Meredith R. Dearborn

Dearborn is a commercial litigator at Paul, Weiss, where she moved in July 2020 as the firm’s first partner resident at its new San Francisco office after working for almost a decade at Boies Schiller Flexner LLP. Earlier, she clerked for Senior U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour of Seattle. She specializes in cases involving antitrust claims, intellectual property litigation, appeals, white collar and regulatory defense.

“I highly recommend starting a new job during a pandemic,” she said with a laugh. “I was the first lawyer the firm hired in San Francisco, and despite the structural challenges everybody has been extremely supportive.”

Dearborn has been a leading member of the team representing Apple Inc. in several high-stakes and high-profile antitrust cases concerning Apple’s App Store practices and policies.

A top current matter, video game and software developer Epic Games Inc.’s antitrust challenge against the App Store, awaits a verdict from U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers of Oakland following a three-week trial in April 2021. The maker of the blockbuster Fortnite game sued after announcing it would offer a direct payments option for in-app purchases, prompting Apple to remove Fortnite from the App Store, saying that its policies prohibit direct payments for purchases of digital content on iOS devices. Epic Games Inc. v. Apple Inc., 4:20-cv-05640 (N.D. Cal., filed Aug. 13, 2020).

Epic Games’ complaint alleged “monopoly maintenance” and restraint of trade in the app distribution market, along with illegal tying in the in-app payment market. Apple filed breach of contract counterclaims.

“The trial was an amazing experience,” Dearborn said. “I had tried an iPod and iTunes antitrust class action before Judge Gonzalez Rogers back in 2014 on similar legal theories regarding products that consumers love. We won a complete victory for Apple in that case.”

Epic Games’ suit would alter marketplace dynamics, she added. “Here Epic asks for the ability to put software on iPads and iPhones without going through the Apple store. It would fundamentally change the nature of what Apple sells in the marketplace and reduce competition and choice.”

Coming next is Dearborn’s role on the trial team defending Apple in a $1 billion class action in which consumers allege that replacement iPads and iPhones under the AppleCare and AppleCare+ service plans are not “equivalent to new” as the contracts say. Maldonado v. Apple Inc., 3:16-cv-04067 (N.D. Cal., filed July 20, 2016).

A jury trial is set for August before U.S. District Judge William H. Orrick of San Francisco, who certified the class in September 2019. “We’re working heavily now on pretrial filings, which gives us an opportunity to crystalize the case for the judge and the jury,” Dearborn said. “We have a great case, and it’s an intense time right now.”

— John Roemer