James Hartmann Smith

James H. Smith is a principal in the New York office of McKool Smith. James has a broad-based litigation experience in complex commercial litigation and focuses on antitrust, insurance recovery, and bankruptcy-related litigation.  James has represented plaintiffs and defendants in courts across the country in a variety of high-stakes antitrust matters that cut across numerous industries, including cellular technology, healthcare, consumer goods, and automobiles.  Numerous of James’s plaintiff representations resulted in nine-figure settlements or verdicts.

Antitrust

• The Dial Corporation v. News America.  Representation of a certified class of consumer packaged goods manufacturers, including Dial Corporation, Henkel Consumer Goods, Smithfield Foods Inc., HP Hood LLC, BEF Foods Inc., Kraft Heinz Foods, and Foster Poultry Farms in monopolization claims against News Corporation and affiliated entities.  Secured a $244 million settlement for the class, which included agreement by News Corp. to alter its retailer contracting practices. 
• Red Lion v. General Electric. Representation of Red Lion Medical Safety Inc. and 16 other plaintiffs in securing a $43.8 million (automatically trebled to $131.4 million) verdict against General Electric Company in a jury trial concerning allegations that GE engaged in anticompetitive conduct in the servicing of anesthesia machines.
• Blue Cross Blue Shield Antitrust Opt-Out Litigation. Represent over twenty companies in pursuing antitrust claims against Blue Cross Blue Shield health insurers, alleging the Blues defendants’ practices constitute a per se illegal market allocation scheme.  The plaintiffs opted out of a more than $2.7 billion settlement the Blues defendants reached with a class of subscriber plaintiffs.
• Ericsson v. Apple. Represented Ericsson in a dispute against Apple over fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms for licenses relating to standard essential cellular technologies.  The matter was settled after five days of jury trial, just prior to closing arguments.
• u-blox v. InterDigital. Represent InterDigital against antitrust and contractual claims brought by u-blox involving a dispute over fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms for licenses relating to standard essential cellular technologies.
• HTC v. Ericsson. Represented Ericsson against antitrust claims brought by HTC involving a dispute over fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms for licenses relating to standard essential cellular technologies.
• Visa/MasterCard Interchange Fee Litigation. Represent successor in interest to Sears Holdings Corporation claim against Visa, MasterCard, and issuing banks in the credit card interchange fee antitrust multidistrict litigation.
• Syngenta v. Monsanto. Representation of Syngenta in a civil lawsuit for Sherman Antitrust Act violations. The suit alleged that Monsanto monopolized the U.S. market for genetically modified corn seeds.

Insurance Recovery

• Willis Towers Watson v. National Union et al. Represented Willis Towers Watson in D&O insurance dispute regarding $70 million in coverage for multiple shareholder suits stemming from the merger between Willis and Towers Watson.  Secured summary judgment decision for Willis Towers Watson, where Judge Anthony Trenga in the Eastern District of Virginia held that the insurers could not rely on the “bump-up” exclusion to deny coverage.
• SS&C Technologies Holdings v. AIG. Represented SS&C in securing a summary judgment ruling ordering that insurer must pay full amount of settlement of underlying litigation concerning a multimillion dollar spoofed email fraudulent scheme.
• SS&C Technologies v. Endurance Assurance Corporation. Secured partial summary judgment decision for SS&C, finding that Endurance must provide coverage for SS&C’s expenses related to a lawsuit brought against SS&C by investors who were allegedly defrauded by SS&C’s former client.
• Corning v. National Union. Represent Corning Incorporated in bringing claims against National Union for National Union’s failure to provide coverage for underlying litigation concerning installation of antenna system.
• Midway Wind v. HDI Global et al. Represent Midway Wind LLC in insurance dispute regarding coverage for property damage related to fire at a wind turbine farm in Southeast Texas.

Bankruptcy Litigation

• Freddie Mac v. Deloitte. Represented Freddie Mac in litigation against Deloitte and Touche LLP in which Freddie Mac alleged over $1.3 billion in damages resulting from Deloitte’s flawed audits of Taylor Bean & Whitaker Mortgage Corp., which was the largest independent mortgage lender in the United States that collapsed into bankruptcy in 2009.  The litigation settled shortly before trial.
• Tops Markets. Represent the Trustee of the Tops bankruptcy estates in pursuing hundreds of millions of dollars of claims against the former owners and directors of the Tops grocery chain who orchestrated, authorized and received illicit dividends from the company. 
• ITT Educational Services. Represent the Trustee of the ITT bankruptcy estates in pursuing hundreds of millions of dollars of claims against numerous entities in connection with a private student loan program. Previously represented the ITT Trustee against Deloitte & Touche for its services as auditor of ITT.  Settled matter with Deloitte prior to litigation.
• TBW Bankruptcy. Representation of Freddie Mac in litigation and discovery matters in connection with the bankruptcy of Taylor, Bean & Whitaker Mortgage Corp. Matters include an insurance coverage action against Certain Underwriters at Lloyd’s London and London Market Insurance Companies.

General Commercial Litigation

• Oil Producers Litigation. Representation of more than 80 independent Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas oil producers in lawsuits against Goldman Sachs subsidiary J. Aron & Company and a BP subsidiary arising out of a major midstream energy transporter’s bankruptcy. Previously represented a post-confirmation representative for litigation matters and claims objections.
• Toll Brothers v. Wachovia.  Representation of Toll Brothers and five other national home builders in a case brought by Wachovia Bank, N.A. in the Southern District of New York. The suit alleges that the home builders breached completion guaranties that were executed in connection with a 1,700-acre tract of property that was purchased from the United States Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land Management for more than $500 million in 2005.