Michael Adamson is a versatile litigator representing plaintiffs and defendants in arbitrations and federal and state courts across the country.
In a “historic” copyright infringement action, Adamson and a team from Susman Godfrey secured a $1.5 billion settlement for rightsholders whose books were downloaded by Anthropic from pirated databases “Library Genesis” and “Pirate Library Mirror.” This settlement is the largest publicly reported recovery in the history of U.S. copyright litigation. When preliminarily approving the settlement, Judge Alsup said, “We have some of the best lawyers in America in the courtroom right now.”
Adamson previously secured over $330 million in a confidential arbitration for a client in the renewable energy industry. The litigation proceeded from demand to hearing in just 60 days. After speeding through fact and expert discovery, Adamson led damages examinations at the hearing and helped secure an award of 100 cents on the dollar of the client’s proposed damages model. Adamson also secured for the client a full reimbursement of attorneys’ fees and expenses from the opposing party.
Lawdragon Honors
| Honor | Year | Practice |
|---|---|---|
| The 2026 Lawdragon 500 X – The Next Generation | 2026 | Commercial Litigation |
| The 2025 Lawdragon 500 X – The Next Generation | 2025 | Commercial Litigation |
| The 2024 Lawdragon 500 X – The Next Generation | 2024 | Commercial Litigation |
On the defense side, Adamson represented Wyle Labs, a subsidiary of KBR, in a trade-secrets case. By the end of a four-week trial, the court had struck most of the damages, and the jury had rejected the most significant remaining claims. Through post-trial briefing, Adamson helped defeat some of the jury’s few unfavorable findings. The case ultimately settled for a tiny fraction of the tens of millions in damages asserted – a knockout win for Wyle.
Adamson has also achieved victories for both plaintiffs and defendants in class actions. He recently helped secure an eight-figure settlement for a nationwide class of hundreds of policyholders suing PHL Variable Insurance Company for breach of contract. In state court, Adamson defended cybersecurity company Bitdefender in a consumer class action asserting claims under California’s Unfair Competition Law. Through mediation, Adamson helped negotiate a favorable pre-discovery settlement.
Adamson represents a putative class of disabled students and their families alleging systemic constitutional violations, as well as violations of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The class seeks injunctive relief in the form of widespread reform to the educational system afforded to disabled students in Virginia. Adamson argued against defendants’ motion to dismiss in this case, which has garnered national media attention from the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Politico, Associated Press, and others.