Litigators of the (Past) Week: A Defense Win for Gilead and Teva in a Rare Trial on Pay-For-Delay Claims
Kirkland partner Devora Allon was named The Am Law Litigation Daily's "Litigator of the Week" for Kirkland’s win for Gilead Sciences in a $3.6 billion "pay-for-delay" antitrust case over HIV medications. Partners Jay Lefkowitz, Kevin Van Wart, Ellisen Turner and Kevin Jonke were also highlighted.
"... Every day, we would start court by making our appearances for the record. Most lawyers say their name, their law firm, and their client. That’s how I’ve always done it, and that’s how all the other lawyers did it in this trial. But Gilead did something different. Without any discussion, we each introduced ourselves just by our name and our client. No law firm. It wasn’t planned, and it wasn’t posturing—we weren’t even in the presence of the jury when it happened. It became a reflection of our commitment to teamwork, to our common goal of representing our client with a unified front, to the very best of our ability, regardless of what law firm we were a part of. Now, there’s no one who is prouder to work at Kirkland & Ellis than I am. But that moment, repeated each morning for six weeks stands out to me as something I’m the proudest of—our ability to put aside any conceivable difference to serve our client, and in service of our client’s mission. That’s what I’ll always remember—that my name was Devora Allon and I represented Gilead."
