Litigator of the Week Runners-Up and Shout Outs

Partners Renee Smith, Jeffrey Bramson and Haley Darling received a runners-up shout out for The American Lawyer Litigation Daily’s “Litigator of the Week” contest for their work for General Motors.

"... Also landing runners-up honors are lawyers at Kirkland & Ellis and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton who represented General Motors and Robert Bosch respectively, in beating back claims brought on behalf of customers who claimed the companies misled them into purchasing certain Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra trucks by installing devices that defeated emissions tests. U.S. District Judge Thomas Ludington in Bay City last week dismissed the suit with prejudice finding the plaintiffs’ state law claims were preempted by the Clean Air Act and that they lacked RICO standing since they didn’t purchase their vehicles directly from the defendants. The Kirkland team representing GM included partners Renee Smith, Jeffrey Bramson and Haley Darling, former partner Kate Warner who is now assistant general counsel at 3M, with local counsel Michael Cooney of Dykema Gossett. The Cleary team includes partners Carmine Boccuzzi and Abena Mainoo, associate Patrick Swiber, and senior counsel Matt Slater, with local counsel William Jansen, Jonathan Lauderbach and Michael Brady of Warner Norcross + Judd."