Manuel F. Cachán

Over the last several years, Mr. Cachán has represented Fortune 500 companies before federal and state courts in jury trials and class actions, including in breach-of-contract litigations, securities and banking actions, product liability lawsuits and professional malpractice cases.

His representations have included:

• Monsanto Company in securing a unanimous defense verdict (reached after three hours of deliberations) following a seven-week jury trial in Cook County, Illinois, against claims brought by four plaintiffs who alleged that they developed non-Hodgkin lymphoma after being exposed to Monsanto’s Roundup weed killer and fire-retardant additives known as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) made by the company

Prior to joining Skadden, Mr. Cachán represented:

• Monsanto, in state courts in Riverside, California, and St. Louis, Missouri (verdict reached after three hours of deliberations), on claims that the company’s herbicide Roundup caused the plaintiffs to develop non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Similar claims had previously resulted in verdicts from $80 million to over $2 billion. The jury rejected the claims in their entirety in both trials. The Missouri ruling ranked second on Courtroom View Network’s list of the Top 10 Most Impressive Defense Verdicts of 2022
• Johnson & Johnson (J&J) in multiple trials regarding its talc-based products, including:
  • as first-chair trial counsel in a three-week jury trial in state court in Oklahoma City, which was resolved on favorable terms following jury deliberations, but before a verdict had been reached
  • the first-ever California trial relating to J&J’s talc-based Baby Powder and Shower-to-Shower products and their alleged link to ovarian cancer. After trial, the court entered judgment notwithstanding the verdict for the J&J defendants and, in the alternative, granted J&J’s motion for a new trial
  • in St. Louis, in which the jury returned a complete defense verdict on all claims and awarded no damages. The ruling was ranked second on Courtroom View Network’s list of the Top 10 Most Impressive Defense Verdicts of 2017
• J&J as trial counsel in a bellwether wrongful-death product liability action alleging that Tylenol causes severe liver injury
• Wells Fargo in:
  • federal court in St. Paul, Minnesota, in an approximately two-month jury trial in which the plaintiffs alleged mismanagement of pension investments in the bank’s securities lending program. The jury returned a complete defense verdict
  • lawsuits brought by the cities of Los Angeles and Oakland alleging disparate-impact race discrimination in connection with mortgage lending
  • a class action brought by the city of Los Angeles alleging the bank engaged in unlawful sales practices
  • several suits alleging the mismanagement of investments made on behalf of various pension funds
• NBCUniversal:
  • and KNBC-TV in a one-month jury trial in Los Angeles Superior Court involving claims of age discrimination brought by a journalist formerly employed by the station
  • in connection with claims by actor Gabrielle Union over workplace issues on the competition talent show “America’s Got Talent”
  • in an arbitration involving profits from a series of popular made-for-television movies
• Dick Clark Productions in a bench trial in federal court alleging breach of a production agreement, brought by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association over rights to the Golden Globes awards show
• Rysher Entertainment in a two-week jury trial in a suit brought by the actor Don Johnson, involving his alleged share of profits from a popular television show
• Tesoro Refining & Marketing Company, in a jury trial, against the city of Los Angeles for damages sustained as a result of the unplanned shut-off a refining tank

Mr. Cachán has been recognized by The American Lawyer as Liti­gator of the Week; Benchmark Litigation as a Top 100 Trial Lawyer, Local Litigation Star, California Litigation Star and National Practice Area Star; and the Los Angeles Daily Journal, which listed one of his court wins as a Top Defense Verdict of 2021. In addition, the Los Angeles Business Journal named him a 2023 Leader of Influence in Los Angeles, and the Minority Corporate Counsel Association named him to its 2022 list of Rainmakers.

Mr. Cachán is active in the legal community. He has previously served as a member of the Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation of the State Bar of California, which evaluates all candidates under consideration for a judicial appointment by the governor. He also is past president of the Association of Business Trial Lawyers in Los Angeles.

Mr. Cachán is the son of Cuban exiles and is fluent in Spanish.