[December 03, 2014]

Fish & Richardson Principal Thomas Melsheimer Named "Securities MVP" for 2014 by Law360

Fish & Richardson announced today that Thomas Melsheimer, managing principal of the firm's Dallas office, has been named a 2014 "Securities MVP" by Law360 for his "expert handling" of billionaire entrepreneur and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban's defense in a high profile insider trading case brought by the Securities and Exchange Commissin (SEC (News - Alert)). In a "stunning conclusion," Melsheimer won a unanimous jury verdict that cleared Cuban of any wrongdoing following a three-week trial in Dallas federal court.

As lead trial counsel, former federal prosecutor Melsheimer "was an invaluable part of our team," according to Mark Cuban. Melsheimer has represented Cuban, the Dallas Mavericks, and other Cuban business interests since 2000, including "beating back a long-running and bitter challenge to his ownership of the Mavericks by minority shareholder H. Ross Perot Jr." in 2014.

Law360 highlighted Melsheimer's "key role in convincing the jury" in the Cuban SEC case, noting that, "In his two-hour closing argument, he painted Cuban's accusers as an overzealous government authority."

Melsheimer has been described as "one of the most sought after trial lawyers in the country" by The American Lawyer. In 2012, he worked alongside the Texas Attorney General's Office to win a $158 million settlement against Johnson & Johnson over claims of illegal marketing practices associated with the prescription drug Risperdal. It was the year's second-largest settlement in Texas and the largest Medicaid fraud settlement in state history.

Law360 also noted Melsheimer's "$178 million jury verdict IRCC v. NL Industries," that he won on behalf of the plaintiff. The jury award, which included nearly $150 million in punitive damages in the breach of fiduciary duty case, was named one of The National Law Journal's Top Verdicts of the year.

Fish & Richardson (News - Alert) is a global patent, intellectual property (IP) litigation, and commercial litigation law firm with more than 400 attorneys and technology specialists across the U.S. and Europe. Fish has been named the #1 patent litigation firm in the U.S. for 11 consecutive years. Fish has been winning cases worth billions in controversy - often by making new law - for the most innovative clients and influential industry leaders since 1878. For more information, visit www.fr.com.

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]