John C. Hueston

John Hueston has been described by Chambers USA, which ranked him in Band 1 nationally, as “the best trial lawyer of his generation” with “a commanding reputation for trial advocacy.” He has been recognized twice as a “California Lawyer of the Year” by California Lawyer magazine, twice as “California Trial Lawyer of the Year” by Benchmark Litigation, and among the “Top Lawyers of the Decade” by the Daily Journal.

Mr. Hueston won “the largest-ever U.S. trademark award” (Reuters) for Monster Energy Company against rival beverage company Vital Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Following a two-week trial, an arbitrator awarded Monster and Orange Bang $175 million in damages, nearly $10 million in attorney’s fees and costs, and an extraordinary 5 percent royalty on all future sales of Bang Energy. (“Monster asks court to enforce $175 mln award against Bang Energy maker,” Reuters; “Monster, Orange Bang Win $175M Against Rival In Arbitration,” Law360).

In addition, he won a four-month trial and gave drug companies their only opioids trial victory to date in the more than 3,300 lawsuits filed nationally. In defense of Endo Pharmaceuticals, he demolished the plaintiff’s principal arguments in the nationwide $50 billion opioid litigation that pharmaceutical companies caused a nuisance through their marketing and sale of prescription opioid medications. (“How Hueston Hennigan Notched A Landmark Opioid Trial Win,” Law360; “Opioid Makers Win Major Victory in California Trial,” The New York Times; “Drug Makers Handed First Win Out of Thousands of National Opioid Crisis Lawsuits,” Newsweek).

The Endo win at trial and the Monster decision in arbitration are the bookends for Mr. Hueston’s extraordinary—and successful—run. Alongside these two widely reported victories in November 2021 and April 2022, respectively, Mr. Hueston ran up a series of other courtroom, trial, and arbitration wins second to none. In the $25 million intellectual property jury trial win against Samsung in the EDTX, Mr. Hueston had to take time off from the Endo trial in California to make arguments at trial in Marshall, Texas.

Over the years, Mr. Hueston’s high-profile practice and trial work have attracted worldwide attention, beginning with his celebrated role as lead prosecutor in the successful three-month “business trial of the century” (Mr. Hueston is featured in this year’s Wall Street Journal podcast: Bad Bets – Enron: Lies and Choices, discussing Enron against former CEOs Jeffrey Skilling and Ken Lay). He recovered $5.15 billion after trial in Tronox v. Anadarko, the nation’s largest environmental fraudulent transfer case. As chronicled in the bestseller The Billionaire’s Vinegar, Mr. Hueston won an eight-figure recovery after a three-week jury trial in New York on behalf of William Koch in his worldwide crusade against wine fraud. He also defeated the SEC’s contempt action against Elon Musk for alleged improper tweeting. The American Lawyer described it as “a clear win for Musk’s lawyer, John Hueston.” (“How Hueston Hennigan Steered Tesla’s Musk to Safety.”)