional months rent-free in the apartment, and a cash lump-sum payment.
- Representing a mother of four in a D.C. Superior Court action to obtain a divorce, alimony, child support, and equitable property distribution from our client’s estranged husband. After our vigorous opposition, the estranged husband abandoned his efforts to have the court give full faith and credit to a divorce decree issued in Sudan without our client’s knowledge or participation. We recently won a temporary child support order for our client, and are now engaged in discovery in preparation for a pendente lite hearing.
- Successfully prosecuted a breach of lease agreement action in Virginia state court on behalf of our client, who had rented out a room in her home. After a bench trial first-chaired by one of our associates, the judge rejected each of the defendant’s theories, and awarded our client all her claimed damages.
- Filed one of four amici curiae briefs submitted in support of Coach Roderick Jackson in an important Title IX case argued in the U.S. Supreme Court.
- Successfully represented a prisoner in a § 1983 action in the Eleventh Circuit in which one of our associates presented argument to the Court of Appeals.
Securities Fraud Litigation
Sonnenschein’s Washington D.C. litigators have substantial experience litigating securities fraud cases, counseling broker-dealers on compliance issues, and assisting broker-dealers in responding to regulatory inquiries. Recent representations include:
- Successfully defending subsidiaries of GE Financial Assurance in resolving dozens of securities law claims in federal and state courts and in NASD arbitration.
- Successfully defending Prudential Insurance Company of America against allegations of securities law violations in state and federal courts and NASD arbitrations.
- Successfully defending the senior American personnel in the SEC investigation of Lernout & Hauspie’s alleged irregularities in the sale of speech recognition software.
White Collar and Government Regulatory Investigations
Sonnenschein’s Washington D.C. litigators handle a wide variety of white collar criminal defense and regulatory enforcement matters in the United States and internationally, as well as in parallel civil and administrative proceedings. We represent clients in front of a variety of state and federal agencies, including Congress, the U.S. Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Election Commission, the Food and Drug Administration, U.S. Customs, the Office of Inspector General, Department of Health and Human Services and Offices of State Attorneys General (from across the country).
The group, which includes former federal prosecutors and Department of Justice trial attorneys, conducts internal investigations for corporations that have discovered suspected misconduct by their employees with a goal of assessing potential liabilities and represents both corporations and individuals in grand jury matters, civil litigation under the federal and state False Claims Acts, and related private party class action litigation. We also defend individuals in connection with Department of Justice and SEC investigations. Additionally, we develop and implement corporate compliance programs, codes of conduct, and provide ongoing regulatory compliance advice in, among others, the health care, FDA, FEC and Customs arenas. Recent representative clients include: financial institutions, pharmaceutical manufacturers, pharmaceutical wholesalers and device manufacturers, large import/export companies, and elected officials. Recent and current representations include:
- Representing current and former elected officials in ongoing Department of Justice corruption investigations.
- Representing individuals in connection with ongoing SEC investigations.
- Conducting an internal investigation on behalf of a public traded company into allegations of embezzlement.
- Conducting an internal investigation on behalf of a public traded company into accounting irregularities.
- Representing a publicly-owned pharmaceutical manufacturer in multiple health care-related actions brought by state Attorneys General (Illinois, California, Kentucky, Alabama, and Wisconsin) and the United States Department of Justice alleging violations of various state unfair trade practice and consumer protection laws as well as the federal False Claims Act. We also represent this client and its subsidiaries in dozens of private party class action lawsuits following in the footsteps of this government litigation.
- Representing a publicly-owned pharmaceutical wholesaler and medical device manufacturer in multiple health care-related actions brought by state Attorneys General (West Virginia, California, Wisconsin, Illinois) in which the client has been the recipient of third party subpoenas seeking documents and testimony.
- Representing a multi-million dollar importer of food products in connection with regulatory matters involving the Food and Drug Administration and the United States Customs Service.
- Representing a publicly owned health care provider corporation in an investigation by the Office of Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services and the United States Attorney's Office.
- Representing a publicly-owned pharmaceutical wholesaler and medical device manufacturer in connection with a Medicaid Drug Rebate investigation brought by the United States Attorney's Office.
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