Dechert's Russell Cohen and Jay Jurata Named "Litigators of the Week" by Law.com for Microsoft Defense in Landmark OpenAI Trial

Dechert partners Russell Cohen and Jay Jurata have been recognized as Law.com's "Litigators of the Week" for their successful defense of Microsoft in the high-profile federal trial Elon Musk v. Samuel Altman, decided in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

After a three-week trial in Oakland, jurors found that Musk, who provided early funding to OpenAI, had waited too long to bring his claims for breach of a charitable trust and unjust enrichment. Microsoft faced a single claim of aiding and abetting a breach of a charitable trust, which the court rejected following the jury’s verdict.

When asked how the matter came to the firm, Mr. Jurata replied, “We knew the business, the technology, the people and we worked well with others. Microsoft has seen us do that for 25 years and trusted us to do it here.”

On what others can take from how the case was tried, Mr. Cohen emphasized the importance of discipline: "Have clear themes and stick to them. Ours were simple: Microsoft had no knowledge of any breach, it was a responsible partner and the claim was too late anyway.”

“There’s a temptation in a case this big, with this much press outside the courthouse every day, to try to win every moment,” Mr. Cohen added. “We didn’t do that. We were here to win the verdict, not the news cycle. And if you do the first thing right, the second one takes care of itself.”

Mr. Cohen delivered Microsoft's opening and closing arguments and cross-examined Musk, while Mr. Jurata examined multiple high-profile witnesses. Dechert partner Nisha Patel handled third-party witnesses and critical evidentiary arguments. The team also included counsel Howard Ullman and associates Forrest Lovett, Elisa Beneze, Yosef Weitzman, Brian Kulp, Hannah Leone and Sophie Davish, with paralegal support from Edwin Grullon and Andrew Horner. Impact Trial Consulting provided key trial support.

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