$40 Million Benchslap for Weil Gotshal

$40 Million Benchslap for Weil Gotshal

Don't get too comfortable with that shiny new #6 Vault ranking, Weil Gotshal. The firm just got served, Texas style. The ABA Journal reports:

The Texas judge who ordered Microsoft to pay $290 million for infringing a patent included a $40 million enhancement that he said was partly justified because of alleged trial misconduct by a lawyer from Weil, Gotshal & Manges.

U.S. District Judge Leonard Davis tacked on the $40 million penalty because of evidence of willful infringement. But also "favoring enhancement," he said in an opinion, was trial conduct by lawyer Matthew Douglas Powers, a Weil Gotshal partner.

Matthew Douglas Powers is a big name in IP circles. And he's the co-chair of Weil's litigation department. But he's not going to comment on Judge Davis's $40 million critique of his trial performance.