Litigation partners Albert Hogan, Marcie Lape (Raia) and Manuel Cachán were recognized by The American Lawyer as Litigators of the Week for their leadership — along with team co-lead Amanda Brown — in securing a major trial win on behalf of CME Group, Inc. and the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) in a class action seeking over $2 billion in damages related to CME’s Aurora Data Center.
The plaintiff traders alleged that CME Group and CBOT breached contractual obligations in their respective certificates of incorporation and eroded the value of their Class B memberships when they opened CME’s data center in 2012 and allowed all market participants to pay a fee to access and connect to the Globex electronic trading platform from the new facility. After a three-week trial, the jury unanimously rejected the traders’ claims.
In a Q&A with The American Lawyer, the partners described how “demutualization” was a key point when delivering their argument to the jury. “At the time, both exchanges viewed the competition from electronic exchanges as existential threats,” Mr. Hogan explained. “Demutualization was key to allowing the exchanges to not only be able to compete, but to survive.”
“We were able to bring that story to life for the jury,” Mr. Cachán added. “The evidence about the competitive challenges the exchanges were facing at that time, and how demutualization was the answer, was powerful.”
The partners also shared what they’ll remember most about the matter. “This case will always be memorable to me, not just for the outcome, but for the journey shared with the client and the Skadden team along the way,” Ms. Lape said. “Despite the long hours, intensity of trial and tough decisions we had to make, the entire team pulled together, supported each other and managed to share quite a few laughs along the way.”
“I’ll remember how so many Skadden lawyers took this case to heart as their own, and added value in so many ways to get us to a great result for our client,” Mr. Hogan added. “This team lived and died with this case, and it was the honor of a lifetime to be able to do it with them.”
Read the Q&A: “Litigators of the Week: A Trial Win for CME Group in Class Action Brought by Pit Traders,” August 1, 2025.
