Much of our practice has a Washington emphasis, focusing on investigations and enforcement litigation by state and federal agencies.  At heart we are old-school trial lawyers, bringing common sense and a direct, compelling perspective to complicated disputes.  We handle cases in a straight-up, hard-charging but ethical manner geared to yield good outcomes for the client.  With a track record successfully representing global businesses, our client base also includes professionals and mid-cap, closely-held merchants, professional practices, restaurants, community banks, government contractors, advertisers, and a variety of start-ups.  We also represent individual business directors and officers. 

Among our areas of particular strength:

We have a great track record resolving complex business disputes of every stripe, including:

- corporate governance and derivative claims

- professional partnership terminations and withdrawals

- debtor/creditor, including bankruptcy adversary proceedings

- commercial real estate 

- asset and stock purchase transactions 

- contract breaches

- partnership battles and corporate "divorces"

- executive employment agreements & non-competes 

- D&O liability

- tortious interference and other business torts

- trade secrets and IP ownership & licensing

- church governance and property disputes

We also are experienced in handling compliance issues and conducting related internal investigations. 

Our consumer protection and antitrust work covers a wide range of competition-related challenges -- compliance, enforcement, and litigation.  Tom has represented trade associations, major consumer brands, financial institutions and health care providers in scores of state and federal agency enforcement, competitor and class action lawsuits.  Tom has defended merchants in FCRA, FDCPA, FACTA, CFAA, and a variety of other consumer financial protection class actions.  Paul has successfully handled dozens of antitrust and other consumer protection cases, many arising in the pharmaceutical pricing arena and some brought by state AGs.  We have a practical business perspective about how antitrust and competition laws impact operations, strategy and risk.  This perspective is informed by fluency in economics, consumer protection, intellectual property and the regulatory regimes governing a variety of domestic and international industries. 

Media and advertising law is an area of particular strength for the firm. It is an area in which Paul has been a thought-leader for thirty years, having spent much of the 1990s representing and advising The National Enquirer and sister magazines in hundreds of libel and invasion of privacy contests across the country. Tom’s focus is primarily advertising law – representing marketers and publishers in disputes involving agency regulators, competitors and consumers challenging ads and marketing practices under the FTC Act, Lanham Act, and analog state consumer protection statutes.

When your trade secret and intellectual property rights hang in the balance, we bring a sense of urgency and creativity to every IP matter we handle.  The intellectual property disputes we handle often present concerns about First Amendment issues, grey-marketing and unauthorized distribution, counterfeit goods, labeling, intellectual property licensing, and other promotional practices.  Lanham Act cases call for a robust litigation strategy executed with skill and creativity. Tom successfully defended Burger King Corporation in Lanham Act litigation filed by Stake-n-Shake in the St. Louis federal court, staving off the competitor’s TRO motion before ultimately prevailing.  Paul’s first jury trial, in 1994, was against Clint Eastwood in a Lanham Act commercial appropriation case against National Enquirer. 

We know the agencies - how they operate - and many of the dedicated professionals who staff them. Throughout his career at Williams & Connolly, Paul litigated and tried cases brought by financial regulators, including In re United Savings & Loan Ass’n, a regulatory action against a Houston-based thrift that spent almost two years in trial.  Paul’s focus on that case was the valuation of large tracts of undeveloped land, and his efforts contributed to a complete defense verdict in a case where the federal government was seeking damages exceeding $900 million. Paul has also handled suits against the government to overturn unjust regulations and recover damages where the government has tried to change the rules in the middle of the game. Throughout his 30-year practice in Washington, Tom has taken the lead representing clients confronting DOJ, FTC, FDIC and state AG investigations and enforcement litigation in administrative proceedings and federal courts across the country. Several of these cases involved novel antitrust and consumer law issues, and Tom has successfully represented community banks and their directors and officers responding to FDIC and other financial regulator enforcement and receivership litigation in federal courts. 

PROFESSIONALS

We represent consulting firms and a variety of private professionals and government officials in matters involving internal governance, professional liability, employment law, False Claims Act liability, director and officer liability, and agency investigations.  Our clients include physicians, attorneys, government officials, engineers, trade association executives, professors and other scientific researchers, as well a leading global consulting firm.  Our clients rely on us to exercise sound judgment in navigating and resolving highly sensitive matters.  Achieving optimal outcomes in these matters requires a deep well of experience and a solid grasp of the legal and competitive practicalities confronting each client. 

We are experienced hands at matters involving products liability, professional negligence and toxic torts.  Paul has extensive experience in products liability actions, having defended Bayer in numerous nationwide cases arising from withdrawal of the cholesterol drug Baycol.  His teams won five consecutive defense verdicts in the Deep South. Paul handled similar cases about the drugs Fen-Phen and Vioxx.  Tom has directed joint defense groups defending toxic tort cases in the specialty steel industry, and defended many regional clients in achieving favorable outcomes against claims and risks involving product liability and premises liability. 

We help providers, hospitals, device manufacturers and pharmaceutical companies navigate the complex competition and marketing landscape of the healthcare industry.  Paul focused much of the last twenty years defending generic and brand name drug manufacturers in some of their most existential matters, including Average Wholesale Price multidistrict litigation against a client where asserted damages exceeded $12 trillion. Tom’s practice routinely involves representing medical practices, hospital systems, medical device manufacturers and dietary supplement marketers in a variety of agency investigation and enforcement litigation involving the FTC Act Section 5, False Claims Act and Anti-Kickback Statute.   

One of our foundational principles is to always pursue some cases and actions that serve justice in the broader sense.  We are committed to providing pro bono legal services to underserved communities.  Among his many pro bono matters, Tom has worked with Children’s Law Center representing special needs students and their families pursuing appropriate education opportunities within the DC Public School system. Tom also worked with University Legal Services representing a contested class of DC residents pursuing recovery of misappropriated benefits from a healthcare provider, and worked with Louisiana Justice Institute representing a class of New Orleans homeowners challenging municipal property condemnations in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.  A grateful recipient of the Benjamin R. Civiletti Pro Bono Lawyer of the Year award while at Venable, Tom also serves as a hearing committee member for the D.C. Court of Appeals Board on Professional Responsibility.  Paul's pro bono work includes indigent criminal defense, and longtime service to Catholic Charities Legal Network in Washington, D.C..   

We are active in the community and we want to help.  If you feel you have been wronged by someone, talk to us. We welcome the discussion.