Insights

Washington – June 1, 2023: Crowell & Moring earned 82 rankings for 68 lawyers across 48 categories, as well as 37 national and statewide practice area rankings, in the Chambers USA 2023 guide. The rankings are driven by independent interviews of clients and lawyers at peer firms.

Washington – June 1, 2022: Chambers and Partners has ranked 70 Crowell & Moring lawyers in 84 rankings across 40 categories in the Chambers USA 2022 guide. In addition, 37 practice areas were also ranked in the guide. The regional and national rankings are driven by independent interviews of clients and lawyers.

Washington – May 20, 2021: Chambers and Partners has ranked 63 Crowell & Moring lawyers in 75 rankings across 41 categories in the Chambers USA 2021 guide, an increase of 10 lawyers, 13 rankings and 8 categories over last year’s results. In addition, 30 practice areas were also ranked in the guide, up from 21 practices last year. The regional and national rankings are driven by independent interviews of clients and lawyers.

A recently-published Monmouth (NJ) University study claims to have detected high levels of lead in imported rice. These preliminary findings, which follow media reports last fall about arsenic contamination in rice, pose new regulatory and litigation risks for manufacturers, importers, distributors and, perhaps, even retailers of foods and other consumer and commercial products made with imported rice.

On March 27, 2013, in Comcast Corp. v. Behrend, the Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision that a class cannot be certified under Rule 23(b)(3) unless plaintiffs prove that they can calculate damages on a classwide basis, and that the proposed damages methodology isolates damages to the specific theory of harm for which the class is certified. Building on its decision in Wal-Mart v. Dukes, the Court confirmed that the analytical principles it articulated for determining whether the Rule 23(a) factors are satisfied apply equally—if not more so—to Rule 23(b), particularly because Rule 23(b)(3)'s predominance prong is more demanding. In finding that the district court had improperly certified the class, the Court reaffirmed that a court cannot sidestep the mandated rigorous analysis required for class certification under Rule 23 simply because the inquiry would also be relevant to the merits determination.  

On March 19, 2013, the Supreme Court held unanimously that federal jurisdiction under the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA) cannot be defeated by a named plaintiff's stipulation, prior to class certification, that he will not seek damages above $5 million on behalf of the class. The decision resolves a conflict among the federal courts of appeal, and reinforces CAFA's goal of ensuring that large interstate class actions are heard in federal court.

In the National Law Journal (NLJ) special report "Washington Litigation Departments of the Year," Crowell & Moring was named "Department of the Year" in the "General Civil Litigation" category. For this report, the NLJ editorial team evaluated litigation departments in the nation's capital based on several criteria including biggest wins, revenues, headcounts, and operations. As a result of their research and findings, the team selected six "excellent firms" in this first-ever, Washington, D.C.-based contest. When asked about the firm's key to success, firm chairman and Washington, D.C.-based partner, Kent Gardiner, remarked, "Clients bet on us because we bet on ourselves to win for them, and we collaborate to structure our fees around our ability to achieve success as they define it."

Crowell & Moring LLP's second annual Advertising & Product Risk Management seminar is featured in Bloomberg BNA Product Safety & Liability Reporter in a piece titled, "Planning, Coordination, Consistency Urged In Talks Geared to Business and Its Counsel." According to the piece, "A holistic approach to risk management, integrating legal and business concerns, works best for companies throughout the life cycle of their products."

Crowell & Moring’s Advertising & Product Risk Management Group presents our second annual seminar on crisis management.  Legal, business and public relations professionals will examine ways to reduce, and in some cases, eliminate the risk of a product crisis throughout the product lifecycle. From concept design through product launch, our panelists will discuss their approaches to minimizing the risk of product defects, port seizures, advertising claims, and class action litigation.

Please join select health care insurer in-house counsel, lawyers from Crowell & Moring's E-Discovery practice and representatives from Intelligent Discovery Solutions for a roundtable discussion regarding the particular challenges faced by the industry in the area of e-discovery. This will be a full day of open discussion and peers sharing their experiences and common challenges.