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Brown Rudnick is an American law firm known in the practice areas of bankruptcy, litigation, brand and reputation management, and corporate transactions.[1]

Founded in 1948 by Charles Rome, Matthew Brown, Alford Rudnick, and Hirsh Freed, it was initially known as Rome, Brown, Rudnick & Freed. It underwent many name changes due to mergers and expansions, including with Berlack Israels & Liberman in 2002.[2]

Notable cases

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Brown Rudnick represented Massachusetts in her lawsuit against the tobacco industry in 1995. After the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement in 1998, the form was one of the five industries that was awarded $775 million by a national arbitration panel but sued for an additional $1.3 billion in legal fees.[3][4][5] In December 2023, a jury awarded an additional $100 million in fees.[6][7] The firm gained international attention for its representation of Johnny Depp in the 2022 Depp v. Heard trial.[8][9][10][11][12] Depp's attorney Camille Vasquez became an overnight celebrity.[13][14] Following the trial, Camille Vasquez was promoted from associate to partner.[15] The trial was featured in a 2023 three-part documentary series Depp v. Heard released internationally by Netflix in August 2023.[16][17]

The firm has also represented Mexican pop star Gloria Trevi in two civil lawsuits filed by two women on December 30, 2022, in California.[18][19][20]

In October 2022, Brown Rudnick was hired by Kanye West to provide legal counsel on his business interests.[21][22] However, following West's refusal to retract his anti-Semitic remarks, the collaboration was dissolved.[23]

Kazakhstan's Ministry of Justice hired Brown Rudnick on February 28, 2024 on a wide-ranging retainer that includes handling interactions between the ministry and the U.S. Justice Department.[24]

In June 2021, the firm sued Aylo (formerly MindGeek) and Visa in California on behalf of Serena Fleites and other child sex trafficking victims, claiming that Pornhub and MindGeek knowingly profited from videos depicting rape, child sexual exploitation, revenge porn, trafficking, and other nonconsensual sexual content.[25][26][27][28] Brown Rudnick attorney Michael Bowe was featured in the 2023 Netflix documentary Money Shot: The Pornhub Story.[29] The first scenes shot were with Bowe on the day he filed a legal complaint.[30]

In a ruling issued on July 29, 2022, U.S. District Judge Cormac Carney ruled that it was reasonable to conclude that MindGeek's activity in hosting child pornography was knowingly facilitated by Visa. The judge ruled in favor of the plaintiff Serena Fleites, and denied Visa's motion to dismiss the case.[31]

In August 2022, in the immediate aftermath of the decision, MasterCard and Visa jointly suspended their acceptance of payments from TrafficJunky.[32][33][34]

Brown Rudnick was part of a group of firms that led the opposition to the Texas two-step bankruptcy of Johnson & Johnson subsidiary LTL Management.[35][36][37][38]

Pro bono and community service

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In February 2021, Brown Rudnick and Lawyers for Civil Rights sued the city of Worcester, Massachusetts alleging that the city's system of electing school committee members diluted the voting power of people of color and violated federal voting laws.[39][40] The city agreed to a settlement that would replace the all at-large system.[41]

References

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  1. ^ "Brown Rudnick's Blueprint to Land Another 100 Lawyers". The American Lawyer. Retrieved 2023-10-13.
  2. ^ Staff, P. B. N. (2002-02-12). "Brown Rudnick to merge with N.Y. firm". Providence Business News. Retrieved 2024-06-28.
  3. ^ Beam, Alex (2004-06-01). "Greed On Trial". The Atlantic. ISSN 2151-9463. Retrieved 2024-07-01.
  4. ^ Zezima, Katie (2003-11-05). "Law Firms Sue Massachusetts for Tobacco Money". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-07-01.
  5. ^ Weinstein, Henry (1999-07-30). "Law Firms Will Get $775 Million in Massachusetts Tobacco Battle". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2024-07-01.
  6. ^ admin (2003-12-19). "Boston jury awards lawyers millions, not billions, from tobacco settlement". Maryland Daily Record. Retrieved 2024-07-01.
  7. ^ "Lawyers get $100M more in tobacco case". Cape Cod Times. Retrieved 2024-07-01.
  8. ^ "Who is Camille Vasquez, Johnny Depp's lawyer who cornered Amber Heard?". South China Morning Post. 2022-05-20. Retrieved 2024-06-27.
  9. ^ Maddaus, Gene (2022-05-27). "Why Was Depp-Heard Trial Televised? Critics Call It 'Single Worst Decision' for Sexual Violence Victims". Variety. Retrieved 2024-06-27.
  10. ^ Sicha, Choire (2022-06-03). "The Mainstream Media Lost the Depp-Heard Trial". Intelligencer. Retrieved 2024-06-27.
  11. ^ "Law&Crime Network Hits Record 330 Million Viewers On Depp v. Heard Coverage". Law & Crime. 2022-05-02. Retrieved 2024-06-27.
  12. ^ "How a 15-year-old gamer struck YouTube gold with Depp v. Heard videos". NBC News. 2022-05-13. Retrieved 2024-06-27.
  13. ^ Hess, Liam (2022-06-01). "The Depp v. Heard Jury Finds Amber Heard Guilty of Defamation". Vogue. Retrieved 2024-06-27.
  14. ^ Lawrence, Andrew (2022-05-21). "Move over Johnny Depp as his lawyer Camille Vasquez gets her own fanbase". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-06-27.
  15. ^ "Depp Lawyer Vasquez Gets Promotion After $15 Million Win (1)". news.bloomberglaw.com. Retrieved 2024-06-27.
  16. ^ "'Depp v. Heard': New Netflix documentary examines the defamation case that captured the world". Los Angeles Times. 2023-07-27. Retrieved 2024-01-23.
  17. ^ Access (2023-08-16), Camille Vasquez Reacts To Johnny Depp & Amber Heard Trial Netflix Docuseries (EXCLUSIVE) | Access, retrieved 2024-01-23
  18. ^ Barbeito, Camila (2023-06-09). "Camille Vasquez Defends Client Gloria Trevi, Firm Says There Could Be 'Conspiracy' Behind Lawsuit". we are Mitú. 100% American & Latino. Retrieved 2024-06-27.
  19. ^ "Johnny Depp's Lawyer Camille Vasquez Talks Verdict 1 Year Later, Attorneys Still Text Actor 'Often' (Exclusive)". Peoplemag. Retrieved 2024-06-27.
  20. ^ Culture, Ryan Smith Senior Pop; Reporter, Entertainment (2023-05-29). "Gloria Trevi's lawyer shuts down Ghislaine Maxwell comparisons amid lawsuit". Newsweek. Retrieved 2024-06-27.
  21. ^ Howard, Tre'Vaughn (2022-10-21). "Kanye West to receive legal counsel from lawyer behind Johnny Depp defamation trial win - CBS News". www.cbsnews.com. Retrieved 2024-06-27.
  22. ^ Bryant, Kenzie (2022-10-21). "Kanye West Reportedly Hires Johnny Depp's Preferred Law Firm". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 2024-06-27.
  23. ^ "Camille Vasquez and her law firm reportedly aren't representing Kanye West anymore". Los Angeles Times. 2022-10-24. Retrieved 2024-06-27.
  24. ^ "Kazakh justice ministry hires Brown Rudnick for US, UK legal work". globalinvestigationsreview.com. Retrieved 2024-06-27.
  25. ^ "Expert Perspectives on Biggest Court Cases". Litigation Daily | The American Lawyer. Retrieved 2024-06-27.
  26. ^ Kolhatkar, Sheelah (2022-06-13). "The Fight to Hold Pornhub Accountable". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved 2024-06-27.
  27. ^ Staff, News (2021-06-17). "Pornhub parent company MindGeek faces U.S. lawsuit over exploitation allegations". CityNews Calgary. Retrieved 2024-06-27. {{cite web}}: |first= has generic name (help)
  28. ^ "Pornhub faces lawsuit alleging it knowingly participated in trafficking and child pornography". KGET 17. 2021-06-18. Retrieved 2024-06-27.
  29. ^ Money Shot: The Pornhub Story (2023) - IMDb. Retrieved 2024-06-27 – via www.imdb.com.
  30. ^ Bright, Susie (2023-03-16). "The Truth About Pornhub". Book and Film Globe. Retrieved 2024-06-27.
  31. ^ Spangler, Todd (2022-07-31). "Visa 'Intended to Help' Pornhub and Its Parent Company Monetize Child Porn, Judge Finds in Allowing Case to Move Forward". Variety. Retrieved 2024-06-27.
  32. ^ Li, Kate Rooney,Yun (2022-08-04). "Visa and Mastercard suspend payments for ad purchases on Pornhub and MindGeek amid controversy". CNBC. Retrieved 2024-06-27.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  33. ^ "Visa suspends card payments for ads on Pornhub in wake of lawsuit". 2022-08-04. Retrieved 2024-06-27.
  34. ^ "Judge Denies Visa's Request To Be Excluded From MindGeek Lawsuit". Institutional Investor. 2022-08-02. Retrieved 2024-06-27.
  35. ^ Akiko Matsuda; Andrew Scurria (July 28, 2023). "Johnson & Johnson's Second Talc Bankruptcy Case Thrown Out".
  36. ^ "J&J Unit's Failed 'Two-Step' Talc Bankruptcies Cost $178 Million". news.bloomberglaw.com. Retrieved 2024-07-01.
  37. ^ https://www.ltltalccommittee.org/. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  38. ^ "Judge rejects 6-month bankruptcy ban for J&J's talc subsidiary". Reuters.
  39. ^ Stephanie Ebbert. "Worcester voters, activists sue school committee over Voting Rights Act - The Boston Globe". BostonGlobe.com. Retrieved 2024-07-01.
  40. ^ "Minority Voters In Worcester File Federal Voting Rights Suit Over School Committee Election". www.wbur.org. 2021-02-08. Retrieved 2024-07-01.
  41. ^ Jr, Steven H. Foskett. "Hispanic/Black group, Worcester agree to settle lawsuit over electing school board". The Worcester Telegram & Gazette. Retrieved 2024-07-01.
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