Bart H. Williams

Notable representations in civil trials and arbitrations include:

• Lead trial counsel for Monsanto in a case brought by a woman claiming that use of the herbicide Roundup caused her non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Following a five month trial in Stephens v. Monsanto, a California jury rejected the claims entirely, returning a defense verdict on all claims and awarding zero damages. All prior trials involving plaintiffs who claimed to have personally applied Roundup resulted in verdicts against Monsanto ranging from $80 million to over $2 billion. “Bayer wins second straight verdict in a Roundup cancer case.,” Reuters December 9, 2021;
• Lead trial counsel for the major college athletics conferences, including the Pac12, BigTen, Big 12, ACC, and SEC, in a high-profile antitrust case brought by a class of Division I football and men’s and women’s basketball players alleging that NCAA limitations on compensation to athletes violate the antitrust laws. “Who’s Who in the NCAA Antitrust Trial,” Sports Business Journal, August 13, 2018.
• Lead trial counsel for NBCUniversal and KNBC Los Angeles in a one-month jury trial in Los Angeles Superior Court in a case brought by an award-winning investigative producer alleging age discrimination. After four days of deliberations, the court declared a mistrial after the jury announced that it was deadlocked. “NBC Benched Reporter” For Being ‘Too Veteran,’ Jury Told, Law360 December 4, 2015.
• Lead trial counsel for Wells Fargo Bank in federal court in St. Paul, Minnesota, in a suit alleging mismanagement of pension investments in its securities lending program. Plaintiffs, including pension funds for nurses, nuns, local philanthropic organizations and a local university, alleged that Wells Fargo placed plaintiffs’ securities worth billions of dollars into highly risky ventures and failed to disclose the deteriorating condition of the investments. Wells Fargo argued that it did not misrepresent its investment strategy and that the losses were attributable to the financial crisis. After a seven-week trial, the jury returned a unanimous verdict for Wells Fargo on all claims and awarded zero damages. “Wells Fargo Beats Suit Over Securities-Lending Losses,” Law360 August 8, 2013.
• Lead trial counsel for plaintiff Rambus, Inc. in connection with its multi-billion dollar anti-trust claims against two of the world’s largest computer memory manufacturers, Micron Technology, Inc. and Hynix Semiconductor, Inc. Defendant Samsung Electronics America, Inc. settled this and other cases for cash and equity investments totaling $900 million. The trial against the remaining defendants, Micron Technology and Hynix Semiconductor, set a record in San Francisco Superior Court for the length of jury deliberations (eight weeks), after which the jury returned a 9 to 3 verdict for defendants.
• Lead trial counsel for a major national law firm sued for professional negligence by Alliance Atlantis, then the largest film distribution company in Canada. After a three-week trial the jury returned a unanimous defense verdict and awarded zero damages.
• Lead trial counsel for a national private security firm in an action alleging a nationwide practice of retaliatory termination. After a 13-week trial in Oakland-Alameda County Superior Court, the jury returned a unanimous defense verdict and awarded zero damages.

Bart has successfully represented numerous companies and individuals identified as targets of grand jury investigations, including the brother of a former president of the United States, a sitting U.S. District Court judge, entertainment industry executives, the general counsel of a multinational corporation and other corporate executives. He has also represented politicians and other prominent figures in connection with both state and federal corruption probes.

Notable criminal trial victories include:

• Lead trial counsel for Keith Kaplan, the president of sales of Latitude 90, a publicly traded internet advertising company, who was charged in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California with conspiracy to inflate the company’s revenues and with causing the company to have false books and records. After a two-week trial, despite the testimony of two executives who had pleaded guilty and were cooperating with the government, the jury acquitted Mr. Kaplan on all charges after two hours of deliberation.
• Lead trial counsel for Paul Koh, a senior Hyundai Motor America executive, who was charged criminally in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California with violating the Federal Election Campaign Act. The jury acquitted Mr. Koh on all charges after a two-week jury trial in Los Angeles, California.