Daily Journal Selects Covington Defense of Meta as 2021 Top Verdict

LOS ANGELES—The Daily Journal has selected Covington’s successful defense of Meta (formerly Facebook) in dotStrategy, Co. v. Facebook, Inc., as one of its 2021 Top Verdicts, recognizing the largest and most significant verdicts in California in 2021.

The Covington team led by Ashley Simonsen secured multiple victories for Meta in an Unfair Competition Law class action in the Northern District of California. The case alleged that Facebook misrepresents that advertisers will not be charged for clicks on the site from fake accounts. In November 2020, Covington successfully narrowed the plaintiff’s case from over forty alleged misrepresentations to just three. In June 2021, Covington defeated certification of a nationwide class of Facebook advertisers based on plaintiff’s failure to prove that class members were exposed to the statements, and then defeated a Rule 23(f) petition. In November 2021, Covington won summary judgment because plaintiff had no evidence it was charged for any invalid clicks.

The Covington team also included Kate Cahoy, Simon Frankel, Kanu Song, Andrew Vaden, Sylvia Huang, and Ellen Choi.