California Lawyer magazine has selected Jessica Grant and Sean Kiley of Coblentz Patch Duffy & Bass LLP (San Francisco, California, USA) as recipients of its 18th annual California Lawyer Attorneys of the Year (CLAY) Award. This prestigious award is given to lawyers whose work had a significant impact in the preceding year.
Jessica Grant and Sean Kiley were recognized for successfully trying the largest and most complex trial in New Hampshire history to jury verdict, obtaining a record-setting $816 million verdict for the State of New Hampshire based on MTBE contamination of the state's groundwater by various oil companies, including ExxonMobil. Jessica and Sean were awarded the CLAY honor in the Environmental Law category. This is Jessica's second CLAY Award.
Jessica was lead counsel and Sean a key member of the trial team that represented the State of New Hampshire against ExxonMobil and a number of major oil companies in a statewide groundwater contamination case. Together, they secured $130 million in settlements. ExxonMobil refused to settle. After a three-month trial, the jury unanimously awarded $816 million after deliberating for just 90 minutes. The verdict, of which ExxonMobil's share is $236 million, was the second largest award at that time in the United States in 2013, according to Bloomberg. The case was also the most complex and largest ever tried in the history of New Hampshire. In hailing the verdict, the New Hampshire Attorney General called Jessica "extraordinary."
In 2007, Jessica received a CLAY Award for her work as the lead trial lawyer in Savaglio, et al. v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., in which she obtained a $172 million jury verdict against Wal-Mart on behalf of over 116,000 class members after a four-month trial. The National Law Journal ranked the Savaglio verdict as the tenth largest in 2005, and the largest verdict in an employment law case during that year. Following a subsequent bench trial, Jessica obtained a permanent injunction against Wal-Mart that required the retailer to implement various policies designed to secure its future compliance with California law. In 2008, Jessica served as lead trial counsel in the successful defense of state-law business tort and contract claims brought against Intel Corporation and two other defendants in a hard-fought inventorship dispute in which the plaintiff sought over $400 million in damages.
Few lawyers have obtained nine-figure verdicts for their clients (much less two of them), or have served as first-chair trial counsel in the successful prosecution or defense of clients in three different nine-figure cases involving three unrelated areas of the law. Jessica's unbroken record of trial successes in complex, large-stakes litigation is especially noteworthy given her relatively young age. Jessica was named a 2013 "Top 100 Lawyers in California" and a "Top Women Litigators in California" by the Daily Journal.
Coblentz's Litigation Group was ranked in the top 10 percent of all U.S. law firms for class actions in the Litigation Outlook 2014 report by BTI, which annually provides in-depth analysis of the litigation market based upon direct feedback from corporate counsel at the world's largest companies. In addition to its Litigation Outlook 2014 ranking, Coblentz was named a 'Go-To' Law Firm for Litigation by Corporate Counsel magazine and Richard Patch was named among the best litigators for client service by corporate counsel in BTI's 2014 Client Service All-Star list. Coblentz was also listed in BTI's annual Client Service A-Team 2014: The Survey of Law Firm Client Service Performance, just one of a few mid-sized law firms in the region ranked as a top firm for overall client satisfaction. Coblentz was highlighted for its handling of client problems, dealing with unexpected changes, the quality of its legal skills, advice on businesses and its innovative approach.
About Coblentz Patch Duffy & Bass LLP
Coblentz Patch Duffy & Bass LLP is a premier provider of innovative, results-oriented legal services. The firm specializes in real estate; litigation; business; intellectual property; employment; tax; and family wealth. U.S. News & World Report recognized Coblentz as one of the nation's top law firms in the Best Law Firm list, with a national ranking and a prestigious "Tier 1" ranking in the highly competitive San Francisco law firm category. For more information: www.coblentzlaw.com
