Partners Colleen Bal and John Flynn were named “Litigators of the Week” by The Am Law Litigation Daily for leading a Wilson Sonsini trial team to a complete defense verdict for Google in ReactX v. Google LLC, a $1.3 billion dispute over digital advertising technology. ReactX claimed Google misused its confidential ad tech, but Colleen, John, and the Wilson Sonsini team successfully demonstrated that Google had independently developed its technology and owed no damages.

“Part of what was at stake was Google’s reputation,” said Colleen. “The plaintiff accused Google of stealing confidential technology… Our job was to demonstrate that the plaintiff’s allegations were absolutely false.”

The Wilson Sonsini team joined the case as trial approached, drawing on a longstanding relationship with Google. Through strategic lawyering and trial motions, they narrowed the case to a single breach of contract claim, eliminating trade secret and good faith claims. The single contract claim still carried the possibility of over one billion in damages.

“One primary theme was that Google did not use any of the plaintiff’s information, but instead independently developed its own products,” Colleen explained, a message reinforced by compelling testimony from Google engineers who “had never even heard of the plaintiff.” The team also chose not to offer an alternative damages figure, standing firm that “Google had not damaged the plaintiff in any way.”

Reflecting on the experience, Colleen called it “one for the books,” crediting Google’s in-house team and a “stellar group of talented, diligent, and enthusiastic associates” for the win.

Key team members also included Tait Graves, Josh Baskin, and Lucy Yen, with additional support from Andrew Alderette, Stephanie Cheng, Kayla Dessel, Katherine Ericson, Celine Liu, Sachli Nayeri, Courtney Reed, Matt Donohue, Pamela Sandillo, Doug Brockmeier, Sissel Browder, and Shannon Hill.

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