Lewis R. Clayton

A partner in the Litigation Department and co-chair of the Intellectual Property and ERISA Litigation Groups, Lew Clayton is a nationally recognized litigator and trial lawyer. Lew has handled major litigations and counseled clients in a broad range of complex commercial litigation matters. Two areas of particular focus for Lew are intellectual property litigation and counseling, and ERISA, benefits and pension litigation.

Experience

Lew was recently named American Lawyer Daily's "Litigator of the Week" after a groundbreaking $500 million settlement of malpractice litigation brought by Alaska's public pension plans against the plans' former actuary, Mercer (US) Inc. He also recently achieved a landmark victory for several investment managers and funds in a shareholder derivative litigation in Delaware Chancery Court.

Lew is handling a number of major ERISA and benefits-related litigations for several major financial institutions and other clients. He also has extensive experience handling patent litigation in the cosmetics, computer and medical devices industries (among others) and counseling clients in a broad range of patent, copyright, trademark and advertising matters.

Representative complex commercial litigation matters:

• Apollo Management LP and Hexion Specialty Chemicals, Inc. - secured a favorable settlement of multi-billion dollar claims asserted by Huntsman Corporation in multiple jurisdictions after an adverse judgment in the Delaware Chancery Court.
• Derivative plaintiff investment funds and managers who collectively held a 20 percent equity interest in satellite company Loral Space & Communications - obtained sweeping injunctive relief and an award of all their attorney's fees in Delaware Chancery Court.

Representative ERISA, benefits and pension litigation matters:

• The Alaska Retirement Management (ARM) Board, trustee of Alaska's public pension and welfare plans - successful representation of the ARM Board in a suit against the State's former actuary, Mercer (US) Inc., claiming that Mercer's mistakes contributed at least $1.8 billion to Alaska's pension shortfall. The ARM Board alleged that Mercer made fundamental errors in methodology and in basic calculations, thus committing actuarial malpractice and breaching its professional duties and contractual obligations.
• Citigroup - secured a win in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, reversing the district court and throwing out claims alleging that client's multi-billion dollar cash balance plan violated ERISA's backloading, age discrimination and notice requirements.
• Representation of a major commercial and investment bank in a series of class actions asserting violations of fiduciary duties owed to ERISA plans in connection with the investment of cash collateral posted under securities lending programs.

Representative intellectual property matters:

• Carnival - obtaining dismissal of claims alleging infringement of copyrights in Broadway musicals in performances on cruise ships traveling outside of U.S. waters.
• Castrol - representation of major marketer of motor oil in five advertising litigations, winning federal court injunctions against continued broadcast of competitors' nationwide advertising campaigns.
• Prosecution and defense of patent cases in the cosmetics, computer and medical devices industries.

Lew is ranked in Chambers USA 2010-2012 in Intellectual Property and in 2012 in ERISA Litigation. He was also selected by his peers for The Best Lawyers in America 2012 in commercial litigation, banking and finance litigation, ERISA litigation and intellectual property litigation. Lew was recognized by Legal 500 in 2012 for ERISA Litigation. He has been chair and co-chair of the Committee on Intellectual Property of the Commercial and Federal Litigation Section of the New York State Bar Association. Lew writes regular columns on intellectual property litigation for the New York Law Journal and the National Law Journal.

Practices

• Litigation
• Antitrust
• IP Litigation: Copyright & Trademark
• IP Litigation: Patent & Other Scientific
• M&A Litigation
• ERISA, Pension & Benefits Litigation
  

Education

• J.D., Harvard Law School, 1978
  cum laude
• A.B., Harvard College, 1975
  magna cum laude

Bar Admissions

• New York

See Library Tab for articles, publications and presentations by Lewis Clayton