Page 91 - NYLJ Professional Excellence 2021

INNOVATION AWARDS

Latham & Watkins

RESPONSES PREPARED BY MICHELE JOHNSON, GLOBAL CHAIR OF THE
LITIGATION AND TRIAL DEPARTMENT, JEFF HAMMEL AND MICHAEL BOSWORTH,
CO-CHAIRS OF THE NEW YORK LITIGATION AND TRIAL DEPARTMENT AT THE FIRM.

Q&A What are some of the firm’s in East Ramapo, N.Y. We pride ourselves
on the fact that at every stage of litiga-
most satisfying successes
of the past year and why? Across tion, whatever the venue, whatever the
Latham’s litigation and trial department, dispute, we draw from a constellation of
we’re proud of how we responded to the litigation stars to match the right skill and
challenges of COVID-19 to seamlessly experience to the fight at hand. That we
move almost overnight to a fully remote were able to continue to deliver this level
work model while still providing the same of service and success to clients as they
best-in-class service to our clients in their faced the dual challenges of litigation and
most challenging disputes. We are trial all of the other complications that the
lawyers, and we play to win—so the last year brought with it, is a powerful
fantastic wins our New York-based liti- testament to the strength of our team.
gators and colleagues around the globe
achieved for clients during the past year What, if any, boundaries stood in the
were especially satisfying. Our New York way of the firm’s innovative accomplish-
litigators played leading roles in a range ment, and how were they surmounted? innovated to turn a negative into a novel
of high-profile cases for clients such as Latham has a long-standing commitment training opportunity.
The Observation Deck was developed
over a period of several months once
TOO OFTEN, THE MOST INNOVATIVE IDEAS NEVER EVEN MAKE IT it became clear that the transition to
TO CONSIDERATION BECAUSE SOMEONE WITH A BRILLIANT SOLUTION virtual proceedings brought on by the
DIDN’T SHARE IT FOR FEAR OF THE REACTION. pandemic was going to remain the sta-
tus quo for quite some time. The initia-
tive was developed at almost no cost
Twitter, GE, Funko, BMW, the U.S. Soccer to providing hands-on training for law- because it leveraged pre-existing docket
Federation, and Facebook, to name a few. yers and staff, but the unexpected chal- tracking processes, supplemented by a
And we won a widely reported pro bono lenges brought on by the pandemic had custom build from the firm’s technology
case involving a voting rights federal the potential to constrain our otherwise team and ongoing updates and monitor-
bench trial followed by a strong Second robust trainings. But instead, the firm’s ing by the training and litigation services
Circuit victory, restoring the voting rights litigators, along with our training, liti- teams. Then, all that was needed was the
of Black and Latinx community members gation services and technology teams, buy-in of our senior litigators, » Page 108

Photos: Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM; Latham & Watkins | October 2021 89