Weil Gotshal & Manges

Weil Gotshal & Manges is nationally ranked for its expertise in general patent litigation. The firm's IP litigation team is active in several technology areas, including pharmaceuticals, biologics, diagnostics and the burgeoning genetic testing space. "I have been opposite this firm on a number of occasions and find that they do very good work," a peer says.

Renowned IP lawyer Edward Reines is co-head of the firm's patent litigation practice and life sciences industry group. He has significant first-chair experience in patent disputes, and is particularly known for his effectiveness in appeals. "He is extraordinary," a peer says. "The guy is like a walking encyclopedia on patent law, and I think he's quite effective." Another peer says: "He handles a lot of high-quality patent cases, and that's why I like having him as an adversary." Reines recently acted for Bio-Rad Laboratories and the University of Chicago in a litigation brought against 10X Genomics. The case resulted in a $24 million patent infringement verdict for the client.

Patent litigation and life sciences group co-head Elizabeth Weiswasser is also acclaimed for her work in this area. She has significant experience in pharmaceutical, medical device and biologics patent disputes. "I think Liz Weiswasser is very good," a peer says. "I've been very impressed with the quality." She is currently active for Lantus in parallel district court and PTAB proceedings related to the client's Solostar insulin biologic product.

Both Weiswasser and Reines were shortlisted for General Patent Litigator of Year awards in New York and California, respectively.

A full-service player on the national stage, Weil Gotshal & Manges has a long history of dominance in servicing some of the most prominent brand names in the life sciences industry, and an extensive network of practitioners distributed among its many US offices through which to service them. "Weil has always had a bit of an edge in this industry," notes a peer. "They got in early, particularly in the product liability area."

The gravitas of the alluded-to practice could arguably be most attributed to Diane Sullivan, based in the firm's Princeton office, who is recognized as one of the practice's busiest and most famed trial lawyers. Continuing a decades-long streak of high-level appointments, Sullivan served as lead trial counsel for Walgreens Boots Alliance, the owner and operator of the nationwide drugstore chain, in several high-profile consumer class actions filed against it and Theranos, the embattled (and now bankrupt) Silicon Valley entity that went from industry darling to corporate disgrace. The complaints allege that Theranos' finger-stick blood tests, which used its proprietary "Edison" blood-testing device, (and were ultimately proved fraudulent) were inaccurate, placing tens of thousands of customers at risk for incorrect medical diagnosis and/or testing. Walgreens and Theranos moved to dismiss the plaintiffs' complaint. In June 2017, a judge dismissed the majority of plaintiffs' claims, allowing plaintiffs to amend some, but not all, of the claims.

New York securities partner John Neuwirth has represented Sanofi in, among other matters, multiple federal litigations commenced by holders, or the representative of holders, of contingent value rights issued by Sanofi as partial consideration for its $20.1 billion acquisition of Genzyme Corporation in 2011. Also in New York, Yehudah Buchweitz also represents Sanofi as a plaintiff in a high-profile antitrust lawsuit against Mylan for anticompetitive business practices to unlawfully maintain its $1 billion EpiPen monopoly. In December 2017, virtually every aspect of Mylan's motion to dismiss the complaint was denied, a significant victory for Sanofi.