Philip Le B.Douglas

Experience

The following represents experience prior to joining Jones Day.

ABB, Inc.
ABB Daimler-Benz Transportation (North America), Inc. v. National Railroad Passenger Corp. and New Jersey Transit, 14 F. Supp.2d 75 (D.D.C. 1998).  Successfully represented client in connection with claims arising out of the design and construction of a static frequency converter station. 

L.K. Comstock & Company, Inc. v. ABB Traction, Inc., American Arb. Assoc. Case No. 13-110-00812-95.  Successfully defended client in AAA arbitration brought by consortium partner arising out of the design and construction of a static frequency converter for Amtrak and New Jersey Transit.

Department of Water & Power of the City of Los Angeles, et al. v. ABB Power T&D Company, Inc., 702 F. Supp. 1178 (N.D. Cal. 1995).  Successfully defended client against claims arising out of a catastrophic fire at the Sylmar-East HVDC Converter Terminal for the Pacific Intertie. After filing at least 20 major briefs, we obtained a series of rulings dismissing plaintiffs’ fraud, tort, contract and RAM warranty claims and all demands for consequential damages.

Combustion Engineering, Inc. v. R.E.G. Associates, Inc. and Robert E. Grisemer, Civil Action No. 2:92-00991, (D. Conn). Successfully defended client against claims relating to our client's waste-to-energy plants in Hartford, Detroit and Honolulu.

Great Northern Nekoosa Corp. v. ASEA AB, et al., 657 F. Supp. 1253 (N.D. Ark. 1987).  Successfully defended client against claims arising out of the failure of a turbine-powered cogeneration facility.

Fermenta Products, Inc. v. ASEA Industrial Systems, Inc., et al., No. 85 04473, Ct of Common Pleas of Chester County, PA; ASEA Industrial Systems, Inc., et al. v. Fermenta Products, Inc., No. 85-07250, Ct of Common Pleas of Chester Cty, PA.  Successfully defended client against claims arising out of failures of electrical drives causing Swedish pharmaceutical concern to lose penicillin production capacity.

Matson Navigation Co., Inc. v. ASEA Stal AB, 609 F. Supp. 579 (N.D. Cal. 1985); Sea Land Services, Inc. v. ASEA Stal AB, No. 85-575 (D.N.J.)  Successfully defended client against California and New Jersey actions relating to failures of marine propulsion steam turbines.

Abbott Chemicals, Inc. v. ASEA AB, Civil No. 86-1305, (D.P.R.)  Successfully defended client in Puerto Rico against claims resulting from failures of the world’s largest diesel-powered cogeneration facility. On our motion, the court dismissed the case in favor of arbitration in Sweden on the ground that our client was a third-party beneficiary of an arbitration clause to which it was not a party.

ASEA Stal AB and ASEA Inc. v. Leaf River Forest Products, Inc., No. H-86-2676, (S.D. Tex); Leaf River Forest Products, Inc. v. ASEA Stal AB and ASEA, Inc., No. H-87-0037, (S.D. Miss.)  Successfully defended client against claims relating to failure of a turbine-generator located at a Mississippi pulp mill.

Banco Internacional, S.A.
United States of America v. $3,148,884.40 United States Currency, 76 F. Supp.2d 1063 (C.D. Cal. 1999); United States of America v. Banco Internacional/BITAL S.A., 110 F. Supp.2d 1272 (C.D. Cal. 2000).  Successfully defended client against civil forfeiture and civil money laundering claim arising out of FBI’s "Operation Casablanca" sting operation in Mexico and California. All claims were dismissed and all seized funds returned to client.

Bombardier Inc.
Fred E. Weiderhold, Jr., as Inspector General, National Railroad Passenger Corporation v. Bombardier, Inc., Alstom Transportation, Inc. and Northeast Corridor Maintenance Services Company, Case #1:05-mc-00367 (U.S.D.C. for the District of Columbia). Successfully defended client in multi-year Inspector General investigation and related litigation arising out of April 2005 suspension of Acela service due to brake problem. The litigation settled on March 15, 2007.

United States Aircraft Insurance Group v. Dwiggins, LLC and Bombardier Capital, Inc., Civil Action No. 03-173 (U.S.D.C., District of Delaware). In a case arising out of a crash of a Learjet in Brazil, Plaintiff insurer sought to deny coverage to our client, the beneficiary of a lienholder’s endorsement to the insurance policy. After eliminating most of the issues in the case by means of a successful summary judgment motion filed with our answer, our client ultimately secured full coverage and reimbursement of all attorney's fees.

Bombardier Transit Corp. v. Southern California Regional Rail Authority, (IFB No. EP 110-04). Successful prosecution of bid protest against Southern California Regional Rail Authority's disqualification of client in commuter rail procurement. After four months of administrative proceedings, the authority voluntarily agreed that the client had been improperly disqualified and ordered that the procurement be cancelled in favor of an entirely new request for proposals.

Bombardier Corporation v. National Railroad Passenger Corporation, 298 F. Supp. 2d 1 (D.D.C. 2002), aff'd, 333 F.2d 250 (D.C. Cir. 2003).  Successful prosecution of multi-hundred million claim against Amtrak regarding the design and delivery of the Acela high-speed train.

Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company
The Cleveland Electric Illuminating Co., et al. v. General Electric Company, Case No. 1-91CV 1651, (N.D. Ohio). Over the course of seven years, represented the owners of a nuclear power plant in connection with their claims in Ohio federal court arising out of design problems and construction delays. The resulting litigation involved complex engineering questions and an analysis of the plant's 17-year construction history. Among other things, we supervised and integrated the efforts of 20 experts in various fields and prepared a 23-volume damages report.

Ethyl Corporation
Ethyl Corporation v. The Government of Canada, (Arbitration Under Chapter 11 of the North American Free Trade Agreement). In the first ever investor-state arbitration under the NAFTA, successfully represented the American manufacturer of a manganese fuel additive against the Government of Canada.

Illinova Generating Company
Illinova Generating Co. v. CNSAC, No. V99242. Represented an American joint-venture partner in CIETAC arbitration in China arising out of the design and construction of a coal-fired fluidized bed co-generation project in Hunan Province.

Norsk Forsvarsteknologi a/s
Grumman Aerospace Corporation v. Norsk Forsvarsteknologi a/s, No. 7405/ES, (ICC Court of Arbitration). Represented Norwegian defense contractor in an ICC arbitration in London, Oslo and New York, arising out of an international joint venture to develop and market anti-ship missiles.

Pfizer Inc.
Pharmacia & Upjohn Co. v. Elan Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 781 N.Y.S.2d 95 (1st Dep’t 2004). Successful defense of $400 million multi-district claim arising out of terminated cooperative agreement regarding development of Alzheimer vaccine.

Public Service Enterprise Group
PSEG Global, Inc., et al. v. The AES Corporation, et al., No. 601555-2002, (NY Co. Sup. Ct.) Representation of client in a $462 million suit in New York against a leading international independent power producer arising out of a terminated agreement to purchase the utility’s Argentine power assets.

PSEG Resources Inc. v. Arizona Public Service Company, Case No. 71 Y 198 00308 00 (American Arbitration Association (Dallas Region)). Successfully represented an owner-participant against a lessee in a AAA valuation of a 225 MW, three-unit combined cycle electric generating plant before a three-member arbitration panel that included the former CEO of a major utility and two power industry economists.

PSEG Resources v. Southwest Gas and Paiute Pipeline  (FERC, D.C. Court of Appeals and U.S.D.C. of Nevada).  Successful representation of client, the owner-participant of a liquefied natural gas facility and associated pipeline, in proceedings before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and the United States District Court in the District of Nevada relating to the lessee’s efforts to reallocate the LNG facilities' local distribution company customers to a competing pipeline.

Portland General Electric Company v. U.S. Bank Trust National Association, 38 F. Supp.2d 1195 (D. Or. 1999) and 38 F. Supp.2d 1202 (D. Or. 1999), rev’d, 218 F.3d 1086 (9th Cir. 2000).  Represented an owner-participant in litigation in Oregon federal court and in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit against a lessee regarding the residual value of gas turbines.

Scandinavian Airlines System
Shire Equipment Leasing Corp. v. McDonnell Douglas Corp. and Scandinavian Airlines System, No. C88-418D (U.S.D.C., Western District of Washington). Representation of client in a $250 million action brought by an aircraft broker against SAS and McDonnell Douglas alleging tortious interference in connection with Boeing 747 and McDonnell-Douglas DC-10 aircraft transactions with Nigeria Airlines.

REPORTED DECISIONS 
Project & Energy Disputes
Bombardier Corporation v. National Railroad Passenger Corp., 298 F. Supp. 2d 1 (D.D.C. 2002), appeal dismissed, 333 F.3d 250 (D.C. Cir. 2003)

Portland General Electric Co. v. United States Bank Trust N.A., 38 F. Supp. 2d 1195 (D. Or. 1999) and 38 F. Supp.2d 1202, rev’d, 218 F.3d 1086 (9th Cir. 2000)

ABB Daimler-Benz Transportation (North America), Inc. v. National Railroad Passenger Corp. and New Jersey Transit, 14 F. Supp. 2d 75 (1988)

Department of Water & Power v. ABB Power T&D Co., 902 F. Supp. 1178 (C.D. Cal. 1995)

Great Northern Nekoosa Corp. v. ASEA AB, 657 F. Supp. 1253 (W.D. Ark. 1987)

Matson Navigation Co. v. Stal-Laval Turbin AB, 609 F. Supp. 579 (N.D. Cal. 1985)

Criminal & Money Laundering
United States v. Banco Internacional/Bital, S.A., 110 F. Supp. 2d 1272 (C.D. Cal. 2000)

United States v. 3,148,884.40 United States Currency, 76 F. Supp. 2d 1063 (C.D. Cal. 1999)

United States v. James, 708 F.2d 40 (2d Cir. 1983)

United States v. Lartey, 716 F.2d 955 (2d Cir. 1983)

In re Doe, 711 F.2d 1187 (2d Cir. 1983)

United States v. Lo Russo, 695 F.2d 45 (2d Cir. 1982), cert. denied, 460 U.S. 1070 (1983)

United States v. Fisher, 571 F. Supp. 1236 (S.D.N.Y. 1983)

United States v. Ostrer, 481 F. Supp. 407 (S.D.N.Y. 1979)

Merger & Acquisition Litigation
NACCO Industries, Inc. v. Applica Inc. and Harbinger Capital Partners, 997 A.2d 1 (Del. Ch. 2009)

Pro Bono
Phong T. Huynh, Vien U. Huynh and Ann Tang v. Frank C. Carlucci, Secretary, Department of Defense, 679 F. Supp. 61 (D.D.C. 1988)