A Manatt team led by Esra Hudson, Stephanie Roeser and Matthew Bruno helped secure a major victory for Blake Lively in her ongoing legal case against Justin Baldoni and Wayfarer with a judge dismissing Baldoni’s countersuit against Lively and his lawsuit against the New York Times. Today, the court dismissed all claims against Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, both of whom are represented by Manatt.

“Today's opinion is a total victory and a complete vindication for Blake Lively, along with those that Justin Baldoni and the Wayfarer Parties dragged into their retaliatory lawsuit, including Ryan Reynolds, Leslie Sloane and The New York Times,” Hudson said. “As we have said from day one, this ‘$400 million’ lawsuit was a sham, and the Court saw right through it. We look forward to the next round, which is seeking attorneys' fees, treble damages and punitive damages against Baldoni, Sarowitz, Nathan, and the other Wayfarer Parties who perpetrated this abusive litigation.”

Manatt has represented Lively since the inception of this matter, which began with her filing a complaint with the California Civil Rights Department in December over sexual harassment she faced and the subsequent retaliation while working on the film It Ends With Us. Lively’s suit against Baldoni is scheduled for trial in March 2026.

Learn more about the decision here.

Manatt was proud to support Safe Passage Project for the third year in a row for the Firm’s annual Pro Bono Day of Service. This year, 30 professionals, staff, summer associates and summer analysts helped more than a dozen young people from Africa, Central America and South America.

Safe Passage Project provides free legal representation to refugee and immigrant children in the New York City area who face who face deportation back to life-threatening situations, despite their strong legal claim to stay in the U.S. The Project also provides a social work team that works with their clients to provide health care, educational and other referral services necessary for the child’s well-being, and to support the legal case.

Learn more about the Safe Passage Project’s work here.

92 Manatt attorneys have been named to the 2026 edition of Best Lawyers in America, which recognizes the nation’s leading lawyers each year based on a nationwide peer-review survey.

In addition to the main list, four attorneys were named Lawyers of the Year by Best Lawyers: Edward G. Burg (Eminent Domain and Condemnation Law) in Los Angeles; Paul A. Carr-Rollitt (Health Care Law) in Los Angeles; James S. Walsh (Administrative / Regulatory Law) in Albany; and Martin F. Murphy (Bet-the-Company Litigation) in Boston.

58 Manatt attorneys were also named to Best Lawyers’ 2026 “Ones to Watch” list. See that list here.

Albany, NY

Meghan K. McNamara—Administrative / Regulatory Law; Government Relations Practice; Health Care Law

James S. Walsh—Administrative / Regulatory Law; Government Contracts; Government Relations Practice

Boston, MA

Doug Brown—Health Care Law; Litigation - Health Care

Eric Gold—Health Care Law

Joan A. Lukey—Appellate Practice; Bet-the-Company Litigation; Commercial Litigation; Employment Law – Individuals; Litigation - First Amendment; Litigation - Labor and Employment; Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs; Product Liability Litigation - Defendants

Martin F. Murphy—Bet-the-Company Litigation; Criminal Defense: General Practice; Criminal Defense: White-Collar

Jerome B. Tichner—Health Care Law

Chicago, IL

Keith R. Anderson—Health Care Law

Linda Moroney—Health Care Law

Megan Thibert-Ind—Health Care Law

Costa Mesa, CA

Steve Edwards—Real Estate Law

Susan K. Hori—Land Use and Zoning Law; Real Estate Law

Kenneth B. Julian—Commercial Litigation; Corporate Compliance Law; Criminal Defense: White-Collar

Jennifer J. Lynch— Land Use and Zoning Law

Thomas D. Phelps—Banking and Finance Law

Los Angeles, CA

Keith M. Allen-Niesen—Real Estate Law

W. Joseph Anderson—Copyright Law

Gordon M. Bava—Banking and Finance Law; Corporate Law; Financial Services Regulation Law; Mergers and Acquisitions Law

Michael M. Berger— Appellate Practice; Eminent Domain and Condemnation Law; Litigation - Land Use and Zoning; Litigation - Real Estate

Jesse M. Brody—Advertising Law

Jordan Bromley—Entertainment Law - Motion Pictures and Television; Entertainment Law - Music

Kathleen L. Brown—Administrative / Regulatory Law; Government Relations Practice

Edward G. Burg—Eminent Domain and Condemnation Law; Litigation - Land Use and Zoning; Litigation - Real Estate; Real Estate Law

Paul A. Carr-Rollitt—Health Care Law

Sirena Castillo—Criminal Defense: White-Collar

Steve Chiu—Insurance Law

Eric Custer—Entertainment Law - Music

Victor De la Cruz—Land Use and Zoning Law

Peter Duchesneau—Environmental Law; Litigation - Environmental

Robert Duran—Tax Law

Anita Famili—Real Estate Law

Gary L. Gilbert—Entertainment Law - Motion Pictures and Television; Entertainment Law - Music

Timi Anyon Hallem—Land Use and Zoning Law; Leisure and Hospitality Law; Real Estate Law

Esra A. Hudson—Commercial Litigation

Ivan L. Kallick—Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law; Litigation - Bankruptcy

George D. Kieffer—Administrative / Regulatory Law; Government Relations Practice

Barry S. Landsberg—Appellate Practice; Health Care Law; Litigation - Health Care

Richard J. Maire, Jr.—Mergers and Acquisitions Law

Laurence M. Marks—Entertainment Law - Motion Pictures and Television

Joanna S. McCallum—Appellate Practice

David T. Moran—Commercial Litigation

Craig A. Moyer—Energy Law; Environmental Law; Natural Resources Law

Tom Muller—Real Estate Law

L. Lee Phillips—Entertainment Law - Music

Gregory N. Pimstone—Appellate Practice; Health Care Law; Litigation - Health Care

Robert H. Platt—Commercial Litigation

William T. Quicksilver—Banking and Finance Law; Securities / Capital Markets Law

Christine Reilly—Advertising Law

Naeun Rim—Commercial Litigation

Harvey Rochman—Litigation - Real Estate

Craig S. Rutenberg—Health Care Law

Andrew L. Satenberg—Litigation - Labor and Employment

Brad W. Seiling—Commercial Litigation

Benjamin G. Shatz—Appellate Practice

George M. Soneff—Eminent Domain and Condemnation Law; Land Use and Zoning Law; Litigation - Real Estate; Utilities Law

Martin E. Steere—Real Estate Law

Benjamin E. Strauss—Litigation - Real Estate

Ronald B. Turovsky—Appellate Practice; Commercial Litigation

Charles E. Washburn, Jr.—Banking and Finance Law; Financial Services Regulation Law

Charles Weir—Health Care Law

Sophia K. Yen—Entertainment Law - Motion Pictures and Television

Bruce Zisser—Litigation - Intellectual Property

New York, NY

Deborah Bachrach—Health Care Law

Robert D. Belfort—Health Care Law

William S. Bernstein—Health Care Law

Aydin S. Caginalp—Entertainment Law - Music

Melinda J. Dutton—Health Care Law

Jeffrey S. Edelstein—Advertising Law

Ted Hunter—Real Estate Law

Anne Karl—Health Care Law

Vejay Lalla—Advertising Law; Copyright Law

Andrew Morrison—Commercial Litigation; Criminal Defense: White-Collar

Peter F. Olberg—Health Care Law

Helen R. Pfister—Health Care Law

Randi Seigel—Health Care Law

Jacqueline C. Wolff—Criminal Defense: White-Collar

Po Yi—Advertising Law; Entertainment Law - Motion Pictures and Television

Redwood City, CA

David W. Herbst—Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law; Tax Law

San Diego, CA

Randy S. Grossman—Bet-the-Company Litigation; Commercial Litigation; Criminal Defense: White-Collar

Troy Zander—Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law; Commercial Finance Law

San Francisco, CA

Lynn K. Cadwalader—Leisure and Hospitality Law; Real Estate Law

Veronica Cerruti—Tax Law; Trusts and Estates

Jill S. Dodd—Litigation - Trusts and Estates; Nonprofit / Charities Law; Tax Law; Trusts and Estates

Clayton B. Gantz—Land Use and Zoning Law; Real Estate Law

John J. Heber—Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law

Barry W. Lee—Commercial Litigation; Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions - Defendants

Marv Pearlstein—Real Estate Law

Sigrid Waggener—Land Use and Zoning Law

Christopher L. Wanger—Commercial Litigation

Washington, DC

John Dalton—Real Estate Law

Deborah P. Kelly—Employment Law – Management; Litigation - Labor and Employment

Tina Papagiannopoulos—Health Care Law