Kevin J.
Orsini

Demonstrating his standout performance in complex litigation across a variety of practice areas, Lawdragon has named Mr. Orsini a nationwide “Legend” and has featured him in many of its lists, including “500 Leading Global Litigators,” “500 Leading Energy Lawyers” and “500 Leading Global Antitrust & Competition Lawyers.” He was also named to Crain’s New York Business’s 2025 list of “Notable Litigators & Trial Attorneys” and selected as a “Class Action/Mass Tort Litigation Trailblazer” by The National Law Journal.

Year after year, Mr. Orsini been recognized by Benchmark Litigation as a “Top 100 Trial Lawyer in America.” He is ranked by Chambers USA for general commercial litigation, and The Legal 500 US has recognized him across numerous practice areas, including naming him a “Leading Trial Lawyer” and a “Leading Lawyer” for general commercial disputes and M&A litigation.

Antitrust Litigation

Mr. Orsini regularly leads business-critical antitrust matters for his clients across the country, earning him distinction as “Antitrust Attorney of the Year” by Benchmark Litigation.

• Secured a major trial victory for American Express (“Amex”) in class action litigation in New York federal court concerning its non‑discrimination provisions. Following a three‑week trial, the jury unanimously found that the company’s non‑discrimination provisions do not unreasonably restrain trade—an important win that protects Amex’s business model.
• Represented Amex as trial counsel in a seven-week bench trial in a Section 1 antitrust lawsuit filed against the company by the Department of Justice (DOJ) seeking to undermine Amex’s fundamental business model.
• Represented Amex in several other antitrust lawsuits and arbitrations challenging as anticompetitive certain provisions of its merchant agreements, as well as in a putative antitrust class action alleging unlawful tying.
• Representing Light & Wonder in putative class action and individual antitrust litigation in Illinois federal court, and in an arbitration, involving Walker Process claims that concern automatic card shufflers used in casinos.
• Secured a victory for Time Warner after a six‑week trial in an antitrust lawsuit filed by the DOJ seeking to block Time Warner’s $109 billion acquisition by AT&T.
• Secured the dismissal of all claims against Meta in putative class action and individual antitrust litigation filed throughout the country related to the multibillion‑dollar digital advertising industry.
• Represented Robinhood as lead counsel in dozens of lawsuits, centralized in Florida federal court, that involved antitrust claims alleging Robinhood and other financial services firms conspired to prevent losses associated with the 2021 “short squeeze.”  Mr. Orsini secured back-to-back decisions dismissing all antitrust claims, which were affirmed on appeal.

Securities and Derivatives Litigation

Mr. Orsini consistently takes on significant securities and derivatives matters for the most prominent and discerning corporate clients and their leadership.

• Representing Robinhood as plaintiff in various federal courts against state gaming officials and state attorneys general concerning Robinhood’s facilitation of transactions involving sports-related event contracts.
• Representing Anadarko Petroleum, a wholly owned subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum, in putative class action securities litigation filed in Texas federal court alleging Anadarko made false and misleading statements concerning the company’s business and operations in the Shenandoah deepwater oil field.
• Representing Robinhood and certain of its senior executives and directors in purported class action securities litigation and a related stockholder derivative action related to its July 2021 IPO.
• Successfully represented Robinhood as lead counsel in the sprawling and high-profile “meme stock” litigation, including putative class action securities litigation, which alleged Robinhood manipulated the market and made fraudulent misrepresentations in connection with certain trading limitations. Mr. Orsini obtained a major ruling defeating class certification of the securities claims.
• Won summary judgment for Viatris (formerly Mylan) in a shareholder class action related to Mylan’s EpiPen. The decision represents one of the few resolutions of a federal securities fraud litigation at summary judgment entirely in favor of defendants, and it was affirmed on appeal by the Second Circuit.
• Secured favorable settlements for SciPlay, a Light & Wonder subsidiary, and certain of its officers and directors in putative class action securities litigation in New York and Nevada state courts alleging that offering documents issued in connection with SciPlay’s May 2019 IPO omitted material information.

M&A and Fiduciary Duty Litigation

Mr. Orsini has extensive experience litigating a full range of transaction‑related claims, including breach of contract and fiduciary duty allegations as well as governance and disclosure issues.

• Representing Paramount in litigation against the Board of Directors of Warner Bros. Discovery (“WBD”) filed in the Delaware Court of Chancery alleging the Board breached its fiduciary duties by failing to disclose certain material information in connection with Paramount’s pending $110 billion acquisition of WBD.
• Represented the founders of Palantir Technologies in securing a settlement in putative class action litigation filed in the Delaware Court of Chancery, which challenged the company’s governance structure following Palantir’s direct listing.
• Secured a judgment totaling more than $600 million for The Williams Companies—following wins at trial in the Delaware Court of Chancery and on appeal to the Delaware Supreme Court—as co‑lead trial counsel in M&A litigation against Energy Transfer related to a planned $37.7 billion merger.
• Represented Occidental Petroleum in several matters related to the company’s $57 billion acquisition of Anadarko Petroleum Corporation, including derivative litigation filed in the Delaware Court of Chancery alleging a breach of fiduciary duties by Occidental’s CEO and directors.
• Secured a significant trial victory for Disney in litigation filed in the Delaware Court of Chancery by a stockholder in connection with the company’s public opposition to Florida House Bill 1557.
• Representing Illumina in a series of cases filed in the Delaware Court of Chancery alleging breach of fiduciary duty in connection with Illumina’s $8 billion acquisition of GRAIL, a healthcare company developing a cancer screening test for 50 cancer types.
• Representing the Special Committee of the Board of Endeavor in litigation concerning Endeavor’s $25 billion take-private acquisition by Silver Lake.
• Represented BDT Capital Partners and certain of its executives in putative class action stockholder litigation filed in the Delaware Court of Chancery, which alleged that defendants breached their fiduciary duties in connection with BDT’s $3.7 billion take-private re‑acquisition of grill maker Weber.

Crypto Experience

Known for handling novel and industry‑shaping matters, Mr. Orsini has deep familiarity with cryptocurrency, blockchain technology and digital assets.

• Secured summary judgment, which was affirmed on appeal, for Dfinity, an international organization developing blockchain technology, in purported class action securities litigation filed in California state court related to the issuance of Dfinity’s Internet Computer Project (“ICP”) master governance tokens—an important win in the cryptocurrency space in a largely unsettled area of the law.
• Secured the dismissal of purported class action securities litigation filed against Dfinity in a parallel California federal court action related to the issuance of the company’s ICP master governance tokens—rounding out back-to-back wins for Dfinity, following a victory in the California state court action.
• Represented a software development company that built decentralized finance (DeFi) tools and services related to an internationally available decentralized blockchain protocol in connection with an SEC investigation and potential related litigation.
• Represented a trading platform in an SEC investigation and potential litigation concerning crypto trading.

Mass Tort Litigation

Described as one of the “fixtures among the niche practice of wildfire litigators” (Law360), Mr. Orsini has represented nearly a dozen major utilities around the country on wildfire litigation preparation and led the response to claims arising from dozens of major wildfires, including two of the largest wildfire events in U.S. history.

• Represented Xcel Energy, a major U.S. electricity and natural gas company with operations in eight states, as lead counsel in hundreds of lawsuits filed against Xcel arising from the December 2021 Marshall Wildfire, which were resolved the day before jury selection was set to begin in a scheduled eight-week liability trial in late 2025.
• Representing Xcel and its subsidiary, Southwestern Public Service Company, in dozens of actions concerning the February 2024 Texas Panhandle wildfires, which included the Smokehouse Creek Fire.
• Representing PG&E in connection with mass tort litigation related to the California wildfires between 2019 and 2021. Mr. Orsini previously represented the company as lead trial counsel in hundreds of lawsuits, including numerous putative class actions, arising out of the unprecedented 2017 and 2018 California wildfires—one of the largest and most complex sets of mass tort litigation in recent years.
• Representing Southern California Gas Company (“SoCalGas”) in litigation filed in California state court concerning the January 2025 Eaton Fire.
• Led PG&E through every facet of its response to the 2017 and 2018 California wildfires, including helping to steer the company through the largest utility bankruptcy in U.S. history.

Appellate Litigation

In addition to his significant experience litigating in trial courts throughout the country, Mr. Orsini has appeared before state and federal appellate courts nationwide, including the U.S. Supreme Court.

• Obtained a major victory for Amex before the U.S. Supreme Court in an antitrust lawsuit originally brought by the DOJ and 17 state attorneys general challenging certain provisions in Amex’s merchant agreements. The Supreme Court’s decision, which affirmed the Second Circuit’s unanimous decision in favor of Amex, defines how antitrust law will be applied to two‑sided markets.
• Representing Amex in an appeal to the First Circuit concerning contract interpretation and arbitrability in class action antitrust litigation filed in Massachusetts federal court challenging certain provisions of Amex’s merchant agreements.
• Argued and secured a Fifth Circuit decision for Anadarko Petroleum, vacating class certification in putative class action securities litigation concerning the company’s business and operations in the Shenandoah deepwater oil field.
• Argued and won a decision for Dfinity from the California Court of Appeals, affirming a summary judgment victory in litigation raising the question of whether Dfinity’s ICP master governance tokens qualify as securities. Mr. Orsini continues to represent Dfinity in an appeal before the Ninth Circuit after securing dismissal of a federal court action raising similar issues.
• Representing Light & Wonder in an appeal before the New York Appellate Division, First Department, seeking to vacate the class determination award issued in an arbitration before the American Arbitration Association concerning antitrust monopolization claims.
• Led Robinhood’s defense in the “meme stock” litigation—securing a string of victories over more than three years to dismiss or otherwise resolve all claims against the company, including arguing and winning back-to-back Eleventh Circuit appeals in two actions involving antitrust and state law claims. 
• Representing Robinhood in Ninth Circuit appeals concerning motions for preliminary injunction in litigation relating to Robinhood’s facilitation of transactions involving sports-related event contracts.
• Represented Palantir Technologies as lead trial counsel in two actions filed in the Delaware Court of Chancery by a shareholder seeking inspection of Palantir’s books and records, ultimately securing a Delaware Supreme Court decision on an important issue of privilege under Delaware law and an affirmance of the Court of Chancery’s earlier decision in Palantir’s favor. 
• Won a trial decision for Occidental in a Delaware Court of Chancery action seeking inspection of Occidental’s books and records. Mr. Orsini argued the appeal to the Delaware Supreme Court, after which the parties settled.
• Led PG&E in its successful defense against a putative customer class action seeking $2.5 billion in damages for emergency power shutoffs conducted by PG&E in 2019—first securing dismissal of the action in the bankruptcy court, then affirmance in the district court and, ultimately, winning a precedent-setting decision from the California Supreme Court shielding PG&E from liability.

Mr. Orsini was born in Livingston, New Jersey. He received a B.A. summa cum laude from The George Washington University in 2000, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and a J.D. cum laude from New York University School of Law in 2003. Mr. Orsini joined Cravath in 2003 and was elected a partner in 2010.