Ronald Machen, WilmerHale’s Litigation Department Chair, was honored by Bloomberg Law with inclusion on its inaugural list of “Unrivaled” litigators published on June 25, 2025. The new award “celebrates [32] litigators at law firms and elsewhere who lead the legal industry in high-stakes trials and settlements on impactful matters for clients.”
In a Q&A with the publication, Machen spoke about his path to becoming a litigator—inspired by his uncle and Judge Damon Keith—and the importance of blending legal skill with emotional intelligence, strategy, and storytelling. He shared his top advice to young lawyers: “Relentlessly prepare, but be ready to pivot.” Success in the courtroom, he says, depends on both preparation and adaptability.
The publication focused on the firm’s successful defense of Gilead Sciences Inc. against an unprecedented US Department of Health and Human Services lawsuit that claimed the company violated government patents. Machen described the firm’s strategy of going on the offensive by fast-tracking affirmative claims of misconduct against the government. That strategy allowed Gilead to win an early victory in the Court of Federal Claims so that “the wind was at our backs by the time of the [second] trial, where the jury also ruled for us.”
In highlighting the importance of flexibility, Machen recounted how the testimony of a government witness undercut the government’s broad claim of privilege over a critical document. Overnight, WilmerHale’s team wrote a motion seeking the full, unredacted document, giving it to court the next morning. The court then signaled that it agreed with us and the government subsequently provided the material. “With that new information, we cross-examined another government witness in a manner that undermined the government’s positions,” Machen said. “…That document and the witness’s testimony were critical to showing how the government violated its agreements. This was a significant moment which showed the importance of not only remaining vigilant during trial but also reacting quickly to emerging developments.”