Over the past year, some of the biggest names in U.S. business have engaged in headline-making litigation. Whether their battles concerned intellectual property, labor and employment, or other corporate concerns, these companies turned to some of the country’s top litigators to fight for them.

Two such companies—Apple Inc. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc.—that faced bet-the-company lawsuits successfully garnered courtroom victories, not only because the facts of the cases were in their favor, but also because the litigators who argued their cases possessed a distinct set of skills.