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Plaintiffs and defendantswill be pleased to knownow works on both sides.Of the Atlantic.Slattery tv. U.S.Ending a 19-year fight with the federal government over theFederal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s 1992 seizure ofMeritor Savings Bank, the U.S. Court of Federal Claimson December 15 ordered the U.S. government to pay a $276 millionjudgment to Meritor’s shareholders.Meritor’s investors stand to receive $4.50 a share; their counsel,Winston & Strawn, gets a $24 million contingency fee. The firm’sThomas Buchanan has represented shareholders since 1993.The order followed years of tortured litigation involving not justMeritor but various banks that failed during the savings and loancrisis. Meritor took over a failing Pennsylvania bank in 1982 at thebehest of the FDIC; as part of that deal, the FDIC credited Meritorwith almost $800 million in “goodwill,” an accounting trick that thegovernment sanctioned throughout the crisis to encourage mergersby solvent institutions.But in 1991, the FDIC stopped recognizing goodwill, and Meritorsubsequently fell below the minimum capital threshold requiredof the bank. In 1992 the agency seized Meritor and sold its assetsfor $181 million. Soon afterward Winston & Strawn filed a derivativeand putative class action against the FDIC in the Court ofClaims. In 2006 the trial court judge found that the governmenthad breached its contract with Meritor and awarded damages.The government appealed, arguing that the Court of FederalClaims did not have jurisdiction over federal agencies like theFDIC that do not receive funds appropriated by Congress. After a2-to-1 ruling finding that jurisdiction was valid, the court agreed toreview the issue en banc. In January 2011 it ruled once again thatthe court did have jurisdiction.FOR PLAINTIFFS FRANK P.SLATTERY, JR., ET AL.Winston & Strawn:Thomas Buchanan, and PeterDykema. (Dykema has since leftthe firm; the rest are in Washington,D.C.) Slattery hired Buchanan, then40, despite qualms about his relativelyyoung age, after being turneddown by other attorneys.FOR INTERVENOR STEVEN ROTHSullivan & Cromwell: RichardUrowsky, counsel Bradley Smith,and associate Benjamin Walker.(They are in New York.) The firm hadno additional comment.FOR DEFENDANT UNITED STATESOF AMERICAIn-House: At the commercialFor breaking litigation news, read The Am Law Litigation Daily. Go to litigationdaily.comlitigation branch of the U.S. Departmentof Justice: director JeanneDavidson, assistant director ScottAustin, senior trial counsel BrianMizoguchi, and counsel JacobSchunk. At the Federal DepositInsurance Corporation: seniorcounsel Lawrence Richmondand counsel Leslie Conover andJaclyn Taner.—Nate Raymond, with Tom CosterU.S. v. RanbaxyaxOn December 21 DaiichiSankyo Company,Limited, of Japan announcedthat it would pay $500million to resolve civil andcriminal liability related toRanbaxy Laboratories Limited,an Indian generic drugcompany in which it acquired acontrolling stake in 2008. Thesettlement stemmed from allegationsthat Ranbaxy marketedgeneric drugs that didn’t meetU.S. safety standards.On January 25, the U.S.Department of Justice filed aconsent decree for a permanentinjunction against Ranbaxypreventing it from makingdrugs for the U.S. market atspecific facilities until theymeet U.S. standards. It alsomandates that Ranbaxy hire anoutside expert to audit futuredata that it submits to the Foodand Drug Administration.Ranbaxy was represented byW. Warren Hamel and GeoffreyGarinther of Venable inthe settlement with the JusticeDepartment. Carmen Shepardand Kate Beardsley of ZuckermanSpaeder handled the FDAagreement.The case dates back to 2008,when federal prosecutors suedRanbaxy and a consultant infederal district court in Baltimoreto enforce subpoenas relatedto the probe. According tothe consent decree, the governmentuncovered that Ranbaxywas submitting false drug datato the FDA and producing andmarketing adulterated drugsinternationally.FOR PETITIONER THE UNITEDSTATES OF AMERICAIn-House: For the Food and DrugAdministration: deputy generalcounsel David Horowitz, actingchief counsel–food and drug divisionElizabeth Dickinson, deputychief counsel–litigation Eric Blumberg,and senior counsel MarciNorton. For the Justice Department’scivil division: assistant attorneygeneral Tony West and actingdeputy assistant attorney generalMaame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong.At the consumer protectionERIC BLOOMWinston &StrawnTHOMAS BUCHANANWinston &StrawnW. WARREN HAMELVenableCARMEN SHEPARDZuckermanSpaederKATHLEENDONOVAN-MAHERBerman DeValerioBILL CARMODYSusmanGodfreySUSAN SHINArnold &PorterThe American Lawyer | March 2012 39