The facts were as bad as they come: flames and black smoke billowing over the sea, 11 workers dead and oil that gushed for 87 days. Transocean, owner of the Deepwater Horizon rig that exploded in 2010, drafted Munger, Tolles & Olson’s Brad Brian for the historic, and potentially devastating, court fight. Brian led a squad of dozens of lawyers from multiple firms to victory when a federal judge pinned most of the blame on BP and indemnified Transocean, dramatically reducing its exposure.

Read the full 2016 report: Litigation Department of the Year