We Make History
Some of the matters in which we have been involved over the past 60 years represent precedent-setting changes in the law and accomplishments on behalf of our clients. Some of these selected matters include*:
Eolas Technologies, Inc. and The Regents of the University of California v. Microsoft Corporation: Action for patent infringement of web browser technology for the delivery of interactive applications embedded in web pages. The case was tried in United States District Court, Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, Chicago, Illinois, Zagel, Judge. Jury verdict in favor of Eolas and the University of California, on issues of infringement, validity, and damages in August 2003, in the amount of $520.6 million. On January 14, 2004, the court entered judgment for $565,894,868 which includes the amount of the original verdict plus prejudgment interest. On appeal, the Federal Circuit affirmed the finding of infringement and the damages award, and ordered that Microsoft's invalidity and inequitable conduct defenses be retried.
United States of America ex rel. Brown, et al. v. AdvancePCS, Inc., Civ.No. 02-CV-9236 (E.D. Pa. 2002) and United States of America ex rel. Schumann v. Advance Paradigm, Inc., Civil Action No. 03-CV-5425 (E.D.Pa. 2003). Represented three whistleblowers in suits against AdvancePCS and Advance Paradigm alleging False Claims Act violations, which settled for $137,500,000. This was the first F.C.A. settlement involving claims against a pharmacy benefits manager.
Minnesota Tobacco Litigation: In May 1998, we reached an historic settlement in the State of Minnesota and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota's lawsuit against the major cigarette manufacturers after 15 weeks of trial. The case was settled for $6.13 billion on behalf of the State of Minnesota and $469 million on behalf of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota. The discovery obtained by the firm is being used by other states, private litigants and foreign countries. Former Surgeon General Dr. C. Everett Koop has called the Minnesota case one of the most significant public health achievements of the 20th century. The Minnesota case has been acknowledged as the one state case which set the standard for the remaining states. Its economic terms not only exceeded those of all the other states but it also provided an extraordinary treasure of documentary and testimonial evidence that is available to researchers, litigants and governmental entities.
Plaintiff v. Scott County: $11.1 million verdict award in 2000 to our client, a young wife and mother who suffered irreversible brain damage after an ambulance was delayed in arriving at her home. According to Minnesota Lawyer magazine, this was the second largest medical malpractice verdict in the state of Minnesota.
Fonar v. General Electric: Represented Fonar Corporation and Dr. Raymond V. Damadian in a patent infringement action against General Electric involving patents on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machines. At trial the jury awarded Fonar $110.5 million. The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed almost the entire award, ordering General Electric to pay $103.4 million, reported to be the largest patent infringement jury verdict ever upheld on appeal.
Union Oil Company of California "Unocal" v. Atlantic Richfield Company, et al.: Represented UNOCAL in a patent infringement case over UNOCAL's patent on gasoline fuel, tried in the United State District Court for the Central District of California in Los Angeles, Wardlaw, Judge. Jury verdict in favor of UNOCAL on liability, October, 1997; judgment for five months accrued infringement in the amount of $92 million; November 1997, unenforceability phase tried to Court, December, 1997. (208 F.3d 989 (Fed. Cir. 2000)); cert. denied, 531 U.S. 1183 (2000)
LaserMaster v. Sentinel Business Systems: Represented a manufacturer of large format inkjet printers in a trade secret case. The firm was retained just five weeks before trial and won a jury verdict of $2.2 million which is one of the largest trade secret verdicts in the jurisdiction.
Bhopal (India) Gas Leak Disaster: Represented the Government of India, on behalf of the victims, in the Bhopal Gas Leak Disaster which claimed thousands of lives and injured hundreds of thousands of others in December 1984. The case against Union Carbide closed with a $470 million settlement. The Bhopal case established the international principle of multi-national enterprise liability, which holds multi-national corporations accountable for activities which deal with ultra-hazardous materials. The case involved the fusion of both Indian and American principles of law and the application of American procedural requirements in an international setting.
Dalkon Shield Litigation: Represented over 500 women suing the manufacturer of an intrauterine birth control device. The firm was involved in four trials, two of which were settled during trial and two resulted in verdicts of both compensatory and punitive damages. The firm settled all of the cases with the last 198 cases being settled in what was then the largest non-class action group settlement in legal history. As a result of the firm's representation, A.H. Robins Co. finally recalled the Dalkon Shield in the fall of 1984, almost 12 years after it had stopped selling the device. The litigation resulted in the disclosure that critical documents had been destroyed by in-house legal counsel at A.H. Robins and the development of testimony from executives of the corporation which established their knowledge of the hazards of the Dalkon Shield and their failure to take appropriate action to eliminate the threat to women who used the intrauterine device.
Copper 7 Litigation: In the Copper 7 cases, the firm conducted breakthrough discovery to achieve unprecedented results for women who had been injured by this IUD. Before the firm was involved, the manufacturer of the Copper 7 had won all but one of the cases that had gone to trial. Our discovery led to a verdict in our first Copper 7 trial of $8.75 million, including $7 million in punitive damages. The trial court found that the evidence allowed the jury to conclude that the manufacturer knowingly placed millions of American women at risk of loss of fertility and serious injury. The firm, during the course of the litigation, also developed evidence of the manufacturer's failure to report to the FDA adverse reactions from pre-market clinical trials.
Gammagard Litigation: Represented approximately 29 individuals, most of them children, who contracted Hepatitis C from contaminated intravenous immune globulin, called Gammagard, manufactured by Baxter Healthcare, Inc. The firm was designated lead counsel in the Gammagard MDL (Multi-District Litigation) venued in Federal Court in Los Angeles. The firm also took the lead in conducting discovery in the MDL. The firm negotiated a unique settlement agreement for its clients that provided immediate payment for damages resulting from living with Hepatitis C, an incurable chronic disease, and at the same time provided for future payments for complications that may arise from Hepatitis C. That settlement agreement became the model used to settle all individual Gammagard cases around the country as well as to settle a class action filed in Los Angeles.
Hayward v. State Farm: Guaranteed an insurance company's right to recoup its payments from a liable party. Established the principle of subrogation in Minnesota.
Plaintiff v. Hankscraft: Established the doctrine of strict liability in Minnesota. Our client, a three-year-old girl, had tipped over a vaporizer, spilling scalding water onto her chest and arms. She was permanently disfigured. Solly Robins, one of the firm's founders, sued the vaporizer company on her behalf, arguing that the negligent design of the product led to the injuries. The jury agreed, awarding $150,000 to the little girl. The trial judge, however, overturned the verdict, and the case went before the Minnesota Supreme Court in 1967. The Court ruled in our client's favor, expanding the law to hold a manufacturer strictly liable to those injured by its products. The Court found that the vaporizer was poorly designed and that Hankscraft had not adequately informed its customers of its hazards.
Fuller Brush Company - Fire Loss: On January 14, 1957, a gas line exploded in a Fuller Brush warehouse in St. Paul. The fire burned for seven hours, destroying the building. One fireman was killed; several others were injured. The insurance company, Factory Mutual, covered the loss, but hired our firm to recover its money under the subrogation principle. The evidence showed that workmen had damaged a gas line in the building while installing a sprinkler system a month before the fire. The jury needed only five hours to decide in our client's favor. The award--$359,000--was the largest negligence verdict in the state at that time.
Cornfeldt v. Tongen is considered a landmark malpractice case in Minnesota. That decision established a number of legal precedents, including the doctrine of informed consent and the circumstances under which doctors can testify as an expert witness.
Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi L.L.P. Foundation for Education, Public Health and Social Justice: The firm donated a gift of $30 million to the Minneapolis Foundation in 1998, one of the nation's largest community foundations and the oldest foundation in Minnesota. The gift is believed to be the largest contribution by a law firm to a community foundation in the United States.