Cooley Litigators Achieve Victory in Libel Suit Defending Bestselling Author Michael Lewis

Cooley secured a summary judgment victory in a libel litigation defending bestselling author Michael Lewis and his publishing company, W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., in New York.

Plaintiffs Wing Chau and his company, Harding Advisory, claimed that Lewis had defamed them in his #1 New York Times bestselling book The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine, an award-winning examination of the recent financial crisis.

Following months of intense litigation, the court granted summary judgment in favor of Lewis and W.W. Norton. The court acknowledged that Lewis had spent sixteen months researching his book, including interviewing more than 100 sources and reviewing a vast amount of hardcopy materials. The court concluded that "Chau's attempt to shift blame for the negative image now publically ascribed to [those who invested in subprime mortgage bonds]…to the author and his source in the form of a libel suit, is unsupported by law or fact."

"This is an excellent result for Michael and his publisher W.W. Norton," said Cooley litigation partner Celia Barenholtz, who led the defense. "It was a pleasure to collaborate with Michael and W.W. Norton, and achieve justice." 

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