Jessie Simpson LaGoy

Cooley partnered with the Northern California Innocence Project to secure the release of Kevin Harper Jr., who was wrongfully convicted for the death of his infant son in 2008. Harper’s wrongful conviction, which resulted in a sentence of 25 years to life, was based on medical evidence that has since been widely discredited. A recent change in California’s AB 1540 law paved the way for the Sacramento District Attorney’s Office to re-review Kevin’s case. This allowed for a petition to resentence and release Harper, ending his 13-year incarceration in late January.

Cooley obtained a victory for GNC Holdings and certain of its officers in connection with a securities class action filed in the District of Oregon and the Western District of Pennsylvania. Relying on allegations in a previously filed enforcement action by the Oregon Attorney General, the shareholder plaintiff alleged that the company made false or misleading statements during a lengthy four-year class period regarding certain nutritional supplements containing substances the FDA had declared were not lawful dietary ingredients—and thus could not legally be sold in the United States. After successfully transferring the case to the Western District of Pennsylvania and arguing a motion to dismiss, the court granted our motion to dismiss in its entirety, finding that plaintiff had failed to plead adequately the elements of scienter and loss causation. Plaintiff chose to appeal rather than amend and, after oral argument, the district court’s ruling was affirmed by the Third Circuit.