Antitrust Litigation

• Epic Games: Member of the core trial team that secured a jury verdict on behalf of Epic Games against Google in the Google Play Store litigation in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Following a four-week trial, the jury deliberated for fewer than three hours before returning a verdict for Epic on every claim, including unlawful monopolization, illegal restraints of trade, and tying in violation of the Sherman Act. The case successfully challenged Google’s anticompetitive conduct in the markets for Android app distribution and in-app billing services. Nathan’s responsibilities included eliciting trial testimony from key third parties. He was also part of the Epic Games team that won a first-of-its-kind permanent injunction against Apple requiring changes to its platform practices, which was later affirmed on appeal.
• Nationwide Distributor of Customized Emergency Vehicles: Represented a nationwide distributor as co-lead counsel in a federal lawsuit alleging that a supplier’s attempted termination of a nine-figure contractual relationship violated the Robinson-Patman Act, state distributor relationship statutes, and a state unfair trade practices statute. Following an initial hearing on the client’s request for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction, the case settled on favorable terms.
• Qualcomm, Inc.: Part of the trial team representing Qualcomm in high-stakes antitrust litigation with Apple concerning chipset sales and licensing practices, culminating in a favorable settlement for Qualcomm on the first day of trial in federal court.

Intellectual Property Litigation

• Mystic Seaport Museum: Represented Mystic Seaport Museum, one of the world’s foremost maritime museums, as lead counsel in a federal copyright and contract lawsuit seeking to nullify a decades-old donation of thousands of historically significant yacht design drawings. The district court granted summary judgment on all of plaintiffs’ copyright and contract-based copying claims and further held that the donated drawings—described as the “yacht-world equivalent of holding the original sheets where Beethoven drafted his symphonies”—must remain with the museum. The summary judgment win earned Nathan a spot as The American Lawyer’s runner-up “Litigator of the Week,” and his winning summary judgment brief earned a separate profile from Am Law Litigation Daily. As part of the settlement, the plaintiff issued an apology for bringing the suit.
• The Authors Guild, Inc.: Represented The Authors Guild and other artists’ rights organizations as amici curiae in a Ninth Circuit case addressing the continued viability of the copyright “discovery rule.” The Ninth Circuit favorably quoted amici’s brief in holding the rule “alive and well,” opening a circuit split and contributing to the Supreme Court granting certiorari in a related case. Nathan also represented The Authors Guild as amicus curiae before the Supreme Court, which ruled 6–3 in favor of the Guild’s position.

Other Commercial Litigation

• Shipbroking Firm: Representing a shipbroking firm in a dispute over an unpaid brokerage fee arising from the sale of a liftboat for use in an oil development project in Angola. The matter settled with the client recovering its full fee.
• Family of Online Dating Companies: Representing a family of online dating companies as lead counsel in consumer litigations and arbitrations arising from their platforms. Obtained complete dismissals of claims, including on the basis that they were barred by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.
• Major Streaming Service: Represented a major streaming service as co-lead counsel in an arbitration involving valuation disputes between the service’s two investor-owners, both major media companies. Succeeded in having our client dismissed as a party.

Bankruptcy Adversary Proceedings

• Chaucer: Represented Chaucer in an adversary proceeding against the estate of Vesttoo following revelation of a $4 billion fraud. Successfully established that certain funds claimed by the estate were subject to a constructive trust for Chaucer’s benefit, resulting in an 82.5% recovery of approximately $19 million—the highest absolute and percentage recovery among similarly situated creditors.
• Pacific Gas & Electric: Represented PG&E in tort litigation arising from the 2017 Tubbs Fire, then the most destructive wildfire in California history.
• Credit Suisse: Represented Credit Suisse in litigation against the Lehman estate concerning the termination and close-out of tens of thousands of derivatives trades.

Government and Other Investigations

• Representing a special committee of the board of a public company in connection with a shareholder demand.
• Represented a major third-party handbag manufacturer in connection with the FTC’s successful litigation blocking the proposed merger between Tapestry, Inc. and Capri Holdings Limited.
• Represented a public company in an internal investigation into potential misconduct by a senior executive.
• Represented a private family foundation in internal investigations involving potential employee misconduct and related whistleblower claims.
• Represented a public company employee as lead counsel in an SEC investigation into potential insider trading; the SEC declined to pursue enforcement action.
• Represented a cryptocurrency firm and its CEO in an investigation into anonymous defamatory statements sent to prospective investors, which led to the identification of the speaker and a retraction.