Our first runners-up are John Hueston, Moez Kaba and their team at Hueston Hennigan. Following a two-week Zoom trial last year, last week they landed a $175 million damages award against VPX, the maker of the “Bang” energy drink, after an arbitrator found the drink doesn’t contain creatine. VPX could only use the “Bang” mark on “creatine-based” products or products sold in the vitamin and dietary supplement sections of stores under a 2010 agreement with drink maker Orange Bang, which was represented by counsel at Knobbe Martens in the litigation. The Hueston Hennigan team represented Monster Energy Company which took a partial assignment of Orange Bang’s rights under the agreement with VPX to pursue breach of contract and trademark infringement claims. The arbitrator also awarded more than $9 million in attorney fees and costs and a 5% royalty on all future net sales of VPX’s Bang-branded products. The Hueston Hennigan trial team also included Allison Libeu, Lauren McGrory Johnson, Sourabh Mishra, Brandon Marsh, Michael Todisco, Julia Haines, Justin Greer, Segun Babatunde and Amber Munoz.
Mike Lyle, Nelly Merkel and Keith Forst of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan also get a runner-up spot for their summary judgment win for Express Scripts in a closely watched healthcare dispute where Anthem Inc. was seeking $14.8 billion in damages. Late last month U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos in Manhattan ruled Express Scripts wasn’t contractually obligated to provide Anthem competitive benchmark pricing for pharmacy benefits services, but only to negotiate in good faith.
