Latham & Watkins

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LATHAM CAVE 100m PRO BONO TRUMP

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More Bayer ties to the White House

Another key White House aide with ties to Bayer’s legal network is Ryan Baasch, Trump’s deputy assistant to the President for economic policy. In this role, Baasch helps convert Trump’s economic agenda into coordinated federal policy. From 2016-2021, Baasch was an associate at Latham & Watkins, a law firm that represented Bayer on Roundup settlement issues and represented Monsanto in a case involving dicamba. The firm also represented Monsanto and CropLife America in a glyphosate warning case.

2012 GMU LEC

Opening Keynote: Due Process

Speakers:

Frank Montag, Partner, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP

Abbot B. Lipsky, Jr., Partner, Latham & Watkins LLP FTC ANTI-TRUST GIG

Randolph W. Tritell, Director, Office of International Affairs, Federal Trade Commission

Commentator:

Terry Calvani, Of Counsel, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP

Global Antitrust Investigations: Google

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montrose DDT 1997

https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-9th-circuit/1057779.html

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nat law jrnl puff

profile is part of the NLJ’s 2018 Litigation Department of the Year special package. Find a full list of winners and finalists here.

In 2017, Latham & Watkins’ litigators successfully navigated a high-stakes landscape with cases that featured both a breadth and depth of practice areas and some novel legal issues.

“We want to have, in any contested matter, a team that is going to be trial-ready, and everything we do in the context of litigation is to that end,” said Douglas Greenburg, co-chair of the firm’s Washington, D.C., litigation and trial department. “That is what leads to the best results even if the case is not one that is going to be tried.”

That philosophy was reflected in the defense of a $90 billion reverse False Claims Act lawsuit against Latham client The Dow Chemical Co. and three other major chemical manufacturers that, if successful, would have opened a floodgate of new FCA lawsuits under any statute that allows potential penalties.

The claim—brought by a law firm acting on behalf of the federal government—alleged the companies cheated the United States out of money by not paying fines for allegedly failing to report risk information about certain chemicals to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as required by the federal Toxic Substances Control Act.

Thus, the suit alleged, they owed the government $90 billion, 30 percent, or roughly $27 billion, of which would have gone to the relator law firm.

Latham lawyers, led by partner Alice Fisher, first prevailed on a motion to transfer the case from California to D.C. federal court, which in October granted the companies’ motion to dismiss the case, writing thatbecause the EPA had not yet assessed or levied any fines, the companies did not have an “obligation” to pay the government.

In addition to “highlighting [the firm’s] ability and willingness to litigate these difficult issues,” the case also illustrated Latham’s proficiency across a wide swath of law, including white collar and environmental, Greenburg said.

In another precedent-setting case, Latham lawyers settled investigations by both the Federal Trade Commission and New Jersey Attorney General’s Office into smart TV maker Vizio Inc.’s data collection, use and sharing. In the process, though, new standards for such policies were set, providing much-needed clarity to the smart TV and other industries, said Jennifer Archie, lead partner on the case.

“The pressure was on us to get that clarity in a way that was good for the [client’s] brand, good for their business plan and good for the consumer,” Archie said. “I love this work because it is at the intersection of enforcement, but, at the same time, the outcome is going to have huge consequences … I’m particularly proud of the outcome.”

Firm Facts

Name of firm: Latham & Watkins Founded: Los Angeles Total number of attorneys: 2,532 Litigators as percentage of firm: 30 percent Litigators as percentage in D.C.: 50 percent Litigation partners firmwide: 206 Litigation associates firmwide: 516 D.C. litigation partners: 52 D.C. litigation associates: 96

Keys to Success...

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Record of Success

As part of one of the largest environmental practices in the world, lawyers in Latham’s Toxic Torts Practice have achieved success in some of the most complex and highest-stakes matters:

Represented a DDT producer in dozens of cases involving product liability and toxic tort claims, including one with more than 4,000 plaintiffs. All cases were dismissed or settled for nominal amounts before or during trial.

Secured a dismissal on behalf of a major global energy company in a putative class action before the US District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, relating to historic operations of a nuclear fuel processing plant in Texas. The plaintiffs alleged personal injury and property damage from alleged nuclear and other contamination.

Represented a utility company in resolving more than 4,000 claims for alleged exposure to hexavalent chromium in air and groundwater.

Reached a favorable settlement on behalf of pipeline company in 400-plaintiff litigation involving alleged drinking water contamination from an accidental pipeline release.

Obtained grant of summary judgment for a transformer manufacturer. A Mississippi municipality had asserted claims for sediment, groundwater, and surface water contamination and remediation and diminution in property value allegedly arising from PCBs, 1,4 dioxane and 1, 1 dichlorethene.

Represented a car manufacturer in litigation filed by nearly 700 plaintiffs alleging personal injuries and property damages from alleged exposure to contaminants atSuperfund site. Plaintiffs sought damages exceeding US$2 billion. Obtained a favorable settlement.

Environment, Land & Resources Blog

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1st responders killed in fertilizer plant fire

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/art-levine/dick-cheneys-dangerous-so_b_40695.html

While Vice-President Cheney has been pursuing a war in Iraq that has led to an increase in terrorism worldwide, his son-in-law, Philip Perry, until very recently the general counsel of DHS, has been working behind the scenes to make it easy for those terrorists to hit chemical facilities at home. The upshot, to put it bluntly: more Americans have died in war and are at risk of terrorism because of this family’s efforts.

The Washington Monthly reports today in its online edition — and in the magazine early next week — on the critical role Phil Perry has played in recent years in derailing meaningful and tough chemical security oversight on behalf of the chemical industry. My article, backed with research assistance by the Nation Institute, is called, “Dick Cheney’s Dangerous Son-In-Law.”As reported in hearings yesterday, he’s also played a key role in thwarting oversight investigationsinto alleged abuses at DHS.

...

For the chemical industry, which has always had a chilly relationship with the EPA, Perry has been a consistent, quiet friend. “Phil Perry was never the EPA’s biggest fan,” says former EPA administrator Christine Todd Whitman, recounting the relationship. “I think there was a predisposition on his part that we were trying to overreach.” she says [ referring to his blocking of EPA’s efforts in 2002 and 2003 to regulate the security of the chemical facilities it monitors under the Clean Air Act.] Indeed, like many Republican hardliners, for whom the EPA represents all that is wrong with government regulation, Perry has sought to limit the role of the EPA, not expand it. He’s been successful....

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GWPF

Paul D. Tosetti is a partner in the Los Angeles office of Latham & Watkins and is a member of the Corporate Department. He served for 10 years as the Co-chair of the firm's global Mergers & Acquisitions Practice.

In his practice, Mr. Tosetti focuses on the acquisition of companies on both a solicited and an unsolicited basis, and has extensive expertise in the private equity arena.

Mr. Tosetti has over his career been involved in some of the nation’s most complex acquisition transactions, including the recent representation of Allergan, Inc. in its response to the US$53 billion attempted hostile takeover effort by Valeant Pharmaceuticals (and the associated proxy contest led by Pershing Square and Bill Ackman); the subsequent sale of Allergan to Actavis plc in a US$73 billion transaction; the representation of Questcor Pharmaceuticals in its US$5.6 billion sale to Mallinckrodt plc; the representation of Beckman Coulter in its US$6.8 billion sale to Danaher Corporation; and the representation of Oracle Corporation in its US$8.5 billion acquisition of BEA Systems, Inc.

Mr. Tosetti has also written and lectured on a variety of corporate and securities law matters.

Paul Tosetti has been recognized by numerous national and local publications. Mr. Tosetti was named “Dealmaker of the Year” by The American Lawyer in 2015 for his representation of Allergan, Inc. in its response to the US$53 billion attempted hostile takeover effort by Valeant Pharmaceuticals (and the associated proxy contest led by Pershing Square and Bill Ackman), and the subsequent sale of Allergan to Actavis plc in a US$73 billion transaction. Mr. Tosetti was also selected as a "World Leading Lawyer" in the 2015 edition of Who's Who Legal: Corporate - M&A and Governance;named the Best Lawyers’ 2013 Los Angeles Mergers & Acquisitions Law "Lawyer of the Year"; cited by Best Lawyers In America as 2011 Los Angeles Corporate Governance and Compliance Lawyer of the Year; is consistently ranked in Band 1 by Chambers USA and as a leading lawyer by Chambers Globalfor Corporate M&A; and was named one of the country's leading 500 attorneys by Lawdragon Magazinein 2009. Mr. Tosetti also practices actively in the area of sports and entertainment law, with experience ranging from the negotiation of television contracts to the organization of new sports leagues.

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Mike Leavitt of Ut repl CTW, 1st act waken merc rgs fom coal (40% or airborne

merc) most cd be elim for 1% of plant rev.  lev and Holm scrapped BC reforms; much

reform" came from Latham and Watkins law firm (holm fmr co)  128

rfk2:

Mike Leavitt of Ut repl CTW, 1st act waken merc rgs fom coal (40% or airborne

merc) most cd be elim for 1% of plant rev.  lev and Holm scrapped BC reforms; much

reform" came from Latham and Watkins law firm (holm fmr co)  128

tx 

RFK: We weren’t surprised by the federal environmental record, because we saw that he’d been the worst environmental governor in America. Under his leadership, Texas became the most polluted state in the country, with the highest levels of air pollution, the highest levels of water pollution, and the highest level of toxic waste and toxic releases. And it was 49th among 50 states in per-capita environmental spending. He was only worsted by Gov. Mike Leavitt of Utah, who he has named his EPA administrator and who is now in charge of stewarding all of America’s environmental assets.

MJ.com: How has the situation changed now thatMichael O. Leavitt has replaced Christine Todd Whitman at the EPA?

RFK: It went from bad to worse. Leavitt has giant social skills and charm, but his record is one of the most anti-environmental of any governor except for George W. Bush. The first thing that he did when he came into office was to dismantle President Clinton’s mercury rule. The same utilities that are discharging ozone and particulates, those same coal-burning power plants are also discharging huge amounts of mercury into our air, and the mercury ends up in the fish. Just a few weeks ago, the EPA announced its decision that, as a result of that, all fish in 19 states are now unsafe to eat because of mercury contamination. At least some of the fish in 48 states are now unsafe to eat. In fact, the only two states where they’re “safe” are Alaska and Wyoming, where the Republican-controlled legislatures refused to allocate the funds for their agencies to test the fish.

Today, one out of every six American women has so much mercury in her womb that her children are at risk for a grim inventory of diseases, including autism, blindness, mental retardation and heart, liver and kidney disease. My own levels of mercury are so high -- I had them tested recently -- that a woman with the same levels would have a child with cognitive impairment. The Clinton administration had classified mercury as a hazardous pollutant under the Clean Air Act, which triggered a requirement that those utilities remove 90 percent of the mercury within three and a half years. It would have cost less than 1 percent of plant revenue, and the great thing about it is that it works; we now know that when the utilities stop discharging mercury, that the fish downstream clean up almost immediately.

But this is an industry that gave all that money, over $100 million, to the president. A few months ago, the Bush administration announced that it was scrapping the Clinton-era regulations and substituting instead regulations that were written by utility lawyers, from the law firm of Latham and Watkins. Under the new rules, the utilities will effectively never have to clean up their mercury. And the chief lobbyist for Latham and Watkins was Jeffrey Holmstead, who is now the head of the air division of EPA. This is an example of how corporations have infiltrated our government and are dismantling it in order to privatize the commons.

Latham & Watkins (Counsel for Brown & Williamson): Counsel for Brown & Williamson

Description

Latham & Watkins was Counsel for Brown & Williamson. (PMI's Introduction to Privilege Log and Glossary of Names, Estate of Burl Butler v. PMI, et al, April 19, 1996)

This article may include information from Tobacco Documents Online.

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Jeffrey_R._Holmstead

• Jeffrey Holmstead - "assistant EPA administrator for air quality. Previously a lobbyist with the firm of Latham & Watkins, Holmstead represented electric utilities trying to fight air pollution restrictions, and he represented the Farm Bureau conglomerate in its fights against pesticide controls. Now inside, he's a key player pushing Bush's Clear Skies initiative, which will allow a 520 percent increase in toxic mercury pollution, a 225 percent jump in carbon dioxide pollution (a global warming contaminant), and a delay in the enforcement of smog and soot pollution until 2016. In charge of writing a new rule to limit mercury poisoning of children by electric power plants, Holmstead embraced a watered-down rule that essentially was written by his old lobbying firm of Latham & Watkins."[10]

Latham & Watkins (Counsel for Brown & Williamson): Counsel for Brown & Williamson

Description

Latham & Watkins was Counsel for Brown & Williamson. (PMI's Introduction to Privilege Log and Glossary of Names, Estate of Burl Butler v. PMI, et al, April 19, 1996)

This article may include information from Tobacco Documents Online.