Our first runner-up this week is a team at Latham & Watkins led by partners David Callahan and Bert Reiser and counsel Sarah Gragert who got a huge win at the U.S. International Trade Commission in a trade secret battle involving electric vehicle battery technology. The full commission last week largely adopted the holdings of an earlier ruling from an administrative law judge who entered a default judgment for Latham client LG Energy Solutions based on a “document deletion campaign” mounted by rival SK Innovation in anticipation of the investigation. On Feb. 10, the full commission affirmed the ALJ’s initial determination and issued a 10-year exclusion order barring SK from importing batteries or components used to make them. The ITC offered SK limited carve-outs for three existing customers and will require SK to get commission sign-off on any “designed-around” products. The Latham team also included Jeffrey Homrig and Joseph Lee.
A shout out goes to a Jenner & Block team led by Stephen Ascher who this week got a first-of-its-kind ruling in a securities fraud class action against a consumer cannabis company. U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan in Brooklyn on Tuesday held that the plaintiffs’ claims against Jenner client Curaleaf were based on “the nondisclosure of information that was actually disclosed” and dismissed the suit with prejudice. The Jenner team also included partner Andrew Lichtman and associates Jeremy Ershow and Allison Douglis.
