M&A Litigation

On October 3, 2022, the Supreme Court of the State of Delaware issued an order affirming the Delaware Court of Chancery’s dismissal of claims brought against Cravath clients Buckeye Partners, L.P., Buckeye GP LLC, and Buckeye GP LLC’s board of directors (collectively, “Buckeye”) by a former unitholder, Walter E. Ryan, Jr.

On August 25, 2022, the Delaware Court of Chancery granted in full Cravath client The Williams Companies, Inc.’s (“Williams”) motion for interest, attorneys’ fees and expenses, totaling more than $185 million at the time the motion was taken under submission. The decision followed post‑trial discovery, briefing and oral argument between January and May 2022.

On August 5, 2022, the New York Supreme Court, Commercial Division, dismissed with prejudice a lawsuit brought by Moby S.p.A., one of the world’s largest passenger shipping companies, against Cravath client Morgan Stanley and two of its employees. The lawsuit was related to Moby’s restructuring proceeding in Milan, Italy.

On February 9, 2022, the Delaware Court of Chancery dismissed claims brought against Cravath clients Buckeye Partners, L.P., Buckeye GP LLC, and Buckeye GP LLC’s board of directors (collectively, “Buckeye”) by a former unitholder, Walter E. Ryan, Jr. In the putative class action, Ryan brought what was effectively his fourth amended complaint challenging the acquisition of Buckeye by a subsidiary of IFM Global Infrastructure Fund (“IFM”). In the transaction, Buckeye’s unitholders received $41.50 in cash for each of their units, which were at the time publicly traded, representing a 27.5% premium to Buckeye’s closing unit price the day before the transaction was announced. The transaction closed after receiving fully informed approval from 96% of Buckeye’s voting unitholders.

On December 29, 2021, the Delaware Court of Chancery granted judgment in favor of Cravath client The Williams Companies, Inc. (“Williams”) in a dispute with Energy Transfer, LP (“ETE”) over a contractual termination fee following the parties’ unconsummated $37.7 billion combination. Following a six‑day trial held in May 2021, and subsequent post‑trial briefing and oral argument, the Court issued its decision ordering ETE to pay Williams a $410 million termination fee, plus interest and reasonable attorneys’ fees and expenses.

On September 8, 2023, Lawdragon announced the inclusion of 38 Cravath partners in its second edition list of the “500 Leading Litigators in America.” The list, assembled based on research and vetting by peers, recognizes the “array of talent in America’s great trial teams” who represent entities in cases spanning the areas of antitrust, finance, government investigations, intellectual property, M&A and securities, among many others.

The 2023 edition of The Legal 500 United States ranked Cravath in the top tier nationally in 16 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; Fintech (Crypto); General Commercial Disputes; International Tax; M&A: Large Deals ($1bn+); M&A Litigation: Defense; Securities Litigation: Defense; and U.S. Taxes: Non‑contentious. In addition, 68 Cravath attorneys were individually recognized by The Legal 500 United States this year.

On February 2, 2023, Cravath partner Margaret T. Segall participated in the Global Competition Review Live: Law Leaders Global 2023 program, held in Miami, Florida from February 2‑3, 2023. Maggie moderated a panel entitled “Mergers: Potential Competition and Innovation as Theories of Harm in Merger Reviews,” which discussed recent cases that focused on unconventional theories of harm, the markets that are particularly susceptible to innovation theories of harm in merger reviews, whether enforcers are demonstrating a greater desire to investigate and impose remedies on these types of mergers, and how different jurisdictions are treating the same or similar facts.

On October 5, 2022, the New York Law Journal published a Q&A with Cravath partners Gary A. Bornstein and Kevin J. Orsini in connection with the Firm’s recognition as the 2022 Litigation Department of the Year. In the Q&A, Gary and Kevin discussed the Firm’s work for clients in the last year, which included representing Alarm.com in its appellate win at the Federal Circuit against the United States Patent and Trademark Office; Reynolds American in its win at the North Carolina Supreme Court affirming a judicial appraisal victory; and The Williams Companies in its trial win related to a dispute over a contractual fee in connection with a terminated merger. Gary and Kevin also discussed the Firm’s commitment to associate training, noting the importance of exposing associates “not only to a variety of legal issues, but also a variety of approaches to developing legal strategy, forming business relationships and managing a team.”

On October 3, 2022, Lawdragon announced the inclusion of 38 Cravath partners in its inaugural list of the “500 Leading Litigators in America.” The list recognized “all‑star litigators,” who “excel” in representing corporations and other organizations in cases spanning the areas of antitrust, finance, government investigations, intellectual property, M&A, product liability and securities, among many others. The publication said of its honorees that their “sustained excellence in trials is nothing short of remarkable.”