Insights

Washington, D.C. – May 5, 2016: Crowell & Moring is pleased to announce that 11 practice areas and eight attorneys in its Brussels office were recognized by the Legal 500 Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) 2016 edition. The firm recognized as “top tier” in six categories. Among the lawyers recognized, three were listed in the elite "Leading Lawyers" category for the fourth consecutive year.

Washington, D.C. – May 1, 2016: Crowell & Moring is pleased to announce that it has secured nine attorney rankings for six individual attorneys in the 2016 Chambers Europe guide. Four practice areas were also ranked in the guide. The prestigious rankings are driven by independent interviews of clients and members of the legal community at peer firms.

Washington, D.C., April 5, 2016: Crowell & Moring LLP represented GigOptix, Inc. in its acquisition of Magnum Semiconductor, Inc., a privately-held California-based provider of silicon ICs, SoCs, software, and IP for the professional video broadcast and IoT camera markets. GigOptix is a leading supplier of advanced semiconductor communications components for use in Cloud connectivity, data centers, and high-speed optical and wireless networks. Upon closing on April 5, 2016, GigOptix, Inc. will be renamed GigPeak, Inc. The cash and stock transaction is valued at approximately $54 million net.

Washington, D.C. – April 4, 2016: Crowell & Moring LLP is pleased to announce the addition of partner Rob Burton to the firm's internationally recognized Government Contracts Group in Washington, D.C. A 30-year veteran of procurement law and policy development, Burton is the former Acting and Deputy Administrator of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP), the nation's top career federal procurement official. Burton joins Crowell & Moring most recently from Venable LLP, where he was a partner in the firm's Government Contracts Group. His arrival comes on the heels of the addition of partner David Robbins, a former government Suspending and Debarring Official and Procurement Fraud Remedies Coordination Official, who joined the group in February 2016.

Washington, D.C. – March 24, 2016: Crowell & Moring LLP is pleased to announce that it has secured 12 attorney rankings for nine individual attorneys in the Chambers Global 2016 guide. Four practice areas were also ranked in the guide. The prestigious rankings are driven by independent interviews of clients and members of the legal community at peer firms.

Washington, D.C. – March 22, 2016: Global Arbitration Review (GAR) has named Crowell & Moring LLP to its 9th edition of the “GAR 100,” a list of the top 100 law firms with international arbitration practices. The firm’s International Dispute Resolution Group ranked prominently in the 31-40 section. GAR is the leading international journal of commercial and treaty arbitration.

Washington, D.C. – March 18, 2016: Crowell & Moring LLP is pleased to announce that Khan Resources Inc. and the Government of Mongolia announced on March 7, 2016 that they have agreed on the payment to Khan of US$70 million on or before May 15, 2016 and settlement of all outstanding matters pursuant to the international arbitration Award received by Khan. The Award, rendered on March 2, 2015, compensated Khan for the expropriation of its mining licenses by the Government of Mongolia in 2009. The highly esteemed arbitral tribunal was composed of New Zealander Mr. David Williams, QC (President); Canadian Maitre Yves Fortier, QC; and Belgian Dr. Bernard Hanotiau. The settlement and payment of the Award is a culmination of five and a half years of work by a dedicated and talented Crowell & Moring team of international law and arbitration attorneys. A more detailed discussion of the case can be found here.

Washington, D.C. – March 9, 2016: Crowell & Moring LLP is pleased to announce that George Ruttinger, a Washington, D.C.-based senior counsel and co-chair of the firm’s International Dispute Resolution Group, has been named to the National Law Journal's inaugural “ADR Champions” list. The list features 48 attorneys who continue to make their mark in various aspects of alternative dispute resolution. According to the publication, the honorees demonstrate "a deep passion and perseverance in pursuit of their mission, having achieved remarkable successes along the way.”

Washington, D.C. – March 8, 2016: Crowell & Moring LLP is pleased to announce that client Owens & Minor Distribution, Inc. (O&M), the nation’s largest distributor of medical-surgical supplies, prevailed in an antitrust tying and exclusive dealing lawsuit alleging over $200 million in damages brought by a competitor, specialty distributor, Suture Express, Inc. (Suture Express). Suture Express challenged contracting practices that offer differential pricing to customers depending on whether they procure distribution of suture and endo products, which tend to be the most profitable, from O&M or Cardinal Health, a co-defendant to O&M in the case. Suture Express's theory was that the pricing differential was so large that it could not effectively compete for distribution of suture and endo products, and that customers have no choice but to agree because they need the other medical-surgical products that O&M and Cardinal Health, but not Suture Express, distribute. After extensive fact and expert discovery, O&M, along with its co-defendant Cardinal Health, filed a motion for summary judgment and Suture Express filed a cross motion for partial summary judgment on liability. On March 3, 2016, Judge Daniel D. Crabtree of the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas granted O&M and Cardinal Health's motion for summary judgment and denied Suture Express's motion, dismissing all claims and awarding defendants costs. Judge Crabtree found that Suture Express failed to provide sufficient evidence that either O&M or Cardinal Health possessed the market power necessary to support Suture Express’s claims, or that competition had been harmed. Judge Crabtree acknowledged that the undisputed facts revealed a competitive market in which distribution prices and margins have been declining. Judge Crabtree also found that O&M and Cardinal Health successfully established procompetitive benefits from the challenged contracting practices, which further negated Suture Express’s claims.

Washington, D.C. – February 25, 2016: Crowell & Moring LLP is pleased to announce that Kelly T. Currie, former Acting U.S. Attorney and Chief Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York (EDNY), has returned to our New York office as a partner in the firm's internationally-recognized White Collar & Regulatory Enforcement Group. Currie's recent high-profile positions have allowed him to work side-by-side with top leaders at the Department of Justice and other U.S. Attorneys across the country, as exemplified by his oversight of the multi-agency global investigation and indictment of high-ranking FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) officials and sports marketing executives on corruption charges.

Washington, D.C. – February 24, 2016: Crowell & Moring LLP is pleased to announce that the following attorneys have been named to BTI Consulting Group's annual list of 2016 "Client Service All-Stars":  

Washington, D.C. – February 4, 2016: Crowell & Moring LLP is pleased to announce that clients Corin Group PLC and Corin USA Limited (collectively "Corin") have prevailed in a lawsuit alleging injuries from Corin’s hip resurfacing system, the Cormet, a Class III medical device approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (Swisher v. Stryker Corporation, et al.). After full discovery, Crowell & Moring, on behalf of Corin, filed motions for summary judgment and to exclude the plaintiff’s sole liability expert, metallurgist Mr. Charles Powell. The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma excluded the relevant opinions of Mr. Powell and granted summary judgment in favor of Corin on all claims, holding that there was no evidence of the purported defect in the device nor any evidence of medical causation for the plaintiff’s alleged injuries.

Washington, D.C. – January 28, 2016: E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company (DuPont) has prevailed in an antitrust price-fixing lawsuit alleging $176 million of damages brought by The Valspar Corporation and Valspar Sourcing, Inc. (collectively "Valspar"). On January 25, Judge Richard G. Andrews of the U.S. District Court District of Delaware granted DuPont a motion for summary judgment in its favor, finding that Valspar failed to provide sufficient evidence that DuPont participated in a conspiracy to fix the price of titanium dioxide.

San Francisco – January 25, 2016: Crowell & Moring LLP is pleased to announce the addition of partner Michelle Gillette to the firm's San Francisco office, where she will be a litigator in the firm's Advertising & Product Risk Management (APRM) Group and head of the firm's Food & Beverage Industry Practice. Gillette joins the firm from Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris Glovsky and Popeo, PC, along with an additional team member, Mina Nasseri, as associate.

Washington, D.C. – January 22, 2016: The federal court in Orlando, Fla., has denied former death row inmate Crosley Green's petition for a writ of habeas corpus, seeking to overturn Mr. Green's conviction or granting him a new trial based on evidence of innocence.  

Washington, D.C. – January 19, 2016: Crowell & Moring LLP is pleased to announce the publication of its fourth annual "Litigation Forecast 2016: What Corporate Counsel Need to Know in the Coming Year," and its second annual "Regulatory Forecast 2016: What Corporate Counsel Need to Know in the Coming Year."

Washington, D.C. – January 12, 2016: Crowell & Moring LLP is pleased to announce that both its Government Contracts and International Trade groups have been named to Law360's "Practice Groups of the Year" list for 2015. The annual awards recognize firms that came through for clients by sealing the biggest deals and securing wins in high-stakes litigation. This is the sixth consecutive year that the Government Contracts Group has been named to the list.

Washington, D.C. – January 11, 2016: Crowell & Moring LLP is pleased to announce that six of its Washington-based attorneys are included in the Washingtonian's "Top Lawyers" list, which is available in the December 2015 issue and highlights the top legal talent within the Washington, D.C. area.

Washington, D.C. — January 5, 2016: Crowell & Moring is pleased to announce the addition of Carlton Greene as partner in both its International Trade and White Collar & Regulatory Enforcement Groups. Greene joins the firm after serving as chief counsel of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). His arrival further bolsters the firm’s capabilities as it expands its ability to counsel clients on compliance with U.S., EU, and other foreign economic sanctions, as well as the U.S. Bank Secrecy Act and other anti-money laundering laws and regulations. Greene joins a robust cross-border sanctions, anti-money laundering, and export controls practice that is ranked a top international trade practice for 2015, and includes fellow sanctions and export controls partners Jeffrey Snyder and Alan Gourley, as well as anti-money laundering and sanctions partner Cari Stinebower.

Washington, D.C. – January 4, 2016: Crowell & Moring LLP is pleased to announce that it has elected nine attorneys to the firm's partnership, effective January 1, 2016. The firm has also promoted 15 associates to the position of counsel. The new partners and counsel have been promoted from within the ranks of the firm's Washington, D.C., New York, and Orange County offices, and underscore the firm's commitment to its Antitrust, Health Care, Insurance/Reinsurance, Government Contracts, Advertising & Product Risk Management, Mass Tort, Product, and Consumer Litigation, International Trade, Aviation, Administrative Law & Regulatory, and Intellectual Property Groups.