Keith H. Forst

Keith Forst is partner in the firm’s Washington, D.C. office.  Keith is an experienced trial lawyer representing a broad client base across a wide range of complex commercial matters.  He has deep experience litigating a variety of complex matters in dozens of jurisdictions across the country, both state and federal.  Keith’s experience spans a broad array of practice areas, having successfully litigated cases in an array of subject matters, including shipping and transportation, energy, aviation, commercial real estate, crypto, health care, securities, corporate governance, health care, land use, constitutional law, employment, false claims act, and others.  Keith is adept at handling all phases of litigation, from pre-litigation positioning, to shaping aggressive discovery, achieving summary judgment, successfully trying cases, and winning appeals.  Keith also has a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering, magna cum laude, from the New Jersey Institute of Technology, making him especially capable of handling matters that warrant technical expertise.

Keith acts as lead trial counsel for a number of clients and a number of matters—an illustrative list includes:

Liberian Int’l Ship & Corp. Registry, LLC v. Legality Holdings, S.A., No. 20-cv-852 (E.D. Va.).  Mr. Forst acted as lead counsel to the Liberian International Ship and Corporate Registry (“LISCR”) in a declaratory judgment action that sought a ruling that LISCR no longer owed contractual obligations to a Greek marketing consultant (“Legality”).  We defeated multiple motions to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction and filed a successful summary judgment motion, which resulted in a definitive ruling LISCR’s contract with Legality had ended; an appeal was also dismissed.

SS Richmond v. Harrison, No. 22-cv-00405 (E.D. Va.). Mr. Forst is acting as lead counsel to SS Richmond LLC and MK Richmond LLC in their civil RICO, fraud, and breach of action suit against Christopher Harrison and affiliated companies related to the plaintiffs’ investment in the Model Tobacco Project, a $65 million real estate development project in Richmond, Virginia.  The plaintiffs’ claims defeated a motion to dismiss and are currently pending discovery and trial.  

Bristow Group Inc., et al. v. Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation et al., Adv. Proc. No: 19-03691 (DRJ) (S.D. Tex. Bankr.).  Mr. Forst serves as lead counsel to Bristow Group Inc. in a multimillion dollar dispute with Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation over the sale of custom twin-engine helicopters.  Mr. Forst assumed the role of lead counsel only weeks before the summary judgment hearing was scheduled, but successfully moved to add a new claim for unfair trade practices, reopen discovery, and obtain judgment on Sikorsky’s counterclaim—forcing Sikorsky to file an amended counterclaim that significantly reduced Sikorsky’s requested damages.

National Waste Managers, Inc. v. Anne Arundel County, No. C-02-CV-20-002291 (Md. Cir. Ct.).  Mr. Forst serves as lead counsel to National Waste Managers (“NWM”) in its dispute with Anne Arundel County, Maryland over development of a multimillion dollar rubble landfill.  NWM had spent decades seeking approval to construct and operate the landfill since 1988.  In 2020, when the County sent letters to the Maryland Department of the Environment demanding that the agency halt environmental and engineering review of NWM’s landfill,  Mr. Forst filed suit against both the County and MDE and sought immediate summary judgment.  On May 26, 2021, the circuit court ruled in favor of NWM, declaring that the County had violated NWM’s due process rights and MDE had wrongfully halted its review.   Mr. Forst successfully defended that decision on appeal before the Appellate Court of Maryland.  In parallel, Mr. Forst successfully assisted NWM in extensive evidentiary hearings before the Anne Arundel County Board of Appeals, which ultimately granted NWM an extension to its local permit shortly before MDE approved NWM’s state permit application.  

85 Tenth Avenue Associates, L.L.C. v. L’Atelier NYC LLC (N.Y. Sup. Ct.).  Mr. Forst represents L’Atelier NYC LLC and Alexandre Gaudelet in their defense against claims seeking ejectment, termination damages, past rent, and expenses brought by commercial landlord 85 Tenth Avenue Associates, L.L.C.  Defendants have defeated multiple early motions and are currently progressing through discovery. 

Anthem, Inc. v. Express Scripts, Inc., No. 16-cv-2048 (S.D.N.Y.).  Mr. Forst is acting as counsel to Express Scripts, a pharmacy benefits manager, in a breach of contract lawsuit seeking over $15 billion in damages allegedly arising out of Express Scripts’ pricing and provision of services to Anthem.  The court granted Express Scripts’ motion for summary judgment, dismissing the vast majority of Anthem’s damages claim, and granted leave to file a second summary judgment motion and Daubert motions, which are currently pending.