Cohen Milstein

Kit Pierson, a Partner, joined the Firm in 2009 and is a member of the Antitrust practice group.

Mr. Pierson has spent the last two decades handling civil litigation matters in antitrust cases and other complex litigation.  As a Shareholder at Heller Ehrman from 1997-2008, Mr. Pierson represented clients in large antitrust class action litigation and False Claims Act litigation, including significant jury trials.  Mr. Pierson also has a longstanding commitment to civil rights matters and pro bono representation and recently was lead counsel for one of the Guantanamo detainees in a successful habeas corpus challenge to the legality of his confinement.
 
As a Shareholder at Heller Ehrman, Mr. Pierson was involved in class actions and other antitrust cases of national significance.  Mr. Pierson represented Microsoft Corporation in antitrust class action litigation and other matters and was one of the trial attorneys representing Microsoft in jury trials in Gordon v. Microsoft (Minnesota) and Comes v. Microsoft (Iowa).  Mr. Pierson represented 3M Company in antitrust class actions challenging bundled discounted in federal and state court.  He represented the American Booksellers Association in antitrust litigation on behalf of its members (independent bookstores across the country) in American Booksellers Association v. Houghton Mifflin (S.D.N.Y.).  These cases resulted in the entry of consent decrees against several of the leading publishers in the United States, and were followed by successful litigation against one of the publishers based on violations of the consent decrees.  Mr. Pierson represented dock and trucking companies in Erie Port Authority v. Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad (E.D. Pa.), an antitrust case challenging a conspiracy by large railroad companies to restrain trade in the shipment of iron ore and resulted in a substantial jury verdict for the plaintiffs.
 
Mr. Pierson has represented parties in a broad range of other complex civil litigation matters.  He represented the plaintiff in United States ex rel. Loughren v. UnumProvident (D. Mass.), a qui tam action in which the jury found that the largest disability carrier in the United States violated the False Claims Act by causing the submission of false claims for social security disability benefits to the United States.  He successfully defended a hospital and surgeon in Pallin v. Singer (D. Vt.) after they were sued by a physician for allegedly infringing a patent relating to their method for performing cataract surgery.  Mr. Pierson successfully represented health policy researchers at the Urban Institute, a non-profit think tank, after they were sued in Minntech v. Held (D. Minn.), for allegedly defaming the plaintiff-corporation by publishing research research relating to the safety of dialysis products used by thousands of dialysis patients.  Mr. Pierson has represented parties in numerous cases involving constitutional issues, including the National Association of Broadcaster's successful defense of the "must carry" provisions in Turner Broadcasting Systems v. FCC (S. Ct.).  He has also represented the nation's leading association of psychologists in various litigation matters, including cases successfully defending the association's decisions to discipline members for unethical conduct.
 
Mr. Pierson is chair of Cohen Milstein's pro bono committee.  From 2005-2008, he was the chair of Heller Ehrman's pro bono and community service program for the firm's thirteen offices.  Mr. Pierson has been actively involved in pro bono representation, including his representation of Guantanamo detainees as well as representation of various non-profit entities and individuals in recent FOIA litigation that successfully exposed unlawful spying activities by police in the State of Maryland.  Mr. Pierson is a Member of the ACLU of Maryland's Committee on Litigation and Legal Priorities and a Member of the Board of Trustees for the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.
 
Mr. Pierson is a 1979 graduate of Macalester College, where he received a B.A. (magna cum laude) in Economics and Political Science.  He graduated from the University of Michigan Law School (magna cum laude) in 1983, where he was a Note Editor of the Michigan Law Review and a member of the Order of the Coif.  Mr. Pierson served as a Law Clerk for the Honorable Harry T. Edwards, United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, from 1983-1984 and a law clerk for the Honorable Chief Judge John Feikens, United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, from 1984-1985.