Litigation

Our Litigation practice represents clients across the nation and around the globe in complex, high-stakes disputes. Lauded in Chambers USA for providing “truly exceptional results” and as “very skilled litigators who operate many moves ahead of their opponents,” our team includes some of the most respected and high-profile litigators in the nation.

Our largest victories include obtaining a $2.3 billion final judgment for a client in a patent suit involving microprocessor technology; recovering $1.8 billion for another client in a collection of verdicts and settlements for patent enforcement actions in federal courts; and securing the largest damage award ever affirmed by the California Supreme Court. Several of our successes have recently been recognized as top verdicts of the year by the Daily Journal, including a defense win for Fortress in antitrust litigation brought by Intel and Apple, a jury award for the City of Pomona in an environmental suit and a defense victory for Juniper Networks in a patent trial against Finjan.

We work diligently with each client to understand their business and build creative legal strategies designed to meet their goals. Our litigators are successful at trying cases to verdict in state and federal courts and in arbitration, as well as representing clients on appeal. We also have an excellent track record in counseling clients to successful resolution without litigation, winning cases through dispositive motions before trial and obtaining favorable settlements. This work includes class action litigation spanning a wide range of industries, including antitrust, consumer products and services, copyrights and related forms of intellectual property, partnerships, privacy statutes, real estate and securities (stock, warrants, debts, tax-driven investments and privately placed securities). Our seasoned trial lawyers have substantial experience defending professionals sued for malpractice, professional negligence and breach of fiduciary duty in federal and state courts throughout the nation. And our white collar defense and investigations team has the skills to help business organizations, senior executives, directors, officers and other individuals navigate criminal, civil and regulatory investigations wherever they arise. Our history of success is built on a combination of experience, ingenuity and a highly efficient approach to staffing our litigation teams.

Many of our litigators and practice groups have been recognized year after year in Chambers USA, The Legal 500, The American Lawyer and the National Law Journal, among other legal publications and directories. Examples of recent awards include:

• Selected as a Law360 "Practice Group of the Year" for Technology, IP and Trial (2023)
• Ranked in Chambers USA in the areas of IP and Life Sciences (2024)
• Received Daily Journal California Lawyer Attorneys of the Year (CLAY) Award for litigation wins in 2022, 2023 and 2024
• Recognized as "IP Litigation Department of the Year" and "National Boutique/Specialty Litigation Department of the Year" by The American Lawyer (2021) 

Experience

• Obtained a $2.3 billion final judgment for VLSI Technology in a suit against Intel, which involved two patents on technology used in Intel’s microprocessors.  
• Secured a $948 million jury award plus running royalties for VLSI Technology in a suit against Intel involving a microprocessor technology patent. 
• Defended a leading transportation network company in class actions alleging violations of California's false advertising and unfair business practices laws.
• Scored a $300 million jury award for PanOptis in a suit against Apple involving patents essential to LTE technology used in iPhones and cellular-enabled iPads and watches. The award represented the fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) royalty that jurors determined Apple owes PanOptis. In an earlier trial, a jury found that Apple infringed claims of the five patents at issue, determined all asserted claims were valid, and found willful infringement.
• Collected $1.8 billion in verdicts and settlements for TiVo in patent enforcement actions that included multiple trials in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas and multiple successful appeals at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. 
• Secured the largest damage award ever affirmed by the California Supreme Court in any area of law for City of Hope in a jury trial in Los Angeles Superior Court, resulting in payments to City of Hope of over $565 million.
• In separate cases on behalf of USAA, persuaded juries to award $102 million and $200 million and individual findings of willful infringement against Wells Fargo relating to patents for mobile remote deposit capture technology. The $200 million award was the second largest patent verdict in the country in 2019.
• Secured a $218.45 million jury verdict for USAA in a patent infringement suit over mobile remote deposit technology against PNC Bank.
• Obtained a complete defense victory for Fortress Investment Group, Fortress Credit Company and VLSI in antitrust litigation against Intel, persuading the court to dismiss with prejudice the complaint, which alleged Fortress and its co-defendants engaged in an anti-competitive patent aggregation scheme. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed. The Daily Journal recognized the victory as a top defense verdict of 2021 and honored the team with a 2022 California Lawyer Attorneys of the Year (CLAY) award.
• Scored a $303.15 million jury verdict for Netlist in a suit against Samsung involving five patents relating to computer memory technology. The jury also found willful infringement, and determined Samsung failed to prove any of the patents are invalid. 
• Secured a $59.5 million jury verdict for DePuy Synthes, a Johnson & Johnson company. Jurors found that Veterinary Orthopedic Implants (VOI) and Fidelio Capital AB willfully infringed two DePuy Synthes patents relating to medical devices for the treatment of canine knee injuries. Also secured a permanent injunction barring the defendants from marketing or selling the infringing products. 
• Obtained a $48 million jury verdict for the City of Pomona in an environmental trial over contaminated water against mining company SQM North America Corp. The victory was recognized as one of the 10 largest plaintiffs' verdicts of 2021 in California by the Daily Journal. 
• Secured final court approval for Uber Technologies of a $32.5 million settlement to resolve a consolidated class action over Uber’s “Safe Rides” fee.
• Scored a complete defense win for Juniper Networks in a patent suit brought by Finjan – securing a final judgment dismissing the case and giving Juniper victory on all of Finjan’s asserted patents. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued a summary affirmance on appeal. The trial judge ordered Finjan to pay Juniper $5.9 million in legal fees, which was also affirmed by the Federal Circuit. The Daily Journal recognized the victory as a top defense verdict of the year.
• Obtained the dismissal with prejudice of a securities fraud class action against Uber Technologies seeking billions of dollars in damages, and secured an affirmance in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The case was one of the first of its kind, brought under California’s market manipulation statute.
• Won a complete defense verdict for Gilead Sciences on a $50 million claim for breach of a merger agreement.
• Garnered a $400 million verdict for KAIST in a patent infringement suit over bulk FinFET technology against Samsung, GlobalFoundries and Qualcomm.
• Secured a complete defense verdict for Public Storage in a rare securities class action trial, which was recognized by the Daily Journal as a top verdict of the year. 
• Obtained a complete defense verdict for Novellus Systems on a $200 million indemnity and warranty claim after a jury trial in Santa Clara Superior Court.

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