Hueston Hennigan LLP

With more than 75 lawyers in Southern California, Hueston Hennigan is a litigation boutique that has made a name for itself as one of the go-to trial firms in the country. The firm prides itself in handling high-stakes litigation with an eye toward trial from the start. Business giants like Elon Musk, William McGlashan, and Bill Koch call on the firm for counsel.

It Only Took 24 Hours

In January 2015, John Hueston and Brian Hennigan broke off from Irell & Manella to form Hueston Hennigan LLP, bringing along a few of the firm’s previous partners, as well as partners from similar competitive firms. Within 24 hours, the firm had grown to more than 30 attorneys. Since then, Hueston Hennigan has rapidly established itself as a top litigation boutique.

Trial Regulars

Nestled among Vault’s Top 10 Litigation Boutiques, Hueston Hennigan is a standout when it comes to trial work. The firm has received accolades from the likes of Chambers, Legal 500, Law 360, Benchmark Litigation, and National Law Journal, among others, and for good reason. Hueston Hennigan handles important litigation for such high-profile clients as Amazon, Tesla, Deloitte, Edison International, Qualcomm, T-Mobile, Disney, SpaceX, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Monster Energy, the Navajo Nation, and Whole Foods. 

Its litigators work across nearly 20 practice areas, including antitrust, appellate, commercial litigation, consumer fraud, class actions, health care, securities, trade secrets, and white collar, to name a handful. Hueston Hennigan’s approach to its work is markedly different from many of the law firms that sit across the table from it—something the firm describes as “disruptive strategies.” At Hueston Hennigan, every case is treated as though it will go to trial, and according to the firm, its lawyers are trained to think like outside general counsels as they approach each matter. The firm works both as plaintiffs’ counsel—achieving settlements in the billions—and as defendants’ counsel, advising everyone from Fortune 500 companies to individuals.

Talented Bunch

There’s no need to dust off the resumes at Hueston Hennigan—their lawyers’ resumes shine. The firm recruits from top law schools and attracts a high number of clerks. Nearly 70 percent of the associates at Hueston Hennigan have clerked for judges at federal district courts, courts of appeals, or the highest courts of several states. And when it comes to trial experience, the firm has the goods—its lawyers have collectively participated in hundreds of trials to date, with recent wins for Amazon, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and Acorn Technologies.

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• Hueston Hennigan is a trial-focused firm representing a broad array of clients including Amazon, Boeing, Caltech, Disney, McDonald’s, Navajo Nation, Monster Energy, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Edison International, Twitch, Freedom for Immigrants, etc.
• Won a “record-setting” $293 million verdict—the largest Lanham Act award ever—for Monster Energy Company against rival beverage company Vital Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in a false advertising, tortious interference, and trade secret case after a monthlong trial.
• Secured more than $40 million in payments to date from the United States Environmental Protection Agency and private parties for the Navajo Nation in connection with the unprecedented Gold King Mine disaster.
• Founded and fully fund the Social Justice Legal Foundation, an organization dedicated to advancing social justice through trial litigation, and to training the next generation of lawyers to commit themselves to the fight for civil rights.
• Won a “landmark” opioid trial for Endo Pharmaceuticals in a closely watched $50 billion California case alleging public nuisance, unfair competition, and false advertising.