Runners-honors go to Steve Maslowski and Michael Kahn of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld who brought home a $20 million verdict for Boston Scientific in the company’s long-running patent infringement dispute with Nevro Corp. over spinal cord stimulation technology. A federal jury in Delaware this week found Nevro directly infringed one Boston Scientific patent and induced its manufacturer to infringe a second.
Kirkland & Ellis partners Leslie Smith, Sierra Elizabeth, Mark Nomellini and Ashley Neglia also land runners-up honors for securing a defense verdict in the fifth bellwether trial in the multidistrict litigation targeting 3M with claims that the company’s dual-ended combat earplugs were defective and caused hearing loss. A federal jury in Pensacola, Florida, unanimously found that plaintiff Michelle Blum hadn’t proven any of her claims that use of the 3M earplugs contributed to her hearing loss and tinnitus. A Kirkland team that included Elizabeth, Nomellini and Neglia previously were named Litigators of the Week for winning a prior bellwether in the MDL.
