Diane L. McGimsey

McGimsey helped lead the implementation of Volkswagen AG’s historic $14.7 billion global settlement to resolve legal claims surrounding its diesel emissions cheating scandal.

She said one of many remarkable aspects of the 2016 deal covering 2.0-liter vehicles was that Volkswagen agreed to implement the settlement just about four months after final approval was granted and before appeals were exhausted. In re: Volkswagen “Clean Diesel” Marketing, Sales Practices, and Products Liability Litigation, 15-MD2672 (N.D. Cal. Oct. 25, 2016).

The Sullivan & Cromwell partner was the principal liaison with all of the stakeholders in taking the steps to jumpstart the nationwide consumer claims program for owners of hundreds of thousands impacted vehicles.

McGimsey and colleague Sharon L. Nelles started negotiating the settlement for 3.0-liter cars not long after the settlement for 2.0-liter vehicles was announced. A $1.2 billion deal was ironed out with the Federal Trade Commission and private plaintiffs in 2017.

“Although the 2.0-liter deal served as a guide, there were some unique issues to deal with on the 3.0-liter deal that made the negotiations just as intense the second time around,” McGimsey said. “As is typically the case, the key to getting the deal done was to focus on the elements that were most important to our client and not get stuck at an impasse on ‘winning’ issues for the sake of winning.”

Her focus has shifted to ensuring Volkswagen is complying with various obligations under the agreements it reached.

She is also representing real estate investment firm CIM Group, which owns the Dolby Theatre, in a contract dispute with the owners of the TCL Chinese Theatres over motion picture premieres held in those theaters and other programming rights. The litigation is set for trial this summer, McGimsey said, but the parties have been working hard to reach a resolution. Chinese 6 Theatres, LLC, et al. v. CIM/H&H Retail, L.P., et al., BC597670 (L.A. Super. Ct., filed Oct. 13, 2015).

McGimsey, who clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, credits her success to terrific mentors and Sullivan & Cromwell’s generalist approach.

“Just in the last couple of years I’ve spent my time working on consumer class actions, commercial contract disputes, antitrust, regulatory work and investigations into workplace misconduct issues,” she said. “You develop different skill sets working in each of these areas and bringing a skill set from one subject-matter area to another often helps you see a case from a perspective that nobody was thinking of.”

— Lyle Moran