Hunton Andrews Kurth Verdict Recognized in the National Law Journal’s Hall of Fame

A team of Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP’s trial lawyers have been inducted into the National Law Journal’s Verdicts Hall of Fame for their victory for client Steves and Sons. The list, published in a recent edition, included the nation’s highest-ranking verdicts from 2017 to 2021. Hunton Andrews Kurth is sharing the recognition with Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP and Pipkin & Kloppe-Orton LLP.

Hunton Andrews Kurth, Munger, and Pipkin were jointly recognized in connection to their work for door manufacturer Steves & Sons, Inc., which obtained the first-ever divestiture order in a private party challenge to a consummated merger. Steves manufactures molded interior residential doors. In May 2012, Steves entered into a supply agreement with JELD-WEN, Inc. for the purchase of interior molded doorskins, which comprise the front and back panels of interior molded doors. Before that, Steves had purchased doorskins from JELD-WEN, CraftMaster Manufacturing, Inc. (CMI), and Masonite. JELD-WEN, CMI, and Masonite also manufactured doors, in competition with Steves.

In October 2012, JELD-WEN acquired CMI and its doorskin manufacturing plant in Towanda, Pennsylvania. Shortly thereafter, Masonite announced that it would no longer sell doorskins to its competitors in the doors market, thus leaving JELD-WEN as the only U.S. supplier of doorskins to door companies like Steves that were not vertically integrated. A few months later, JELD-WEN gave Steves notice that it was terminating the doorskin supply agreement. 

Steves sued JELD-WEN in 2015, alleging that JELD-WEN violated Section 7 of the Clayton Act when it acquired CMI because it substantially lessened competition in the doorskins market. A jury agreed with Steves, finding JELD-WEN liable and awarding substantial damages. After an evidentiary hearing on equitable remedies, the district court ordered JELD-WEN to divest the Towanda plant. In February 2021, the Fourth Circuit affirmed the divestiture and the past damages award, which after trebling and interest is more than $39 million. Steves is also entitled to recover its substantial attorneys’ fees and litigation expenses.

The Hunton Andrews Kurth team included Lewis Powell, Maya Eckstein, John Martin, Dennis Fairbanks and Meghan Podolny. A full list of honorees can be viewed here.