WilmerHale Team in Meta’s Big Antitrust Win Are Litigator of the Week Runners Up

10.6.2025

The WilmerHale legal team behind Meta Platforms Inc.’s complete victory in a ground-breaking, high-profile antitrust case, was recognized as Litigator of the Week runners up by Litigation Daily.

Led by Partners Sonal Mehta and David Gringer, WilmerHale’s team helped Meta prevail in the case with more than $52 billion at stake before treble damages. Maximillian Klein et al v. Meta Platforms Inc, was closely followed by the tech industry for the precedent it could set for zero-price social network platforms. WilmerHale successfully defeated plaintiffs’ claims that, through various methods, Meta monopolized the market for personal social network services and would have had to pay Facebook users in a competitive market for use of their data.

In his Sept. 29, 2025 opinion, US District Judge James Donato of the Northern District of California ruled plaintiffs failed to show antitrust injury or damages, reinforcing that competition in social networking occurs through innovation and quality—not price. The decision built on Meta’s January 2025 win denying class certification for 220 million users and excluding expert testimony. It marks the first district court ruling on antitrust injury for zero-price platforms. 

Mehta and Gringer said of the win: “With tens of billions at stake, this decision sets a powerful precedent: antitrust injury in zero-price markets must be grounded in real-world evidence, not academic conjecture or unsupported attorney argument. It’s a decisive moment in the evolution of antitrust law for free platforms.”

A sampling of news coverage below:

Litigator of the Week Runners Up

Litigation Daily

By Ross Todd

October 3, 2025

Meta Wins Consumer Antitrust Case After Judge Excludes Plaintiffs' Expert Witness

The Recorder

By Sulaiman Abdur-Rahman

September 30, 2025

Meta Ducks Antitrust Suit As Economist's Opinions Excluded

Law360

By Rae Ann Varona