Dear Friends, Clients, and Colleagues: 

We are excited to celebrate BHB’s 15-year anniversary with a constellation of client victories and deals and tremendous gratitude. Noah and Matt founded BHB in April 2009 during the height of the great recession. BHB is now over 50 attorneys and recognized as one of the most successful and sought-after bi-coastal law boutiques in the country.  

Here are some recent victories and notable successes, along with other firm news. Onwards! 

Industry Recognition 

BHB and several attorneys on both coasts are now recognized as leading litigation and transactional practitioners by Chambers & Partners, one of the only national boutiques with that recognition. The firm is one of five finalists for the National Law Journal’s Elite Trial Lawyers in Business Torts in 2024, after winning the award in 2023. This follows the firm’s runner-up status for The American Lawyer’s 2023 National Litigation Boutique of the Year, and our Impact Practice’s recognition as the 2024 Father Cuchulain Moriarty Award under the MLK Pro Bono Award by the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area.

BHB Client’s $400 Million Claim Can Proceed in Arbitration 

BHB represents the former shareholders of 3-D printing startup Origin Laboratories in a $400 million dispute with industry conglomerate Stratasys concerning the parties’ 2020 merger. After Stratasys reneged on promises within the transaction, Origin brought its $400 claim to arbitration. Stratasys filed to stay or dismiss the arbitration in Delaware Chancery Court. In May 2024, the Court denied Stratasys’s efforts, ordered the entire case to arbitration, and awarded Origin its attorneys’ fees and costs as the prevailing party.

BHB Corporate Closes Financing and M&A Transactions Exceeding $1 Billion 

Over the last 9 months, BHB’s emerging company, venture capital and growth equity team has led its clients in nearly 100 transactions exceeding $1 billion in transaction value. While generally confidential transactions, they range from early stage venture capital to late-stage growth equity financings to complex mergers and acquisitions and span the food/bev, beauty, tech, health and wellness and broader consumer sectors. Beyond pure transactional work, the BHB corporate team has continued to advise hundreds of emerging and rapidly scaling businesses and its venture capital and private equity fund and sponsor clients during a market cycle punctuated by workouts, recapitalizations and corporate restructurings.

BHB Fights Against Censorship in Public Libraries as Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Prohibits Book Bans

On June 6^th, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued an opinion prohibiting county officials from censoring books at public libraries in Llano County, Texas. The Court affirmed a preliminary injunction barring county officials from removing books on a list of titles that they called “pornographic filth,” which had been circulated by Texas Representative Matt Krause. The Court held that “a book may not be removed for the sole—or a substantial—reason that the decisionmaker does not wish patrons to be able to access the book’s viewpoint or message.” This case arises from seven Llano County library patrons’ First Amendment challenge to the library’s removal of nationally acclaimed books. The District Court had ordered that the 17 books be made available to library patrons while the suit continued, finding, “the evidence shows Defendants targeted and removed books, including well-regarded, prize-winning books, based on complaints that the books were inappropriate.” The Fifth Circuit agreed, holding that the First Amendment protects not only the right to free speech, but also the right to receive information. BHB serves as co-counsel with Botkin Chiarello Calaf. The case has recently been featured in Bloomberg Law, Reuters, The Guardian and Associated Press. The Court's Opinion can be viewed here. 

BHB Trial Team Obtains Sweet Victory at Trial with $21+ Million in Damages Plus Attorneys’ Fees

BHB represented plaintiff Smashmallow, a beloved snackable marshmallow brand launched by Sonoma Brands in 2016. After doubling sales, Smashmallow paid millions of dollars for the defendant, Tanis, to manufacture a custom machine that could safely produce Smashmallow products at scale. Defendant’s promises proved untrue, its machinery failed to produce products as warranted and was unsafe to operate. Smashmallow sued the defendant to recover the costs of the machine and for the company's enterprise value, which was destroyed. Following a five-week trial and a week of jury deliberations, on October 20, 2023, a twelve-member jury in Sonoma County rendered a $21 million damages award plus attorneys’ fees to Smashmallow. This represents the sixth consecutive eight-figure jury verdict or arbitral award in a commercial dispute obtained by BHB’s trial teams in the last several years. Coverage of the victory has been featured in AgFunder, NOSH, Law360, and The Daily Journal.

BHB Favorably Resolves Dairy Industry Antitrust and Trade Secret Litigation

BHB represented dairy industry innovator Milk Moovement, Inc. in a dispute with Ever.Ag, LLC, the 800-pound industry gorilla that allegedly controls 80% of the market for data services provided to milk producers and processors. Ever.Ag initially sued Milk Moovement in December 2021 after Milk Moovement successfully and fairly won away some of Ever.Ag’s customers. BHB stepped in as counsel in 2023 for Milk Moovement and immediately filed antitrust counterclaims against Ever.Ag under the Sherman Act, Clayton Act, and Cartwright Act, to hold Ever.Ag accountable for its alleged market-skewing conduct. A federal court in California denied Ever.Ag LLC’s motion to dismiss those counterclaims in May 2023, and the case was hotly litigated for months through expert discovery. BHB laid the foundation for Milk Moovement to favorably resolve the case in February. This win cleared the way for Milk Moovement to continue offering its innovative software solutions to the dairy industry.

This case was widely covered across industry press including in the Daily Journal, Canada Today, BetaKit, and AgDaily.

BHB Advises on Roc Nation’s Acquisition of Brazilian Soccer Agency TFM 

BHB represented premier Brazilian soccer agency, TFM Agency, in its acquisition by Jay Z’s Roc Nation Sports International. TFM represents leading international soccer stars, including Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior and Arsenal’s Gabriel Martinelli. We look forward to watching TFM—now Roc Nation Sports Brazil—level up!

BHB Protects Bay Area Real Estate Investor

BHB prevailed in securing fraud and fiduciary duty claims in one of the largest real estate disputes in SF Bay history. BHB client Kenwood was unceremoniously (and secretly) divested of its stake in Treasure Island by its partners Stockbridge and Wilson Meany and replaced with a clandestine Chinese sovereign wealth fund (controlled by the CCP). Kenwood seeks over $200 million in damages in the dispute headed to trial later this year.

BHB Protects Sonoma Craft Beer, Seismic Brewing Company

BHB secured another jury trial victory in 2023, a defense verdict in SF Superior Court for Sonoma-based Seismic Brewing Company. Seismic is a highly decorated California craft beer producer and a leader in sustainable brewing. When its primary distributor, DBI Beverage, sold itself in 2019 and refused to honor the parties’ agreement, Seismic declined to pay the termination fee. DBI filed suit in 2020 seeking payment from Seismic for its termination and raising claims that touched upon California’s franchise laws as well as craft brewer autonomy from coercive distribution arrangements. After three years of litigation and a two-week trial, a San Francisco jury held in Seismic’s favor, ruling Seismic did not owe any termination payment and did not have to accept a worse agreement just because DBI wanted to sell its business. 

CA Supreme Court Rules That Millions of Consumers Cannot be Bound to Arbitrate Health Care Claims

BHB Defeats TRO / Preliminary Injunction for Pet Life UNLIMITED®

KAS Pet is a fast-growing pet business that creates, markets, and sells premium, safe, environmentally friendly pet products. BHB successfully defended KAS Pet and its innovative PET LIFE UNLIMITED® brand, against a preliminary injunction motion in New York federal court seeking to halt an entire line of pet product sales. The court denied the injunction and held that plaintiff was unlikely to succeed on the merits. The ruling preserves KAS Pet’s business and its ability to continue its growth in the premium pet care industry.

A Win for Strong Coffee Lovers

Our trademark team has been playing an intense game of whack-a-mole spanning the continent and is starting to make headway. BHB secured judgment on behalf of New York’s leading independent coffee brand, DEATH WISH COFFEE®, against third-party copycats and infringers. BHB secured a default against a party selling coffee under the confusingly similar mark “Death Hell Coffee” in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida. Following that win, BHB filed a second successful trademark infringement action against “Death Before Decaf” in the New York Southern District. In addition to federal court actions, the team has won numerous battles at the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) to cancel third-party trademark copycats.

Ground-breaking Trademark Victory for Blockchain Developer Tari Labs

In late 2022 BHB filed suit on behalf of Tari Labs for damages and an injunction to stop blockchain competitor, Lightning Labs, from infringing the firm’s longstanding TARI® trademark. Defendant, Lightning Labs LLC, sought to launch a competing blockchain protocol called “TARO”. In March 2023, the Court granted a restraining order and preliminary injunction in favor of Tari Labs and enjoined Lightning Labs from further developing or launching TARO. The decision may be one of first in the country where the Lanham Act was applied to conduct involving open-source developer blockchain protocols. 

Case Dismissed for Sustainable Single-Serve Coffee Company

BHB represents Steeped Coffee, a developer and manufacture of a sustainable, single-serve coffee product, in a trademark dispute with its competitor, NuZee, Inc. In May 2023, NuZee filed an action seeking a declaration that Steeped Coffee’s trademarks were invalid, and not infringed by NuZee. In September, the Court agreed with BHB that the case must be dismissed with prejudice because NuZee lacked standing to bring its claim under the Declaratory Judgment Act.

BHB Racks Up More Class Action Defense Victories for Popular Consumer Brands

BHB continues its unbeaten streak of protecting consumer-facing clients from meritless class actions and false advertising claims around the country. With over 200 class actions thrown at our clients, we have yet to have a class certified on our watch. BHB secured key victories for many of our clients including:

Dismissal of class action suit filed against Back to Nature’s Stoneground Wheat Crackers, which claimed that consumers were misled by the language in the label “organic whole wheat flour, organic whole brown flax seed & sea salt,” which appears in small print at the bottom of the box. The crackers contained all these ingredients, but Plaintiff claimed that the language caused her to believe that the crackers contained a higher percentage of whole wheat flour than is actually in the product. The case was dismissed with prejudice.

Defense of multi-million-dollar class action launched against B&G Foods in connection with its Ortega brand taco shells. Plaintiffs claimed that Ortega taco shells contained trace amounts of trans fats and filed suit on that basis. The suit was filed even though the trans-fat levels were so low that the U.S. FDA required Ortega to state “0g trans-fat per serving” on its labels. Ortega also reformulated its recipe to remove trans-fats entirely in 2015, but plaintiffs persisted in their lawsuits for more than 7 years, including appeals, dismissals, re-filings, and other procedural maneuvers. After taking over as counsel in 2021, BHB defeated class certification in the first go around in 2021 and secured denial of Plaintiff’s request to bring a second motion to certify. 

Dismissal of a Prop 65 case against B&G Foods’ Snackwell’s Cookie Cakes where Plaintiffs’ claimed that baking the cookies caused trace levels of acrylamide to develop, which violated California’s notorious statute requiring companies to put a cancer warning on any product causing harmful exposures to carcinogens. 

BHB continued its sweet undefeated streak of protecting consumer-facing clients from meritless class actions defending longtime client YumEarth, a better-for-you candy company, from a class action brought by plaintiffs claiming that YumEarth’s fruit snacks did not contain enough fruit. Plaintiff was unable to file class certification and the case was dismissed with prejudice.

San Diego Court Upholds $56 Million Jury Award for Stone Brewing 

In late September a San Diego Court upheld Stone’s hard-fought $56m (now $58m + with interest) jury verdict against Molson Coors Beverage Company and Keystone Beer. This is the culmination of a huge effort and one of the largest trademark verdicts in history. After six full-blown substantive post-trial motions and a multi-hour hearing last summer, MillerCoors took one last shot – a new trial motion in which it asked the Court to reweigh the evidence and grant a new trial or slash our damages – and failed. Cheers and kudos to our client and team for reaffirming this big victory. Coverage of the victory has been featured in Reuters.

BHB also represented other food manufacturers, including LesserEvil and Fat Snax where we successfully obtained dismissal of the claims, arguing that the lawsuits were defective because plaintiffs failed to satisfy the elements of their claim. The Court agreed and dismissed each case with prejudice. 

Fraud Case Settles on the Eve of Trial

BHB successfully prosecuted a fraud and breach of contract suit on behalf of its investor client Sweat Equity Ventures against a portfolio company Swoop Search. Swoop made false representations about its business, products, and valuation to induce Sweat Equity to make significant investments, including time, effort, and assistance. Then, Swoop falsely accused Sweat Equity of stealing its confidential information to start a competing business venture. After two years of hard-fought litigation, BHB secured a successful settlement on the court room steps.

BHB Protects Crypto Investment Firm from Hackers

BHB represents cryptocurrency investment firm Polychain in litigation against a domain name infringer, https://polychain-cap.com, the infringer’s website’s registrar NameSilo LLC, and privacy service PrivacyGuardian. Polychain brought claims under the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act and Lanham Act, seeking turnover of the website and damages arising from the website’s fraudulent and infringing use of Polychain’s trademark. Polychain was tipped off to the fraud when an investor received communications from unknown criminals using https://polychain-cap.com to pose as Polychain personnel and solicit investments in “Polychain” funds. Polychain continues to work with NameSilo to uncover the individuals behind these websites and has engaged law enforcement to bring them to justice.

BHB Represents Instant Ramen Sensation immi in their Series A Fundraising Round

BHB supported firm client immi in its Series A fundraise led by Touch Capital with support from celebrity investors including Naomi Osaka, Usher, Apolo Ohno, and others. We’re excited to see this brand grow and expand both its product offerings and consumer access to delicious, plant-based ramen.

Longtime BHB Client Acquires Environmental Consulting Firm

BHB represented longtime client Terraphase Engineering Inc., an Oakland-based leading environmental engineering and design firm in their acquisition of Tacoma-based environmental consulting firm Robinson Noble, Inc. The acquisition provides opportunities for both firms to combine their expertise and expand their offerings to private and public sector clients. 

BHB Secures Settlement Preventing Illegal ICE Transfer 

BHB’s Impact team secured a settlement in BHB’s lawsuit against the City of Huntington Park to stop its illegal practice of imprisoning immigrants for ICE on the basis of ICE detainer requests. The city agreed to abide by an injunction barring it from future illegal conduct and to make a $74,100 cash donation to the Council of Mexican Federations in North America, a nonprofit immigration advocacy organization.

Supporting City, County Prosecutors Against Devastation of Flow of Guns by US Big-Gun to and from Mexico

BHB Impact submitted an amicus brief in support of Mexico on behalf of District Attorney offices across US cities and counties. These areas are then devastated by the ensuing violence and crime directly resulting from guns sales by US gun manufacturers that target and impact Mexico. The crime and violence boomerangs right back up to the US. In a January 22, 2024 landmark First Circuit decision, the court held that US gun manufacturers knowingly sell guns to dealers that they know will violate gun sale laws and market to drug cartels.

The case was covered internationally in The New York Times, CNN, Reuters, Axios, The New Yorker, and Democracy Now!

California Radical Justice Act

BHB and the ACLU of Northern California are collaborating by making Public Records Act (PRA) requests to 58 counties in California to make data available to the public to enforce the Racial Justice Act (RJA). Over two years ago, the teams worked jointly to serve 116 PRA requests on behalf of the ACLU, two requests to the District Attorney’s Office in each of California’s 58 counties seeking extensive data on how each county prosecutes defendants. The joint vision was to make this data available to the public to enforce the 2020 Racial Justice Act, which prohibits the state from seeking or obtaining convictions or imposing sentences on the basis of race. The University of California, Berkeley - School of Law hosted and Berkeley Law’s Criminal Law & Justice Center and the Berkeley Journal of Criminal Law presented the 2024 California Racial Justice Act Symposium. It was widely attended by a diverse audience of hundreds of professionals such as public defenders, data scientists, academics, and policy makers. 

Other News and Events

BHB has been busy in and out of the office as BHB helped sponsor and lead an international law conference, presented at various industry events, and brought clients and the legal community together in true BHB fashion.

• Litigation partner Melissa Ginsberg co-chaired and presented at the ABA Section of International Law Annual Conference in New York City. We were also honored to sponsor the conference.

• BHB partnered with VMG Partners and Women On Boards Project for our third annual Women in Consumer Reception at Expo West. We gathered the most extraordinary leaders in the industry and where Allison Hagey presented the third Annual Kara Roell Achievement Award. Press Release Honoring Kara Roell

• BHB hosted a successful evening celebrating South Asian Women founders and investors in CPG space alongside co-hosts Manica Blain, Umaimah Sharwani and Anu Duggal, Ampla, 31 Talent, Ewing Morris & Co. Investment Partners Ltd., and Moselle.

• Corporate partners Allison Hagey and Zainab Abdullah hosted alongside Ampla, a gathering for a talented group of founders and funders in the clean beauty.

• Impact litigation associate Tabitha Cohen led a session about sponsorship and mentorship as part of the NYC Bar Association’s ALI LITE series.

• BHB co-sponsored the Sonoma Brands' Consumer Digital Summit along with CPG venture debt lender SG Partners and Head of BHB’s Corporate Practice Dan Harris moderated a panel on consumer M&A.

• BHB Partner Dan Harris presented as part of an expert panel discussing trends and future in Food Venture Financing as part of Naturally Bay Area’s roundtable, ‘Looking Back, Looking Forward: Trends in Food Venture Financing in 2023 and Prospects for 2024.’

• BHB Impact team hosted the Public Interest Impact Summit inviting a diverse range of public interest groups, partners, and friends to highlight all the good work being done in the community and fighting for justice.

• BHB and 1st Course Capital joined forces on the Venture Playbook Series, a webinar series designed to empower entrepreneurs and founders. The first installment covered in depth ‘Negotiating with Series A Investors’ featuring our BHB partners Zainab Abdullah and Dan Harris.

• BHB teamed up with Sonoma Brands Capital and SG Partners to bring together leading brand builders, thought leaders and innovators for a Consumer Industry Social in New York City.

Awards Recap

BHB Recognized by Chambers in California and New York

We are proud to be one of the few national boutiques having our Commercial Litigation practices ranked on both coast in Chambers and Partners' USA 2024 Guide. We also celebrate Dan Harris and Lauren Chase from our Corporate group on their recognition and their outstanding contributions in the Venture Capital space. This honor underscores our commitment to excellence and our dedication to providing top-tier legal services.

The National Law Journal Selects BHB as a Finalist for its Elite Trial Lawyers Business Torts

For the second year in a row, The National Law Journal has selected BHB as a finalist for its Elite Trial Lawyers Awards in the Business Torts category. BHB won this award in 2023 and we’re looking forward to awards ceremony with other honorees on July 11, 2024 in New York City. The Business Torts category ‘focuses on combating wrongful acts that could lead to a company's financial loss or harm to its reputation.’ 

BHB Co-Founder & Managing Partner Noah Hagey Honored with Two Awards

BHB Co-Founder and & Managing Partner Noah Hagey has been recognized by the Daily Journal as a Top 100 IP lawyer and by Lawdragon as one of the 500 leading litigators in America. These awards reflect Noah’s dedication to securing top-notch results for BHB clients in lawsuits involving financial, intellectual-property, antitrust, and class-action disputes. 

San Francisco Litigation Partner Tracy Zinsou Named Top 40 Under 40 Attorney by the Daily Journal

Tracy Zinsou was selected to the Daily Journal Corporation's Top 40 Under 40 list which honors top young lawyers in California making their mark on the legal industry. This recognition reflects Tracy’s extensive experience litigating high-stakes cases and her flawless class action defense track record.



BHB Impact Awarded 2024 LCCRSF Father Cuchulain Moriarty Award on Case Involving Immigration Justice

Working alongside partners, BHB Impact team obtained a summary judgment ruling on behalf of client, a civil detainee in solitary confinement without justification for fourteen months. The case aimed to serve as a model for people in similar circumstances where private prisons decide that they are going to maximize profits at the expense of human beings. Photo above.

BHB Seeks Litigators in SF and NY

BHB continues to recruit and seek the most exceptional leading talent. We are currently looking for attorneys to join the firm in both San Francisco and New York in all practice areas. For more information, visit www.braunhagey.com/careers.