Andrew D. Silverman

Andrew Silverman is an appellate lawyer focusing on high-stakes, precedent-setting cases nationwide. A distinguishing feature of Andrew’s practice is that clients routinely call on him in the trial court to win the case even before the appeal. 

• Engagements

  Trial Engagements

  Oracle America, Inc. v. Google – In what was dubbed “The World Series of Copyright Suits,” Andrew led all briefing in the retrial of Oracle’s bet-the-company lawsuit alleging copyright infringement against Google’s Android operating system.  Andrew ran point on jury instructions, motions in limine, Daubert motions, motions for JMOL and a new trial. Andrew was also one of the primary attorneys on the appellate team that twice prevailed in winning, first, that Oracle's software code is copyrightable and, second, that Google's copying infringed.

  TDF Litigation - Andrew represents Gilead Sciences in dispositive motions and other briefing in products-liability litigation brought by nearly 30,000 plaintiffs. Andrew has briefed common-issues summary-judgment motions in both state and federal court, as well as motions in limine and jury instructions. Andrew has also led briefing of an appeal in the California Court of Appeal and now in the California Supreme Court challenging the legal viability of the state plaintiffs sole remaining claim for relief.
  

  MF Global v. PricewaterhouseCoopers – In litigation stemming from the high-profile collapse of MF Global, Andrew assisted a trial team in representing PwC against a $3B accounting malpractice suit by the bankruptcy estate. Andrew worked on jury instructions, motions in limine, mid-trial objections, a motion for a mistrial, and a motion for judgment as a matter of law. Owing in part to the legal victories throughout trial, the case settled to the mutual satisfaction of the parties three weeks into a five-week trial .

  The City of Jacksonville & the Jacksonville Energy Authority v. Municipal Energy Authority of Georgia – Andrew represented MEAG in dueling suits regarding construction of the first nuclear power plant in the United States in decades. On a dispositive pre-trial motion, Andrew persuaded the district court that the contract JEA sought to invalidate -- the centerpiece in securing $6.8 billion in funding for the construction -- was binding, valid, and enforceable.

  Hernandezcueva v. Union Carbide - Andrew led post-trial briefing that overturned a $100 million verdict in a wrongful death case. The court granted Union Carbide's motion for JNOV, holding that there was no evidence that the plaintiff had been exposed to Union Carbide asbestos. In the alternative, the court agreed that the verdict was the result of jury and attorney misconduct, the compensatory and punitive damages awards were excessive, and the jury's fault allocation was unsupported by the evidence. 
  

  Oracle v. U.S. Dep’t of Labor – Andrew led a team that sued the Department of Labor, arguing that the Department’s administrative tribunals for prosecuting, adjudicating, and remediating claims of classwide employment discrimination against government contractors are not authorized by Congress and exceed the President’s authority. The case attracted nationwide attention with briefs filed by nearly 20 states, the Chamber of Commerce, national labor unions, and civil rights groups.
  

  Supreme Court & Appellate Engagements
  

  Basin Electric Power Cooperative v. Dakota Energy Electric Cooperative - 8th Circuit - After leading the successful district court briefing, Andrew obtained affirmance of a summary-judgment win for Basin which held that Dakota Energy could not terminate its wholesale power contract more than 50 years before it was set to conclude. Because longterm, no-early-termination, power contracts are the cornerstone of the rural energy cooperative model, Basin's win ended a challenge that, if successful, would have threatened to undermine the entire industry.

  Lazare Kaplan Int'l v. KBC Bank - 2nd Circuit -  Andrew led the appeal that finally brought an end to long-running litigation filed by the global diamond company Lazare Kaplan against KBC Bank. Lazare alleged that KBC Bank was part of an international conspiracy to steal hundreds of millions of dollars of diamonds and cash proceeds from diamond sales, and sought damages of $1.5 billion. Andrew persuaded the Second Circuit that Lazare’s claims had to be dismissed in New York and litigated, if at all, in Belgium.

  BB Energy v. PRH - 5th Circuit - In the span of less than nine months, Andrew twice defeated PRH's attempt to obtain prejudgment garnishment of property owned by a foreign government and allegedly in the possession of the energy trading company, BB Energy. Raising defenses at the intersection of sovereign immunity, garnishment, and maritime law, Andrew persuaded the Fifth Circuit to reverse two district court orders, one denying a motion to dismiss claims of prejudgment garnishment and another permitting intrusive and unnecessary discovery against garnishee, BB Energy.

  Gallucci v. Boiron – 9th Circuit – Andrew argued the matter to the Ninth Circuit, persuading the court to affirm the district court’s certification of a class for settlement purposes and approval of the settlement. Andrew represented Boiron, the manufacturer of homeopathic drugs to treat illnesses such as the cold and the flu. The wide-ranging settlement involved 800 Boiron products.

  Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons – 2nd Circuit – After prevailing in the Supreme Court’s landmark decision holding that the “first sale” doctrine protects the resale and importation of copyrighted works first sold abroad, Kirtsaeng requested his attorneys’ fees for his successful pursuit of his meritorious defense. Andrew briefed the fee petition in the district court and briefed and argued the appeal in the Second Circuit before successfully petitioning the Supreme Court for certiorari. The Supreme Court ruled for Kirtsaeng again, this time unanimously vacating the Second Circuit’s decision and remanding for the district court to assess Kirtsaeng’s fee petition under the appropriate standard.