Steven M. Shepard is a first-chair trial lawyer who represents plaintiffs and defendants in complex commercial cases across the United States. He has tried many cases to verdict, several of them as first-chair. Mr Shepard has been recognized by the New York Law Journal, the American Antitrust Institute, and Benchmark Litigation for his litigation successes. He is consistently recognized by New York Metro Super Lawyers and has repeatedly been named a “Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyer” by Lawdragon 500.

“It’s been a privilege to see lawyers as skilled as you present a case.  A gold standard for trial presentation is to know your record.  You knew it like the back of your hand.  I’m impressed.”                                                                                              – Hon. John M. Campbell, D.C. Superior Court

Landmark Wins

Mr. Shepard has appeared in courts in Arkansas, California, D.C., Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, New York, Nevada, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, Tennessee, and Texas, racking up precedent-setting wins along the way. Some of these victories include:

• Securing settlements valued at $135 million in a False Claims Act case against Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint over allegations of fraudulently overbilling government entities in California and Nevada.
• Representing Walmart Inc. in constitutional litigation, securing a judgment that Puerto Rico’s discriminatory transfer tax violated the Dormant Commerce Clause—a trial victory unanimously affirmed by the First Circuit.
• Securing settlements that exceed $1 billion for consumers impacted by antitrust violations in In re: Automotive Parts Antitrust Litigation, the largest anti-trust action ever brought in the United States. Learn more
• Securing a $40.5 million settlement in a False Claims Act case against Apria Healthcare Group, Inc.
• Winning a $50.3 million verdict for patent infringement against Ardagh Group on behalf of Green Mountain Glass. This verdict ranked among the National Law Journal’s “Top 100 Verdicts” of that year.
• Securing settlements of more than $450 million in a False Claims Act case against Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation and other defendants.
• Securing victories against a federal regulation implementing the “No Surprises Act,” on behalf of LifeNet, Inc., and East Texas Air One, LLC. Shepard argued the case in front of Judge Jeremy Kernodle, who found that the regulation challenged by Susman Godfrey “conflicts with the unambiguous statutory text and must be set aside” (opinion here). Read more about the case in Law360’s coverage (subscription required).
• Secured $19 million settlement with Laboratory Corp. of America on behalf of two whistleblower clients. In this False Claims Act case, our clients alleged that the lab testing giant was part of a conspiracy to pay kickbacks to doctors, in order to induce the doctors to order blood tests from two other companies.

Ongoing Complex Litigation

Mr. Shepard’s current matters include:

• Representing a nationwide healthcare provider in litigation and regulatory disputes with insurance companies.
• Representing Walmart Inc. as opt-out plaintiff in In re Broilers, an antitrust action against the nation’s largest producers of chicken.
• Representing former investors in Yukos seeking confirmation of $50 billion in arbitral awards against the Russian Federation.
• Representing a False Claims Act relator in fraud claims against Lockheed Martin.
• Representing a multi-national commodity producer in insurance coverage litigation.

Background

After graduating from Yale Law School, Mr. Shepard served as law clerk to the Honorable Anthony M. Kennedy, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States and the Honorable Alex Kozinski, Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.  After clerking, Mr. Shepard served honorably for four years in the U.S. Navy’s Judge Advocate General’s Corps.