Experience

Clean Tech | Renewable Energy

- James River in obtaining a Preliminary Injunction in which a court awarded specific performance and required the buyer to close on the acquisition of a James River subsidiary under the terms of the purchase agreement.
- China Construction America and affiliates in trial and appellate proceedings in the New York Supreme Court, Commercial Division and Appellate Division, First Department, arising from a dispute over a $2 billion resort development in The Bahamas.
- Uniswap, its founder and venture capital firm Union Square Ventures in the successful dismissal of a securities class action related to tokens issued by third parties and sold on the Uniswap protocol.
- Tether and Bitfinex in the successful dismissal of a class action related to alleged misrepresentations regarding the sufficiency of reserves for Tether tokens.
- Yardi in appeal of nationwide class action certification, obtaining successful grant of Rule 23(f) petition in the Fourth Circuit.
- KeyBank in an MDL stemming from a cybersecurity attack at one of its vendors.
- A leading operator of senior living retirement communities in state administrative and Congressional inquiries relating to COVID-19.
- United Property and Casualty Insurance Co. in a successful dismissal with prejudice of a RICO action filed in the Middle District of Florida concerning their handling of insurance claims arising from hurricane damages.
- Columbia University in federal class actions regarding US News & World Report rankings.
- Petro Poroshenko, the fifth President of Ukraine, in his victory in the High Court of England & Wales, successfully challenging the jurisdiction of the English courts to hear a $250+ million conspiracy claim brought against him and the former head of the National Bank of Ukraine, related to the nationalization and bail-in of PrivatBank, Ukraine’s largest bank.
- The South Carolina Public Service Authority (“Santee Cooper”) in litigation brought by Westinghouse in the S.D.N.Y. to enforce the terms of a $9 billion engineering, construction and procurement agreement involving the construction of two nuclear power plants, and its successful resolution in a transaction permitting Santee Cooper’s ownership and sale of disputed equipment.
- Medicredit, Inc., a subsidiary of Hospital Corporation of America, in achieving a landmark appellate ruling with the Fifth Circuit reversing an order certifying a class action under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
- YPF S.A. in successfully defeating claims for roughly $15 billion in damages and pre-judgment interest that were brought by Petersen Energía and Eton Park (both funded by Burford Capital) in the S.D.N.Y. arising from the Republic of Argentina’s 2012 intervention in YPF and subsequent expropriation of 51% of YPF’s capital stock.
- BMO Harris Bank in a bankruptcy adversary proceeding arising out of a multibillion dollar Ponzi scheme operated by Thomas J. Petters.
- The D. E. Shaw Group and Madison Dearborn Partners in their $327 million litigation win against TerraForm for breach of contract arising from the plaintiffs’ sale of First Wind Holdings, LLC to TerraForm and SunEdison Inc.
- Sberbank in its successful challenge to the jurisdiction of the English High Court to hear a $300 million conspiracy claim brought by a subsidiary of Russian bank VTB.
- Resolution Life, a global life insurance group focusing on the acquisition and management of portfolios of life insurance policies, in a seven day bench trial resulting in an award of $75 million in damages and pre-judgment interest. The case stemmed from an attempted 2017 transaction in which Resolution Life sought to sell its Nebraska-based life insurance company, Lincoln Benefit Life, to Global Bankers Insurance Group.
- Tribune Media Company in the successful dismissal of a securities class action, affirmed by the Seventh Circuit, arising from the failed acquisition of Tribune by Sinclair Broadcast Group.
- A major New York health insurance company and its subsidiary in a qui tam suit regarding the alleged engagement of a half-billion dollar accounting fraud, obtaining a significant client victory in the form of a settlement and a complete voluntarily dismissal of the claims with prejudice.
- Prudential Financial, John Hancock Life Insurance Company, AXA Equitable, Guardian Life, Massachusetts Mutual and Teachers in a qui tam complaint, brought under the New York False Claims Act, seeking over $14.5 billion in damages for alleged failures to escheat life insurance benefits to the state. This followed successful representations of each firm in a years-long investigation by the New York Attorney General (NYAG) into the escheatment practices of the life insurance industry, at the conclusion of which NYAG declined to pursue the claims itself.
- Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in reviewing and advising on conflicts-of-interest matters.
- Winged Foot Golf Club, along with certain present and former members of the Board of Directors of the Winged Foot Holding Corporation, in shareholder derivative and securities class action lawsuits pending in the Southern District of New York.
- Certain former directors and shareholders of Purdue Pharma, regarding prescription opioid litigation in various fora across the country, including a federal multi-district litigation and actions brought by states attorneys general.
- Allergan in a successful dismissal, in the District of Massachusetts, of a qui tam complaint brought under the False Claims Act relating to the marketing of the pharmaceutical drug Namenda and in defeating nine nationwide class certifications of a putative class of third-party payors alleging violations of federal RICO statutes through fraudulent promotion of antidepressants.
- Kaestner Family Trust in winning a unanimous Supreme Court victory in North Carolina Department of Revenue v. Kimberley Rice Kaestner 1992 Family Trust, involving an attempt by North Carolina to tax a nonresident trust based solely on the fact that a beneficiary of the trust, who had not yet received any distributions, lived in the State.
- The D. E. Shaw Group and Madison Dearborn Partners in their $327 million litigation win against TerraForm for breach of contract arising from the plaintiffs’ sale of First Wind Holdings, LLC to TerraForm and SunEdison Inc.
- HCA Healthcare as national strategic counsel in multiple class action violations of Telephone Consumer Protection Act, Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and state law recording statutes.
- Merck KGaA in trademark infringement, false advertising, cybersquatting, and breach of contract litigation against Merck & Co.
- Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, its Fund VI, and the directors of Culligan in a half-billion dollar derivative action brought by Culligan franchise dealers in New York Supreme Court, alleging fraudulent conveyances and breach of fiduciary duty, where Debevoise successfully secured dismissal of all claims.
- American Airlines in litigation arising out of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, resulting in a trial victory establishing that World Trade Center Properties could not recover from American any of the nearly $5 billion it was seeking beyond already received insurance recoveries. Previous related wins have included dismissals of environmental litigation arising out of the attacks and multiple successful partial summary judgment and Daubert motions.
- Bristol-Myers Squibb in defending against a $3.4 billion contract and tort claim by generic drug manufacturer, Apotex, winning a unanimous jury verdict of no liability.
- JPMorgan Chase in a series of class actions challenging the use by mortgage servicers of the Mortgage Electronic Recording System (MERS), in multiple mortgage-related False Claims Act cases, and in civil actions by state attorneys general relating to mortgage-foreclosure practices.
- Bechtel Corporation, in personal injury and wrongful death allegations arising on the clean-up of the World Trade Center relating to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
- The Federal Reserve Bank of New York in obtaining dismissal of claims for over $40 billion against the Bank by the largest shareholder of AIG challenging the terms of a rescue loan the Bank provided to AIG during the 2008 financial crisis.
- The Special Committee of the Board of Directors of Dell in litigation challenging the $24.9 billion sale of Dell to an investor group including Michael Dell and Silver Lake.
- Westfield in defending against contract and fiduciary duty claims seeking damages in excess of $3 billion relating to past and future acquisitions of shopping malls.
- Prudential Financial and certain present and former officers and directors in securities class action and derivative lawsuits arising from the company’s practices with regard to unclaimed life insurance benefits.
- Christie’s in several commercial litigation matters.

The Debevoise Commercial Litigation practice is one of the strongest in the industry, consistently delivering outstanding results for its clients. Routinely noted for its depth of expertise, strategic judgment and creative solutions, the team is well-known for handling the most complex, challenging and high-profile matters across a diverse range of industries.In recent years, Debevoise has achieved industry-shaping successes, including a $327 million litigation win for The D. E. Shaw Group and Madison Dearborn Partners against TerraForm for breach of contract; a unanimous Supreme Court victory on behalf of a family trust, resulting in the prohibition of states from taxing non-resident trusts based solely on the in-state residence of a beneficiary; Tribune Media Company in the successful dismissal of a securities class action arising from the failed acquisition of Tribune by Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc.; and victories, dismissals and resolutions at every stage of litigation for leading corporations and entities, including American Airlines, Bristol Myers Squibb, Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, JPMorgan Chase, and the largest hospital group in the United States, among others.The group is stacked with broad-gauged litigators known for their judgment, business savvy and strategic advice. The team handles domestic and cross-border disputes of every kind across a diverse range of industries, including securities and derivative actions, contract disputes, products liability and mass torts, antitrust, insurance disputes, bankruptcy, environmental litigation, mergers and acquisitions, employment, professional liability, and matters involving corporate governance. That depth of experience allows Debevoise litigators to serve regularly as trusted advisers and advocates on matters that defy categorization but pose great challenges to clients and their businesses. Debevoise lawyers have advised both boards and senior management at critical crossroads. They have truly become advisors of choice in the face of substantial economic or reputational exposure.Debevoise commercial litigators bring personal attention, deep industry knowledge and substantive legal experience to each matter, tailoring advice to clients' needs and circumstances in a manner calculated to achieve the best possible result in each case.When defending claims, the Commercial Litigation practice has an exceptional record of avoiding the most costly aspects of litigation by prevailing at the motion-to-dismiss stage; but where a case does proceed to discovery and trial, seasoned trial lawyers, including career defense lawyers, former Assistant U.S. Attorneys, former Assistant District Attorneys and British barristers, bring decades of experience and great credibility to the project.The Commercial Litigation team is collaborative at every level, working across the firm with co-counsel and with clients to achieve the best results in the toughest matters.