Jenner & Block

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Jenner & Block is a U.S. law firm with offices in Chicago, Dallas, New York, and Washington, DC. Over 400 attorneys serve a wide range of clients in corporate litigation, business transactions, and in the public sector. Jerold S. Solovy is the longtime Chair of the firm; Gregory Gallopoulous is the Managing Partner. Thomas J. Perrelli is the managing partner for the Washington, DC office which was established in 1982.

Founded as a partnership in 1914, the firm has undergone several name changes. During the period from the 1920s to the 1950s, the firm was known as Johnston, Thompson, Raymond & Mayer, led by a leading Chicago trial lawyer, Edward R. Johnston, and a former Chief Justice of the Illinois Supreme Court, Floyd E. Thompson. Their early successes included defending Preston Tucker's company, Tucker Corp., against corporate financing fraud charges. After Albert E. Jenner became a name partner in 1955, he helped the firm cement its reputation as a pro bono powerhouse (according to the editors of The American Lawyer in 2003) and established Jenner & Block's longstanding relationship representing General Dynamics. Among some of the distinguished lawyers who have practiced at Jenner & Block are Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, Judge Phillip Tone of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, and two former U.S. Attorneys for the Northern District of Illinois, Thomas P. Sullivan and Anton Valukas.

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[edit] MCI v. AT&T

Jenner & Block rose to national prominence as a litigation firm during its long, historic antitrust fight with AT&T in the 1970s. Jenner & Block received the assignment from its former partner, John R. Worthington, who served as the General Counsel of Microwave Communications, Inc., the company that later became MCI Communications. Jenner & Block filed a lawsuit against AT&T in March of 1974 alleging that AT&T had monopolized the market for telecommunications services in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act. The case came to trial in 1980 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois based in Chicago. AT&T was represented by its outside law firm, Sidley & Austin, now Sidley Austin. After several months of trial, on June 13, 1980, a federal jury returned a verdict in favor of MCI in the amount of $600 million. After trebling the judgment as required by the antitrust laws, the $1.8 billion judgment was the largest monetary award in the history of American law. While the judgment was eventually thrown out on appeal and the case was settled for much less, it was the beginnings of the break-up of the AT&T monopoly; it established MCI as AT&T's primary competitor in the long distance telephone market; and it thrust Jenner & Block into its role as AT&T antagonist.

[edit] Viacom v. Google

On March 13, 2007, Jenner & Block filed a US$1 billion lawsuit on behalf of Viacom against Google Inc., YouTube Inc. and YouTube LLC alleging massive, intentional copyright infringement.[1] The case is being heard in the U.S. District Court in Manhattan. Donald B. Verrilli, Jr., who represented the movie studios in MGM Studios v. Grokster in their victory before the U.S. Supreme Court, is the lead lawyer for Viacom. In a similar case, Jenner & Block is representing the Recording Industry Association of American (RIAA) in copyright litigation against XM satellite radio.

[edit] Supreme Court Practice

Jenner & Block was one of the first national law firms to establish a Washington D.C. practice specifically focused on appeals before the Supreme Court. It was once headed by Bruce Ennis, Jr., now deceased, who argued more than a dozen cases before the Supreme Court during his career, including an unprecedented three cases arising under different provisions of the same law, the landmark Telecommunications Act of 1996, see Reno, Turner, and Iowa Utilities Board cases below. The appellate practice is currently led by Paul M. Smith and Donald B. Verrilli, Jr.. Like Smith and Verrilli, a number of lawyers in the Washington D.C. office are former clerks to the Supreme Court. Among the prominent cases argued by Jenner & Block lawyers before the Supreme Court are--

  • Morrison v. Olson (independent counsel law)
  • AT&T v. Iowa Utilities Board (landmark telecommunications law case),
  • FCC v. Nextwave (multi billion dollar appeal of bankruptcy ruling),
  • Reno v. ACLU (indecency on the Internet),
  • Turner Broadcasting System v. FCC (constitutionality of Cable Act)
  • Wiggins v. Maryland (death penalty case),
  • Lawrence v. Texas (constitutionality of law criminalizing homosexuality),
  • MGM Studios v. Grokster (landmark case on copyright laws in cyberspace).

[edit] Clients

Jenner & Block has represented currently or in the past the following clients:


[edit] Prominent Lawyers and Alumni

[edit] Recognition

Jenner & Block has been recognized as an "A List" firm by the American Lawyer. Jenner & Block has a long history of providing pro bono legal services and was awarded the Pro Bono Publico Award from the American Bar Association in 1995.

[edit] External links

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