Dechert Recognized as a “Disputes Heavyweight” in Independent Report into the World’s Leading Firms for Disputes

UK legal media title The Lawyer has again recognized Dechert LLP as a leading law firm for disputes in its annual Global Litigation 50 Report.

The significant growth of the firm’s global litigation practice was recognized in the report, with strategic partner and team hires across six offices since the start of 2019 enhancing the firm’s capabilities across antitrust, complex commercial litigation, international arbitration, product liability and mass torts and white collar, compliance and investigations. The report specifically highlighted the strengthening of Dechert’s product liability and mass torts practice with the appointment of a 29-strong team including partners Sheila Birnbaum and Mark Cheffo in 2018 and the more recent recruitment of partners Kimberly Branscome and Jay Bhimani with a team in April 2020. In addition, Dechert promoted nine people to partner across five offices within the global practice during 2019 and 2020.

The report describes Dechert as a “disputes heavyweight” and includes a number of the firm’s globally significant client mandates as key cases to watch in 2021. Specifically:

• The U.S. Government v Huawei Technologies. An investigation and prosecution by the U.S. Government into Huawei and its related entities in one of the largest and most-watched white collar cases in the country. Huawei is represented by a Dechert team led by Andrew Boutros and including Andy Levander and David Kelley.
• United States v. James Vorley et al. A U.S. federal criminal trial in which two former Deutsche Bank precious metals traders face fraud charges on allegations of “spoofing” – the placing of bids and offers on futures contracts without the intent to trade. James Vorley is represented by a Dechert team led by Roger Burlingame and Matthew Mazur.
• Strategic Technologies v The Ministry of National Defence of the Republic of China. A commercial dispute dealing with an as yet undecided point in English law regarding the enforcement of a “judgment on a judgment”. The Ministry of National Defence of the Republic of China is represented by a Dechert team led by Andrew Hearn and Philip Dunham.
• Purdue Pharma LP opioids litigation. Purdue is represented by a Dechert team led by Sheila Birnbaum and Mark Cheffo and including Hayden Coleman, Mara Cusker Gonzalez and Sara Roitman. The team spearheaded the first proposed comprehensive global resolution of all state and federal cases against Purdue in the case.

Dechert’s innovative use of technology, specifically the firm’s in-house-designed system for International Arbitration, called SIA@D (Search: International Arbitration @ Dechert), which provides analysis into how an arbitrator might rule in a given set of circumstances, is included in the firm’s profile in the report. In addition, the report references Dechert’s eDiscovery Advisory Team (eDAT), which combines eDiscovery experience, a raft of technology and tools, and project matter expertise to implement effective and efficient disclosure strategies to improve efficiency and cost reduction for the benefit of clients.

To see The Lawyer’s Global Litigation 50 report in full, please click here.

About Dechert

Dechert is a leading global law firm with 26 offices around the world. We advise on matters and transactions of the greatest complexity, bringing energy, creativity and efficient management of legal issues to deliver commercial and practical advice for all clients.