Ethan E. Trull

What do you focus on?

As the former head of litigation for a Fortune 20 corporation, I bring significant in-house perspective to my service as outside counsel. I understand the imperatives to provide counsel of the highest quality, deliver impeccable client service and be vigilant with regard to budget and cost. I often discuss these priorities with clients, and advise in house legal departments on case management, department management and the use of alternative fee arrangements.

Commercial litigation

I represent clients in a broad range of commercial disputes with competitors, customers and suppliers. I have experience in securities fraud cases, price-fixing and antitrust actions and false advertising litigation including allegations of Lanham Act violations. Frequently, these disputes involve complex intellectual property issues.

Mass tort and class action defense

I act as national and regional defense counsel in class action lawsuits, with particular focus on medical devices and supplies and toxic torts. This involves assessing potential exposure across jurisdictions, developing strategies for triage and settlements and adapting litigation strategies as matters progress.

What do you see on the horizon?

More companies are beginning to realize the intrinsic value of their “big data” repositories. Technological advances are unlocking the monetary potential of these big data sets, but also revealing pitfalls and traps for the unwary such as privacy, data ownership, regulatory and antitrust concerns.

Representative Experience

• Successfully tried a two week fraudulent conveyance trial in which a multibillion-dollar capital fund sought a $15 million recovery against our client sounding in 15 counts, resulting in a defense finding on each count and an 86 page opinion impacting the “collapsing” doctrine in leveraged buy out situations.
• Successfully defending mass-tort product liability litigation, resolving more than 1,800 individual lawsuits and claims.
• Managing insurance assets in excess of $350 million to defray liability and litigation costs.
• Prosecuting antitrust claims resulting in net recoveries exceeding $200 million.
• Litigating numerous commercial, intellectual property and securities claims separately valued in excess of $500 million.
• Participating in responses to Securities and Exchange Commission investigations.
• Resolving securities class action, ERISA and derivative litigation valued in excess of $5 billion.
• Compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley requirements for tracking risk contingencies.
• Preparation of public disclosures and discussions of various legal risks and contingent liabilities in securities filings.
• Participating in due diligence for acquisitions of private and publicly held entities.
• Participating as a member of core plaintiff’s negotiation team that successfully resolved antitrust litigation resulting in recovery exceeding $1.5 billion.
• Investigating and responding to various private and governmental claims involving allegations of violations of antitrust laws, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, Medicare fraud and abuse and securities law violations.
• Acting as a corporate representative on committees of Potentially Responsible Parties for environmental Superfund sites.
• Responsibility for legal strategies in the United States and Europe and coordinating risk management with marketing and product development teams.
• Developing and managing an international lobbying team responsible for proposing and responding to domestic and international regulatory and legislative initiative.
• Testifying before various state legislatures and international regulatory groups.