Sara Margolis

Sara Margolis is a partner who litigates complex matters—mostly business and some intellectual property disputes—from the filing of a complaint through appeal. She is a skilled advocate and a master at running cases. 

Many of the firm’s matters involve dozens of witnesses, hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of documents, and a multitude of sophisticated legal issues. Ms. Margolis sees the big pictures, contributes to developing the strategy, then organizes and manages the resources to execute.

Ms. Margolis practices in federal and state courts throughout the country. She has taken or defended more than 35 depositions, managed large teams reviewing documents in English and foreign languages, engaged with a wide range of experts, worked with graphics and jury consultants, and coordinated lawyers from multiple firms to create a unified fighting force for the client.

Having tried cases and having clerked for a federal trial court judge with one of the most sophisticated dockets in the country, Ms. Margolis manages matters with a keen understanding of how a case ultimately will play out. This allows her to keep the team focused on what matters, avoiding wasted effort and optimizing resources. Together with the MoloLamken team, she has helped recover over $2 billion in settlements and judgments for clients over the last five years.

Benchmark Litigation describes Ms. Margolis as “incredibly thoughtful, detail oriented, and responsive,” and reports that clients are “extremely impressed with the depth of her legal analysis.” Chambers and Partners says she “has presence, commands the room and speaks with authority.” Lawdragon recognizes her as one of the country’s top litigators. She has also been named repeatedly as a “Rising Star” by Super Lawyers and is on Benchmark Litigation’s “40 and Under Hot List.”

Ms. Margolis began her career as an associate at Cravath, Swaine & Moore. She is a member of the New York Inn of Court and the New York Intellectual Property Law Association.

Representative Matters

• A class of stockholders alleging securities fraud in a federal jury trial

• Animal pharmaceutical company in trial over breach of a licensing contract

• Stockholders in a trial over restructuring governance

• Creditor hedge fund at bench trial in Delaware bankruptcy court

• Investors in mortgage-backed securities in a series of breach of contract suits relating to failure to follow underwriting guidelines involving securitizations ranging from $200 million to $2 billion in value

• A prominent publisher in an antitrust multi-district litigation against Google

• General counsel of a publicly traded renewable energy company in several securities fraud class actions and related government investigations

• A fund invested in life settlements in a breach of contract and fraud suit over a failed transaction

• A senior executive of a Fortune 100 company in suit alleging FCA and Anti-Kickback Act claims

• A Native American Tribal Nation in action against vaping manufacturer JUUL

• An oil and gas company in proceedings to confirm arbitral award and defending against trade secret and fraud claims

• High net worth individuals in suit alleging breach of various LLC agreements under New York law

• Leading specialty chemical company in defending breach of contract and tort claims under New York law

• An oil and gas company in a patent infringement lawsuit relating to one of the company’s natural gas plants

• Successful representation of pharmaceutical company defending district court’s denial of a preliminary injunction in light of plaintiff’s delay in seeking relief and pattern of licensing the asserted patents (Genentech, Inc. v. Amgen Inc., No. 19-2156 (Fed. Cir.))

• Prevailed in the Federal Circuit as appellant from an Inter Partes Review, representing major pharmaceutical company (Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp. v. Wyeth LLC, No. 2018-2133 (Fed. Cir.))

• Obtained reversal of district court judgment setting FRAND royalty rates on behalf of leading cellular wireless technology company (TCL Comm’cns Holdings Ltd. v. Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson, No. 18-1363 (Fed. Cir.))

• Represented biopharmaceutical company in the Federal Circuit in an appeal regarding enablement in a patent dispute involving cholesterol-related drugs (Amgen Inc. v. Sanofi, No. 20-1074 (Fed. Cir.))

• Represent pharmaceutical company defending district court’s denial of a preliminary injunction under the Biologic Price Competition and Innovation Act (Genentech, Inc. v. Immunex Rhode Island Corp., No.19-2155 (Fed. Cir.))

• Represented pharmaceutical company in the Federal Circuit appealing a district court’s decision to nullify a $200 million jury verdict for patent infringement by invoking “unclean hands” (Gilead Scis., Inc. v. Merck & Co., 888 F.3d 1231 (Fed. Cir. 2018))

• Represented criminal defendant charged with possession of narcotics and ammunition in SDNY

• Represented government agency in connection with due process lawsuit relating to payday lending

• Successfully represented federal prison warden in the Supreme Court addressing whether Bivens extends to actions undertaken by prison officials in connection with confinement of foreign nationals detained in the course of the government’s 9/11 terrorism investigation

• Represented leading package delivery company in the D.C. Circuit challenging whether the U.S. Postal Service properly allocates costs caused by competitive products, like parcel delivery, to those products

Publications

• Taking an Important Case to Trial: Jury Research, Legal 500 (Nov. 2023) (with Steve Molo)

• Taking an Important Case to Trial, Legal 500 (Apr. 26, 2023) (with Steve Molo)

• Making Partner in a Pandemic, Bloomberg.com (Mar. 15, 2021)

• NY High Court Case Could Upend Litigation Finance Industry, Law360 (July 14, 2020) (with Justin Ellis and Lauren Weinstein)

• Metaphysical Questions After TC Heartland, Law360 (Mar. 19, 2018) (with Ben Quarmby)
• ‘Patent Dance’ Ruling Means Sponsors Must Plan Ahead, Law360 (Dec. 20, 2017) (with Justin Weiner)