The following is an excerpt from Practice Perspectives: Vault's Guide to Legal Practice Areas.
Claudine Columbres, Partner—Commercial Litigation (2022)
Claudine Columbres is a partner in the firm’s Commercial Litigation practice, with a wide range of experience in complex business disputes, securities litigation, merger litigation, and bankruptcy-related litigation.
Claudine’s work has spanned a broad range of industries including financial services, food service distribution, energy, and oil & gas. She has worked with clients including Anthem, Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Hess Corporation, the Votorantim Group, and Major League Baseball.
Dedicated to helping her clients achieve the best possible outcomes, Claudine has also successfully represented defendants in numerous pro bono cases involving family and matrimonial law.
Describe your practice area and what it entails.
I am a partner in White & Case’s Commercial Litigation practice. I have experience handling high-stakes matters concerning complex contracts, merger and shareholder disputes, business torts, securities, class actions, and alternative dispute resolution. Every case is different and presents new opportunities for strategic thinking and creative arguments. But the common denominator to all cases is a mastery of the facts and applicable law so that you can translate such knowledge into simple, common-sense themes and persuasive arguments for client advice, briefing, oral advocacy, and trial.
What types of clients do you represent?
I work with a diverse group of international and domestic clients that span different industries such as financial services, oil & gas, and pharmaceuticals & healthcare. I also work on pro bono cases involving criminal appeals and family and matrimonial law.
What types of cases/deals do you work on?
Most of our cases are complex commercial disputes where the financial stakes are high. For example, we represented Anthem in a nearly US$2 billion busted deal dispute with Cigna. In 2015, Anthem and Cigna agreed to merge, and at issue in the litigation was the merger agreement’s covenant for the parties to use best efforts to obtain antitrust approval and close the deal. It was a difficult road to obtain antitrust approval, and that difficulty was compounded when Cigna began covertly working against approval. After a district court blocked the merger as anticompetitive, Cigna tried to terminate the merger and sued Anthem for breach of the best efforts covenant, seeking the US$1.85 billion break-up fee, plus billions in damages. That same day, we sought a temporary restraining order (TRO) to prevent Cigna’s termination and the TRO was granted the very next day. We also sued Cigna for breach of its best efforts covenants. After an appeal court affirmed the lower court’s decision to block the merger, Anthem terminated the merger under a termination provision based on Cigna’s breaches of the best efforts covenant and which did not trigger the payment of any break-up fee. The lawsuit included two years of intense and contentious discovery where Cigna initially withheld damaging evidence as privileged. The case really came together when we moved to compel the production of the withheld documents, which resulted in our uncovering a large and colorful volume of evidence that Cigna was trying to block the merger. In 2019, a two-week trial was held in Delaware’s Chancery Court, which involved more than 4,600 trial exhibits, 111 lodged depositions and the entire record from the antitrust case. The trial court agreed with our arguments and found that Cigna willfully breached the best efforts covenant and that Anthem was not obligated to pay the US$1.85 billion break-up fee. In addition, we defeated each of Cigna’s claims of breaches against Anthem. Cigna then appealed the denial of the break-up fee, claiming that it was automatically entitled to the fee if the merger failed to obtain antitrust approval. In 2021, the Delaware Supreme Court affirmed our victory that Anthem was not obligated to pay the US$1.85 billion break-up fee because Anthem validly terminated based on Cigna’s breaches under a provision that did not trigger the break-up fee.
How did you choose this practice area?
Growing up in a family where my parents were in the medical profession, I knew that I was not interested in medicine. I began exploring non-medical professions during college and one of my professors told me I would make a great lawyer. Given that I had no experience with the law, I decided to become a legal assistant before applying to law school. After receiving a number of offers, I chose White & Case because I loved all of my interviews, which helped set the firm apart from other firms. As a legal assistant, I was able to see cases from start to finish, assist with briefs, prep depositions, meet clients and become an integral part of trial teams. This experience solidified my decision to go to law school and join the same group as a lawyer.
What is a typical day like and/or what are some common tasks you perform?
Every day is different for a litigator depending on what stage you are in your matters. Given most of my work is on very large cases, my daily tasks typically involve a tremendous amount of teamwork and collaboration given. A normal day involves meetings with the team to talk things through and see if there are fresh ways to approach the task at hand, whether it be drafting a brief or preparing for deposition or trial. In addition, litigation also entails a fair amount of reading comprehension—to be effective, you need to know your record (both good and bad) and the relevant case law so that you can assess the strengths and weaknesses of your case and anticipate the arguments of your adversary.
What training, classes, experience or skills development would you recommend to someone who wishes to enter your practice area?
My young children learn at school that practice makes progress, and I believe that applies here because the best way to develop the skills for this practice area is to immerse yourself in the experience. So I would recommend to someone who wishes to be in commercial litigation to take classes and/or look for opportunities that allow you to get on your feet and use the skills needed to be an effective litigator. For law students, this means clinical programs or trial advocacy classes. For the young lawyer, this means seeking out pro bono opportunities, which allow you to be the lead on the brief, trial, or oral argument. Also, effective oral advocacy (which involves both speaking and listening) is an important skill that does not always involve a courtroom. Litigators need to communicate effectively to not only the court, but also the client, your team members, and opposing counsel. Team meetings or meet-and-confer conferences with opposing counsel provide an opportunity to develop your oral advocacy skills. Writing is another important skill. You want to be as clear as possible, particularly for briefs because the audience is typically a very busy judge, who does not live and breathe a case like you do, and who will appreciate good organization and clarity.
What do you like best about your practice area?
There are so many things I like that it is hard to pick one. I enjoy that every case brings a new subject matter or issue and thus, opportunities for creative thinking and maybe even new law. I also enjoy working with the people in my group, especially the associates. They infuse so much enthusiasm, energy, and creativity that you cannot help but be inspired and motivated. At one point in time, I was working on two very large matters where they overlapped for about a year in terms of being gangbusters-busy at the same time. Both of those cases would not have been as successful without the large team of associates really stepping up, taking ownership of the case, and being on top of everything and thinking strategically and working collaboratively. Collaboration is key, and I think it really motivates associates to perform at their maximum capacity because they know that if they meaningfully contribute, and show they are smart and invested, their input will be taken seriously. So that high-performance, high-energy environment is one of the best things about this practice.
What are some typical tasks that a junior lawyer would perform in this practice area?
Common tasks for litigators are drafting briefs, handling discovery disputes, preparing for depositions, preparing for trial, and drafting appeal briefs. Junior lawyers are very much involved in all of those tasks. Junior lawyers also do the lion’s share of the work when it comes to document review and legal research.
What kinds of experience can summer associates gain at this practice area at your firm?
Summer associates are given the same experience as junior lawyers and frequently attend court conferences, depositions, and trial. And all summer associates are assigned to work on at least one pro bono matter to help hone their skills.
In what ways has the coronavirus pandemic affected your practice? How have you adjusted to lawyering in the wake of COVID-19?
Obviously, COVID-19 forced us to adjust to a new way of working remotely. As a litigator, you often travel for depositions and court, and that all changed quickly in March 2020. Nevertheless, our teams quickly adapted to work under the new normal of Zoom and WebEx so that we could continue to provide top-notch legal services to our clients. I think we all became more advanced in technology and thus, more efficient—which will have long-running benefits to the practice going forward.