On May 18, 2026, Dechert's antitrust team secured a high-profile jury trial victory for client Microsoft in the Musk v. Altman case. A unanimous nine-member jury found that OpenAI and its co-founders Sam Altman and Greg Brockman were not liable for breaching a charitable trust or unjust enrichment in connection with OpenAI's formation of a for-profit structure and concluded that the claims were barred by the statute of limitations. Following the advisory verdict, U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers dismissed all claims, including Elon Musk's claim that Microsoft aided and abetted the alleged breach.

At trial, the team challenged Musk's claims through a series of pivotal examinations. Musk's own tweets were used to demonstrate that his knowledge of OpenAI's transition fell well outside the limitations period, while testimony from Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella confirmed that no conditions were ever placed on Musk's donations. Additional witness testimony further corroborated these points, leaving the jury with a clear and consistent picture.

The Dechert trial team was led by antitrust partners Russell Cohen and Jay Jurata and intellectual property litigation partner Nisha Patel. The broader team included antitrust counsel Howard Ullman with associates Forrest Lovett, Elisa Beneze and Yosef Weitzman, litigation associates Brian Kulp, Hannah Leone and Sophie Davish; and paralegals Edwin Grullon and Andrew Horner, with key trial support from Impact Trial Consulting.

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