Allison L. Libeu 

Allison L. Libeu practices complex commercial litigation as a partner at Hueston Hennigan LLP. She joined the firm at its inception in 2015 after serving as counsel at Irell & Manella.

She is on the board of directors of the Constitutional Rights Foundation, an Orange County youth education organization. “Everyone at the firm is involved in at least one community organization,” she said. “It’s an excellent way to get our heads out of the office and stay grounded in the local scene.”

Libeu was on the Hueston Hennigan team that won two of The Daily Journal’s Top Verdicts of 2022 awards: A $293 million jury verdict and a $197 million arbitration award plus ongoing royalty payments in cases targeting an energy drink rival of client Monster Energy Co. Both wins are on appeal. Monster Energy Co. v. Vital Pharmaceuticals Inc., 5:18-cv-01882 (C.D. Cal., filed Sept. 4, 2018); Vital Pharmaceuticals Inc. v. Orange Bang Inc. and Monster Energy Co., 5:20-cv-01464 (C.D. Cal., filed June 15, 2020), AAA Case 01-20-0005-6081.

The $293 million verdict was said to have been the largest Lanham Act award ever. Combined with the arbitration award, the big number outcome drove Vital Pharmaceuticals into Chapter 11 bankruptcy, with Monster Energy as the largest creditor.

“We’re litigation counsel in the bankruptcy,” Libeu said. “My job is to protect Monster’s judgment vis-à-vis the asset sale, which is ongoing.” In re: Vital Pharmaceuticals Inc. et al., Debtors, 22-17842 (U.S. Bankruptcy Ct., S.D. Fla., filed Oct. 10, 2022).

At both the trial and the arbitration, Libeu was credited with the key cross-examination of Vita Pharmaceutical’s damages expert. She obtained critical admissions about his methodology that undercut his opinions and lined up with her disgorgement and royalty theories.

At the trial, she also examined her client’s damages expert. “The jury gave us every dollar we asked for on our false advertising claims,” she pointed out, affirming the effectiveness of her questioning. “We had to show that false advertising matters to consumers, and we had to walk the witnesses through how their economic analysis was done. Would the jury be bored? But they proved to be a very focused group.”

Libeu is co-lead counsel for e-commerce software maker Shopify Inc., the defendant in a set of cases over a data breach. “So far, we have one dismissal and another in the Northern District that we’re moving to dismiss,” she said. My Choice Software LLC v. Taskus Inc. et al., 8:22-cv-01710 (C.D. Cal., filed Sept. 16, 2022).

“It’s been a fun couple of years,” Libeu said.

— John Roemer