Wilson Sonsini was named a runner-up by AmLaw Litigation Daily for its representation of pharmaceutical manufacturer WuXi AppTec (WXAT) in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The case challenged the Department of Defense/War’s designation of WXAT as a “Chinese Military Company” under Section 1260H of the National Defense Authorization Act. The team obtained a preliminary injunction blocking DoD from enforcing the designation after the court found that WXAT was likely to establish that each of the government’s three substantive grounds for the designation was arbitrary and capricious. The case involved national security, U.S.-China relations, and the BIOSECURE Act. To date, no other company named on DoD’s 1260H list has obtained similar relief.

The Wilson Sonsini team was led by partner Melissa Mills and included partners Sheryl Shapiro Bassin, Weiheng Chen, Moe Fodeman, Stephen Heifetz, and Michael Sommer; Senior Of Counsel Timothy Broas; senior counsel Kate McCarthy; and associates Abigail Hermes and Kara Millard.

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