Malcolm A. Heinicke 

Malcolm A. Heinicke, who is the co-managing partner of Munger Tolles, has won big victories in difficult employment matters lately. But he'd rather give much of the credit to the junior partners and associates who worked on the cases with him.

"Winning cases is fun," he said. "But giving opportunities to young lawyers and watching them crush it, that's the best part of the job."

One big win came toward the end of last year in the second of two wrongful termination lawsuits against Wells Fargo by fired foreign currency traders. Fowles v. Wells Fargo N.A., CGC-18-565709 (S.F. Super. Ct., filed April 11, 2018).

The cases were especially challenging because they grew out of a complex transaction in which the bank arranged the purchase of millions in Canadian dollars that Burger King then used to buy a Canadian restaurant chain. By manipulating the apparent exchange rate, the two traders and two colleagues increased the bank's profit at Burger King's expense. Unfortunately for the traders, a bit of their telephone discussion of the scheme was recorded.

Two traders dropped their suits after learning of the tape. A third lost a summary judgment motion after a jury found the tape was admissible. The remaining trader basically argued the tape did not reveal misconduct.

Heinicke credited colleague Bryan Heckenlively with putting holes in that argument during a deposition of the plaintiff. He praised Dane Shikman, then a third-year associate, for thoroughly mastering the complexities of the currency trade that the judge posed many of his questions to Shikman directly during a long summary judgment hearing. "He was the master of the facts in the case, and everybody knew it, and that was just critical to our victory," Heinicke said.

Being able to explain the facts was the real joy of the case, he said. "Every time we had that moment when we could fully explain what happened ... that's when the case would go away."

In September, Heinicke and his team blocked a national collective action against Wells Fargo that sought $32 million in damages over alleged off-the-clock overtime. That victory was largely due to "fantastic depos" taken by younger colleagues David Moreshead and Grace Davis Fisher, Heinicke said. D'Addio v. Wells Fargo Clearing Services LLC, 4:21-CV-00054 (E.D. Mo., filed Jan. 13, 2021).

Outside of the firm, Heinicke is a former chair of the board of directors of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency. Thanks to his work helping to improve shuttle service, the city renamed a section of the West Portal Station the Malcolm Heinicke Crossover.

Heinicke also handles business and entertainment affairs for baseball legend Willie Mays as his personal counsel and serves on the board of Mays' charity, the Say Hey Foundation.

-- Don DeBenedictis