Steven E. Derringer
Professional Practice
Steve Derringer has a national litigation practice, representing U.S. and international clients in a variety of matters including product liability, mass torts, purported class actions, intellectual property, and breach of contract disputes. Steve has served as national counsel in cases involving product liability claims, most recently as national trial counsel in federal and state litigation relating to the prescription pharmaceutical Trasylol®. Following his graduation from Yale Law School and clerking on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, Steve joined Bartlit Beck in 1997 and became a partner in 2001.
Cases tried or otherwise taken to judgment
Trasylol Litigation (multiple jurisdictions, 2006-Present)
Lead national counsel for Bayer in federal and state products liability actions concerning Trasylol, a drug used to reduce bleeding during open-heart surgery. Argued and won summary judgment in two cases (one of which was hand-picked by plaintiffs as one of their top cases). Responsible for overall coordination and implementation of defense strategy.
Agnes et al. v. DuPont (arbitration, New Jersey 2006-2007)
Lead trial counsel for DuPont in confidential three-month arbitration proceeding involving personal injury claims of 96 plaintiffs and property damage claims in toxic tort action alleging environmental contamination by DuPont blasting cap plant over a 92-year period. Cross-examined plaintiff’s causation expert, environmental characterization expert, and over 20 plaintiffs. Obtained favorable outcome for client.
Naftali et al. v. DuPont (arbitration, New Jersey 2004)
Lead trial counsel for DuPont in confidential ten-week arbitration proceeding involving personal injury claims of 164 plaintiffs in toxic tort action alleging environmental contamination by DuPont blasting cap plant over a 92-year period. Cross-examined over 50 plaintiffs and plaintiffs’ causation expert. Obtained favorable outcome for client.
Naftali et al. v. DuPont (New Jersey 2002)
Mass toxic tort action brought by 1600 plaintiffs alleging environmental contamination by DuPont blasting cap plant over 92-year period. Represented DuPont in ten-week jury trial of personal injury, medical monitoring, and punitive damages claims of 10 plaintiffs. Court dismissed punitive damages claims at close of evidence. Jury awarded no damages to 7 of 10 plaintiffs. Jury verdict for 3 plaintiffs, awarding damages totaling less than $500,000.
DuPont v. Merck (arbitration, New York 2003)
Represented DuPont in one-week arbitration hearing concerning royalties owed under agreement relating to Losartan anti-hypertension drug. Obtained award in favor of DuPont.
Residential Funding Corp. (GMAC) v. DeGeorge Financial Corp. (D. Conn. 2001)
Lender liability case involving an agreement to purchase home construction loans. Represented Residential Funding in jury trial. DeGeorge represented by Stephen Susman. DeGeorge sought $390 million plus punitive damages. Residential Funding sought $96 million by counterclaim. Jury verdict for Residential Funding on all issues. Jury awarded Residential Funding $96 million in damages. Case listed as one of the Top Plaintiffs’ Verdicts for 2001 by The National Law Journal.
Ankmar Door v. Baan (Colorado 2003)
Represented Baan, which develops and manufactures enterprise resource planning software, in fraud and breach of contract action related to performance and functionality of Baan software. Case won on summary judgment.
Schnadig v. Baan (arbitration, Illinois 2003)
Lead trial counsel for Baan in three-day arbitration proceeding. Baan develops and manufactures enterprise resource planning software. Plaintiff brought breach of warranty action concerning performance and functionality of the Baan software. Award granted in favor of plaintiff.
Weilert v. Baan (N.D. Ill. 2000)
Represented Baan in a breach of contract action brought against it by the former CEO of Baan’s American operations. Weilert alleged that Baan’s offer letter granted him a guaranteed option on 2% of Baan. He alleged that under the terms of his offer letter, continued employment was not a condition to the vesting of his option, which was subject to Baan’s standard five-year vesting schedule. Baan terminated Weilert after eight months on the job and before Baan implemented its company stock plan. On the eve of trial, the Court asked Baan to file a cross-motion for summary judgment. The Court granted Baan’s cross-motion and entered summary judgment for Baan.
WorldCom, Inc. v. O’Hara (N.D. Ill. 1998)
Represented O’Hara in case involving breach of contract and tort claims relating to O’Hara’s alleged solicitation of former co-workers. Obtained summary judgment for O’Hara on breach of contract claim. Case subsequently settled on favorable terms to O’Hara.
In re Kulmiye (United States Department of Justice 1998)
Represented Somali member of Midgan clan pro bono in asylum hearing before Immigration Judge. Client requested asylum to escape persecution based on ethnicity and clan membership. Case won, asylum granted.
Bourke v. Dun & Bradstreet (N.D. Ill. 1997-1998)
Represented Dun & Bradstreet in case challenging company-wide determination of performance bonuses following spin-off reorganization. Case won on motion to dismiss and affirmed on appeal.
In re Affiliate Rules (Illinois Commerce Commission 1997-1999)
Represented Illinois Power in proceedings before the Illinois Commerce Commission concerning the creation of rules and regulations relating to utility corporate structures following deregulation of electric industry in Illinois. Also represented Illinois Power in appeal of the final ICC rules.
In re Harold Simmons Trust (Texas 1997)
Represented Mr. Simmons in eight-week jury trial of breach of trust action. Plaintiffs sought control of billion-dollar trusts. Case settled favorably after hung jury.
Other representative cases
Tanner et al. v. International Isocyanate Institute et al. (N.D. Ala. 2005-Present)
National counsel for Bayer MaterialScience in class action products liability action concerning Methylene Diphenyl Diisocyanate (MDI)-containing products used in underground coal mining applications.
Data Network Storage LLC v. Hewlett-Packard Co. (N.D. Tex. 2008)
Represented Hewlett-Packard in patent infringement litigation relating to storage area network (“SAN”) technology. Obtained favorable settlement for client prior to commencement of discovery.
Confidential Arbitration (San Jose, CA 2007-2008)
Represented former owners of software company in breach of contract action against acquiring company. Obtained favorable settlement for client.
Hewlett-Packard Co. v. EMC Corp. (N.D. Cal. 2003-2005)
Represented Hewlett-Packard in both offensive and defensive patent infringement litigation relating to networked storage systems, computer peripheral devices, printers, and other electronic data systems. Case involved assertion of numerous patent claims from 13 different patents. Case settled as part of global settlement of multiple actions.
Afton Chemical Corp. v. The Lubrizol Corporation (E.D. Va. 2005)
Represented Lubrizol in patent infringement case involving patent relating to compositions for use as lubricant additives in automatic transmission fluids. Obtained favorable settlement for client following Early Neutral Evaluation presentation.
Cooper v. ABB, Inc. (E.D. Wis. 2005)
Represented ABB in patent infringement case involving patents relating to the use of vegetable oil-based dielectric fluids for use in electrical transformers. Took over case following adverse claim construction ruling. Case settled shortly thereafter on favorable terms.
Genlyte Thomas Group v. Lithonia Lighting (W.D. Ky. 2003)
Represented Lithonia Lighting, a division of Acuity Brands, in patent infringement suit brought by Genlyte. Took over case shortly before trial following adverse summary judgment ruling on infringement. Conducted presentation on the merits before Magistrate Judge, who settled the case on terms favorable to Acuity Brands. George McAndrews of McAndrews, Held & Malloy represented Genlyte.
Shah v. Dun & Bradstreet (N.D. Ill. 2003)
Represented Dun & Bradstreet in defamation action. Plaintiff sought more than $20 million in damages. Obtained favorable settlement for client before commencement of discovery.
Real3D, Inc. v. ATI Technologies, Inc. (M.D. Fla. 1999)
Represented ATI Technologies, Inc., a leading maker of graphics accelerator chips and products for personal computers, in dispute with Real3D over alleged theft of trade secrets and infringement of patents on algorithms for computer image generation. Case settled.
Summit Electric v. Baan (D.N.M. 1999-2001)
Represented Baan, which develops and manufactures enterprise resource planning software, in fraud and breach of contract action related to performance and functionality of Baan software. Case settled following presentation at mediation.
Watkins v. Postma Lincoln-Mercury (N.D. Ill. 1998)
Represented former car salesman pro bono in Title VII race discrimination claim against former employer. Case settled on favorable terms following deposition of former direct supervisor.
Big Wins
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Residential Funding v. DeGeorge (2001)