Litigation

On February 27, 2026, Paramount Skydance Corporation (“Paramount”) and Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. ("WBD") announced they have entered into a definitive merger agreement under which Paramount will acquire WBD. Under the terms of the agreement, Paramount will pay $31.00 per share in cash for all outstanding shares of WBD. The transaction values WBD at an enterprise value of $110 billion, and has been unanimously approved by the Boards of Directors of both companies. Cravath is representing Paramount in connection with the transaction.

On January 30, 2026, the California Court of Appeal affirmed the Superior Court of California, County of San Mateo’s grant of summary judgment in favor of Cravath client Dfinity Foundation (“Dfinity”) in a putative securities class action related to Dfinity’s Internet Computer Protocol (“ICP”) master governance tokens. Dfinity is a Swiss not‑for‑profit entity working to create a smart contract platform designed to power blockchain versions of popular internet applications.

On February 4, 2026, the Superior Court of California, County of Alameda, sustained with prejudice Cravath clients Pacific Gas & Electric Company and PG&E Corporation’s (together, “PG&E”) demurrer to a putative negligence class action lawsuit seeking to hold PG&E responsible for increased property insurance premiums across California.

On January 30, 2026, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York granted with prejudice Cravath client Elsevier B.V.’s (“Elsevier”) motion to dismiss an antitrust lawsuit alleging an international conspiracy to fix prices and suppress competition in peer‑reviewed scholarly journal publishing.

On December 11, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit unanimously affirmed the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California’s finding that Apple Inc. (“Apple”) committed civil contempt based on Apple’s willful violations of a permanent injunction that Cravath client Epic Games, Inc. (“Epic”) previously secured against Apple. The Court of Appeals affirmed several contempt sanctions imposed by the District Court against Apple, while modifying or reversing in part certain other sanctions and remanding to the District Court for further proceedings. The Court also unanimously affirmed the denial of Apple’s request to vacate or modify the permanent injunction based on recent California state court decisions and denied Apple’s request to reassign the case to a different district judge on remand.

On June 18, 2026, Lawdragon announced the inclusion of 12 Cravath partners in its annual list of the “500 Leading Global IP Lawyers.” The list, assembled based on research and vetting by peers, recognizes the lawyers “protecting innovation, defending brand integrity and leveraging the assets at the heart of their clients’ businesses.”

The 2026 edition of the Legal 500 United States ranked Cravath in the top tier nationally in 14 areas: Antitrust - Civil Litigation/Class Actions: Defense; Capital Markets: Debt Offerings (Advice to Issuers); Capital Markets: Debt Offerings (Advice to Underwriters); Capital Markets: Global Offerings (Advice to Issuers); Capital Markets: Global Offerings (Advice to Underwriters); Commercial Lending (Advice to Lenders); Employee Benefits, Executive Compensation and Retirement Plans: Transactional; Environment: Transactional; Financial Services Litigation; International Tax; M&A: Large Deals ($1bn+); M&A Litigation: Defense; Securities Litigation: Defense; and U.S. Taxes: Non‑contentious. In addition, 71 Cravath attorneys were individually recognized by Legal 500 United States this year.

On June 5, 2026, Lawdragon announced the inclusion of 22 Cravath partners in its annual list of the “500 X – The Next Generation.” The list, assembled based on research and vetting by peers, celebrates the “remarkable” lawyers who have “made their mark in fewer than 15 years in practice” and represent “the future of law.”

The 2026 edition of Chambers USA ranked Cravath in the top tier nationally in seven areas: Antitrust; Capital Markets (Investment Grade Debt – Issuer Counsel); Capital Markets (Investment Grade Debt – Manager Counsel); Corporate Crime & Investigations (Highly Regarded); Corporate/M&A (The Elite); Securities (Regulation – Advisory); and Tax (Corporate & Finance). In New York, the Firm was ranked in the top tier in eleven areas: Antitrust; Bankruptcy/Restructuring (Highly Regarded); Corporate/M&A (The Elite); Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation; Environment (Mainly Transactional); Intellectual Property (Patent: Transactional); Media & Entertainment (Corporate); Litigation (General Commercial: The Elite); Litigation (Securities); Tax; and White‑Collar Crime & Government Investigations (Highly Regarded). Fifty‑one Cravath lawyers were ranked across nineteen practice categories.

On May 28, 2026, Cravath published the latest edition of its Artificial Intelligence Developments Newsletter, which includes a high‑level review of activity across technical, regulatory, legal, and market areas of AI over the last month.