• In a case that began in 2002, Sonnenschein won a major trademark case for S.C. Johnson & Son, Inc., regarding its Off-based family of marks. S.C. Johnson alleged trademark infringement by the defendant, Buzz Off Insect Shield, LLC. At the 2007 trial, a jury found Buzz Off liable for trademark infringement and determined that the infringing conduct was willful and intentional. In March 2009, the judge issued a permanent injunction, nationwide, requiring Buzz Off (as well as all of its vendors) to cease using "Buzz Off" in virtually all respects, including on the Internet. • Sonnenschein represented German-based
Fresenius Medical Care, a DAX-30 company, in transactions highlighted by its $4.5 billion acquisition of Renal Care Group by merger in 2005, and also including its $500 million sale of dialysis service businesses to a private equity buyer and its $100+ million acquisition of Renal Solutions Inc, a medical device manufacturer. • On appeal, Sonnenschein obtained victories for DIRECTV, Inc. in two unanimous published decisions in the 3rd and 5th U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeal. The rulings in
DIRECTV, Inc. v. Bennett and
DIRECTV, Inc. v. Leto established precedents for companies that rely on the Federal Wiretap Act and the Federal Communications Act in combating satellite and cable piracy. • The firm represented WellPoint, the nation's largest health insurer, in its $6.5 billion acquisition in 2006 of WellChoice, the Blue Cross insurer of five million people in New York and New Jersey. • Sonnenschein represented EMI Group Limited, a major music company, in connection with its participation in the MySpace Music joint venture and related agreements authorizing MySpace Music's digital distribution of EMI's sound recordings and music videos in connection with, among other things, ad-supported streaming and e-commerce offerings including downloads and ringtones. • Attorneys at the firm represented the $44 billion (in assets) Brazilian industrial conglomerate
Votorantim Cementos North America Inc. and its affiliate
St. Marys Cement Inc. in the 2008 acquisition of Prairie Material Sales Inc., the largest independent
ready-mix concrete company in the Midwest. • Sonnenschein advised Sonitrol Holding LLC and an ownership group comprising Spire Capital Partners, Carlyle Venture Partners and Wachovia Capital Partners in Sonitrol's 2008 sale to The Stanley Works for $275 million. Sonitrol, a leading provider of security monitoring services, access control and fire detection systems, is the 8th-largest electronic security company in the United States. • Sonnenschein is representing the investment banking firm
William Blair & Company LLC as financial advisor to gum and candy maker The Wrigley Company in connection with its $23 billion merger with Mars, Inc., one of the world's leading confectionery companies.
Hurricane Katrina litigation •
Chehardy v. Allstate, et al. / Vanderbrook v. Unitrin, et al., (App. No. 07-302119, reported at 495 F.3d 191 (5th Cir. August 2, 2007)): One of the most significant issues in the massive
Hurricane Katrina litigation was whether the insurers' standard flood exclusions applied to preclude flood damage resulting from the hurricane, even if the cause of the flooding was something man-made, such as the failure of the
New Orleans levees. The Federal Court in Louisiana, per Judge Duval, held that the flood exclusions would not apply in this circumstance. Sonnenschein represented one of the lead parties in the appeal of Judge Duval's order to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which reversed the prior adverse district court decision and ruled that the flood exclusion in the homeowners policies at issue applied to all floods, whether man-made or naturally occurring. The court also held that the Hurricane Deductible Endorsement did not provide or expand coverage to include damage caused by flooding. This decision saved the insurance industry billions of dollars in potential exposure. •
In re Katrina, (App. No. 08-30145, reported at 524 F.3d 700 (5th Cir. April 11, 2008)): In this matter, the state of
Louisiana filed a class action, in Louisiana state court, against more than 200 homeowner insurance companies, including several Sonnenschein clients, seeking to recoup an alleged $9 billion in grants made by the state under the Road Home program, which was established in the wake of hurricanes Katrina and
Rita. The state asserted rights as a subrogee under thousands of homeowners policies, as well as the rights of underlying policyholders who were allegedly under-compensated for hurricane-related losses by their respective insurance carriers. The defendants removed the case to federal court and the state sought remand. In a substantial victory for Sonnenschein's clients, the 5th Circuit affirmed the lower court's order denying remand, finding that the case had been properly removed to federal court under the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA). •
State of Louisiana v. Allstate, et al., (App. No. 08-30465): The 5th Circuit affirmed a district court ruling denying the Louisiana attorney-general's motion to remand in the state's antitrust price-fixing case against Allstate and others. The court accepted the defense case that the state's action in
State of Louisiana v. Allstate, et al.., was subject to federal jurisdiction under the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA), even though the complaint contains no express class action allegations. ==Corporate social responsibility==