Michael A. Glick

False Claims Litigation & Investigations 

• U.S. ex rel. Oberg v. Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency. Trial counsel for student lending agency in successful jury trial in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia involving allegations under the federal False Claims Act. Client faced exposure of more than $350 million based on alleged fraud of U.S. Department of Education lending program, and was lone defendant remaining following settlements by seven other lenders. The result was profiled in the American Lawyer and Law360.
• Counsel to government contractor regarding investigation by U.S. Department of Justice and Office of Inspector General of Executive Branch department related to alleged overpayments on contract for federal healthcare program.
• U.S. ex rel. Hlywiak v. Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency. Successfully dismissed False Claims Act claim against client based on alleged misallocation of voluntary loan payments made under the CARES Act. Court adopted client’s arguments on each of falsity, materiality, and scienter prongs of Act. Court also dismissed in full related putative class action alleging misrepresentation of payment application procedures.

Voting Rights Litigation

• Donald J. Trump for President, Inc. v. Boockvar. Counsel on behalf of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and Secretary of the Commonwealth Kathy Boockvar in successful defense of several voting practices and procedures, including the use of dropboxes for the return of mail-in/absentee ballots, in advance of the 2020 Presidential election. Following expedited discovery, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania granted summary judgment in favor of the Secretary and against the challengers in an 138-page opinion, rejecting the Trump Campaign’s claims of voter fraud as mere “speculation” and noting that the evidence of such fraud is “scant.” The court likewise ruled in the Secretary’s favor in finding that voters’ signatures on their mail-in ballots were not subject to review or challenge and rejecting the plaintiffs’ request that the court relax certain rules related to poll watchers, making it an across-the-board victory. The AmLaw’s Litigation Daily recognized this victory in naming Michael as one of the Litigators of the Week.
• North Carolina State Conference of the NAACP v. McCrory. Trial counsel on behalf of plaintiffs who successfully challenged 2013 North Carolina statute that restricted voting opportunities and burdened the right to vote for African-Americans in violation of both the Voting Rights Act and the U.S. Constitution by requiring voters to show photo ID at the polls, eliminating same-day voter registration and student pre-registration, and shortening the early voting period. Served as lead trial counsel for the six-day bench trial focused on the law’s photo ID provision. Based on the record developed at trial, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit invalidated the law, determining that it could “only conclude that the North Carolina General Assembly enacted the challenged provisions of the law with discriminatory intent,” and observing that the challenged provisions “target[ed] African Americans with almost surgical precision,” and “impose[d] cures for problems that did not exist.”
• Counsel to several individuals and advocacy organizations challenging attempts by state secretaries of state and board of elections to turn over voter data to the now-defunct Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity. Secured temporary restraining order enjoining Texas Secretary of State from turning over requested data. By the time the Commission disbanded in January 2018, none of the States subject to Kirkland’s challenges had provided the Commission with the requested data.

Class Action Litigation

• In re Abbott Recalled Infant Formula MDL. Lead counsel for leading healthcare company in successful motion to dismiss economic loss claims of consumers who alleged overpayment in purchase of powdered infant formula at supposed risk of contamination. Court’s order dismissed 13 nationwide putative class actions asserting hundreds of millions of dollars in damages, which had been consolidated in multi-district litigation. The court held that the plaintiffs received exactly what they say they bargained for: safe infant formula and therefore lacked standing to sue Abbott.
• ZF TRW Automotive. National coordinating counsel to ZF TRW in multi-district litigation encompassing more than two dozen nationwide class actions alleging breach of warranty, fraud, and other claims based on allegedly defective airbag control units.
• La Fosse et al. v. Sanderson Farms, Inc. Lead counsel in putative class action brought by class of consumers alleging false advertising of poultry products. After successfully moving to reduce the size of the putative class through motions practice, secured voluntary dismissals from the remaining plaintiffs with prejudice following discovery and upon threat of summary judgment. As part of a stipulated dismissal, plaintiffs conceded that “after a considerable expenditure of legal resources and a detailed review of the facts and law,” they determined to voluntarily dismiss the remaining claims and acknowledged that Sanderson had not paid them any consideration or provided any other form of relief.
• VanCleave v. Abbott Laboratories. Counsel for Abbott defending ongoing action in the Superior Court for the State of California (Santa Clara County) challenging Abbott’s labeling statements on its PediaSure products.

False Advertising Litigation

• Friends of the Earth, et al. v. Sanderson Farms, Inc. and In Defense of Animals v. Sanderson Farms, Inc. Secured dismissals on behalf of Sanderson in two actions spanning more than four years in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California challenging Sanderson’s “100% Natural” advertising. Following initial investigation and discovery into plaintiffs’ allegations related to USDA testing (including depositions of USDA officials), plaintiffs abandoned allegations related to USDA testing and lead plaintiff voluntarily dismissed all claims. Following fact discovery of remaining plaintiff organizations, Sanderson demonstrated based on key admissions obtained from depositions of plaintiff organizations that plaintiffs lacked standing to pursue claims. Successfully argued defense of appeal before U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which affirmed dismissal in unanimous opinion. After organizations brought follow-on case advancing similar allegations, successfully moved to dismiss for lack of organizational standing.
• Cablevision Systems Corp. v. Verizon. Trial counsel for Verizon in false advertising action in federal district court in New York regarding wireless Internet, television, and cellular services. Successfully obtained temporary restraining order barring Cablevision from making false and defamatory claims against Verizon while successfully opposing Cablevision’s motion for preliminary injunction against Verizon’s advertising. 

Bankruptcy Litigation

• In re Dolan Co. Trial counsel for Dolan Media in multi-day confirmation hearing involving contested valuation of debtor in United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. The matter settled after three days of trial and the company emerged from bankruptcy days later.
• In re Charter Communications. Counsel for Charter in multiple appeals taken from multibillion dollar bankruptcy confirmation proceeding. Responsible for briefing in United States District Court for the Southern District of New York and Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
• In re Residential Capital. Counsel to parent company of debtor in year-long investigation by court-appointed examiner stemming from Chapter 11 filing of wholly-owned mortgage subsidiary.

Other Commercial Litigation & Disputes

• SES v. Intelsat. Trial counsel to Intelsat (one of the world’s largest satellite companies) in successful bench trial against its chief competitor, SES, in dispute over payments ordered by the FCC for giving up certain radiofrequency spectrum to be repurposed for 5G mobile technology. Notwithstanding that the FCC had directed payments be made to each satellite company individually, SES alleged that the parties’ respective payments were subject to payment under a consortium agreement entered into by the parties. After a seven-day bench trial, the court denied SES’s claims seeking more than $400 million in money earmarked to Intelsat, finding that the plain language of contract required finding for Intelsat and that SES’s executives’ explanations under cross-examination at trial were not credible.
• Evergreen International Airlines v. Boeing. Counsel for Boeing in contract dispute concerning termination of Evergreen as operator of Boeing's Dreamlifter aircraft. Won motion to dismiss the wrongful termination claim in federal district court; case later voluntarily dismissed with prejudice.
• Agility Defense & Government Services, Inc. v. DynCorp International. Counsel for Agility in a successful, 3-week AAA arbitration in a government contracting dispute over whether the parties had a joint venture relationship, and whether DynCorp was entitled to take Agility's share of profits upon termination of a subcontract for services under a $6 billion U.S. Army contract. Successfully defended DynCorp's 9-figure counterclaim.
• Represented Honeywell International Inc. in breach of employment contract and trade secrets dispute regarding hiring of key employee by competitor.
• Represented Verizon Wireless in arbitration with wireless partnership in relation to Verizon Wireless's merger with Alltel Corporation. Successfully secured early ruling on key legal issue prior to settlement.