David F. Sorensen

Biography

David F. Sorensen is an Executive Shareholder and Co-Chair of the Firm’s antitrust department. He graduated from Duke University (A.B.) and Yale Law School (J.D.) and clerked for the Hon. Norma L. Shapiro (E.D. Pa.). He concentrates his practice on antitrust and complex litigation, including Qui Tam cases under the False Claims Act.

Mr. Sorensen has achieved notable success in multiple areas of the law. Mr. Sorensen co-tried Cook v. Rockwell Int’l Corp., No. 90-181 (D. Colo.) and received, along with the entire trial team, the “Trial Lawyer of the Year” award from the Public Justice Foundation for their work on the case, which resulted in a jury verdict of $554 million, after a four-month trial, on behalf of thousands of property owners near the former Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant located outside Denver, Colorado. The jury verdict was then the largest in Colorado history and was the first time a jury had awarded damages to property owners living near one of the nation’s nuclear weapons sites. The District Court entered a $926 million judgment for the plaintiffs. The jury verdict was vacated on appeal, but on a second trip to the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, plaintiffs secured a victory with the case being sent back to the District Court. In 2016, the parties reached a $375 million settlement, which received final approval in 2017.

Mr. Sorensen was lead trial counsel in a False Claims Act case, United States of America ex. rel. Behnke v. CVS Caremark Corp., No. 14-cv-824 (E.D. Pa.), which, after a two-week trial, resulted in a judgment in favor of the United States of nearly $290 million. 798 F. Supp. 3d 515 (E.D. Pa. 2025) (appeal pending).  Mr. Sorensen previously argued and won partial summary judgment in the case. 2024 WL 1416499 (E.D. Pa. April 2, 2024).

Mr. Sorensen has served as co-lead counsel or played a leading role in numerous antitrust cases representing direct purchasers of prescription drugs. Many of these cases have alleged that pharmaceutical manufacturers have wrongfully kept less expensive generic drugs off the market, in violation of the antitrust laws. Many of these cases have resulted in substantial cash settlements, including In re: Namenda Direct Purchaser Antitrust Litigation, (S.D.N.Y.) ($750 million settlement – largest single-defendant settlement ever for a case alleging delayed generic competition); King Drug Co. v. Cephalon, Inc., (E.D. Pa.) ($512 million partial settlement); In re Suboxone (Buprenorphine Hydrochloride and Naloxone) Antitrust Litig., (E.D. Pa.) ($385 million); In re Opana ER Antitrust Litig., (N.D. Ill.) ($145 million at start of trial); In re: Aggrenox Antitrust Litigation (D. Ct.) ($146 million); In re Loestrin 24 Fe Antitrust Litigation (D.R.I.)($120 million); In re Solodyn Antitrust Litigation, (D. Mass.) ($76.8 million); In re: K-Dur Antitrust Litigation (D.N.J.)($60.2 million); In re: Skelaxin Antitrust Litigation (E.D. Tenn.) ($73 million); In re: Wellbutrin XL Antitrust Litigation (E.D. Pa.)($37.5 million); In re: DDAVP Direct Purchaser Antitrust Litigation (S.D.N.Y.)($20.25 million settlement following precedent-setting victory in the Second Circuit, which Mr. Sorensen argued, see 585 F.3d 677 (2d Cir. 2009)); In re: Nifedipine Antitrust Litigation (D.C.D.C.)($35 million); and In re: Terazosin Hydrochloride Antitrust Litigation, MDL 1317 (S.D. Fla.) ($74.5 million). Mr. Sorensen is serving as co-lead counsel or playing a leading role in numerous similar, pending cases.

Mr. Sorensen played a major role in the Firm’s representation of the State of Connecticut in State of Connecticut v. Philip Morris, Inc., et al., in which Connecticut recovered approximately $3.6 billion (excluding interest) from certain manufacturers of tobacco products. And he served as co-lead class counsel in Johnson v. AzHHA, et al., No. 07-1292 (D. Ariz.), representing a class of temporary nursing personnel who had been underpaid because of an alleged conspiracy among Arizona hospitals. The case settled for $24 million.

The American Antitrust Institute (AAI) has four times recognized Mr. Sorensen and others on his team for their outstanding work: in 2024 for Suboxone, in 2020 for Namenda, in 2019 for King Drug, and in 2017 for K-Dur.  Also in 2020, Law360 named Mr. Sorensen a Competition MVP of the Year. Mr. Sorensen has presented at a number of symposia relating to antitrust issues in the pharmaceutical industry, including conferences in Philadelphia sponsored by HarrisMartin concerning “Pay for Delay” agreements.