Sarah S. Brooks

Laura D. Castner

Patrick Del Duca

Benjamin C. Deming

Katherine G. Eickmeyer

Eric F. Galen

Joel B. Ginsberg

Jeremy J. Gray

Wendy Heimann-Nunes

Jan Jensen

H. Jacob Lager

Josh Lawler

Gerold W. Libby

Tristan F. Mackprang

Fatma E. Marouf

Yuri Mikulka

Giovanni Orantes

Daniel Rodríguez-Bravo

Kevin I. Shenkman

Ryan Smith

Raymond C. Sun

Olivier A. Taillieu

Michael J. Zerman

Jeffrey J. Zuber

Thomas F. Zuber

The Lawyers of Zuber & Taillieu LLP

Yuri Mikulka chairs Zuber & Taillieu LLP’s Litigation Department.  As a specialist in intellectual property and complex commercial litigation, Ms. Mikulka has extensive trial and litigation experience representing Fortune 500 corporations in a wide range of disputes in federal and state courts, and administrative proceedings nationwide.

Her experience includes defending some of the best-known companies in high-profile patent infringement actions involving technologies such as liquid crystal displays, semiconductor manufacturing, automotive technology, printer technology, green technology, and in disputes involving trademark, copyright, theft of trade secret and IP licensing.  Ms. Mikulka also has served as lead counsel in litigation involving unfair competition, false advertising, antitrust violations, class actions, derivative suits, fraud, contract disputes, and securities litigation and arbitrations.  Her experience includes dismissal of a multi-million dollar suit based on a summary judgment motion and obtaining a multi-million dollar jury verdict on behalf of corporations.  Ms. Mikulka is committed to pursuing creative, aggressive and winning approaches to the most challenging legal matters, and regularly counsels corporations pre-litigation to achieve a favorable early dispute resolution.

Ms. Mikulka has been named Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America, a Trial Lawyer Honor Society, and as Fellow of the American Bar Foundation in recognition of her effectiveness and accomplishment in litigation and ethical reputation.  She has also been recognized for several consecutive years by the Los Angeles Super Lawyers Magazine.

Ms. Mikulka frequently writes and lectures nationwide on topics of trial advocacy, litigation management, intellectual property protection, and ethics, including at national and regional CLE conferences and at University of Chicago Law School as a guest lecturer.  Some of Ms. Mikulka’s CLE programs are available as video and audio programs on ABA website.  Her articles have been published in Corporate Counsel Magazine, Docket Magazine of the Association of Corporate Counsel, Daily Journal, Litigation Journal, and In-House Litigator.  She is a contributing author of the 2009 book, The Financial Crisis (Thomson-West).  Ms. Mikulka serves on the Editorial Board of the ABA’s Litigation Magazine.

Ms. Mikulka is a recognized leader in the national bar community, having served the past three years as national Co-Chair of American Bar Association’s Section of Litigation Committee on Corporate Counsel and in various other ABA leadership positions.  She currently serves on ABA Section of Litigation’s Taskforce on Independence of the Judiciary.  An authority on best practices for representing corporations, Ms. Mikulka regularly works with Chief Litigation Counsel and General Counsel of Fortune 500 companies to forecast and address legal developments impacting corporations, to develop best practices to avoid and manage litigation, to enter into alternative fee arrangements and to obtain value-driven legal service.  Ms. Mikulka has moderated a number of General Counsel Forum and corporate counsel roundtable programs. 

Prior to joining Zuber & Taillieu LLP, Ms. Mikulka practiced for over 12 years at some of the nation’s most reputable large law firms, including as a Partner in the global litigation firm of Howrey LLP, where she served on the firm-wide Attorney Training Committee and the Steering Committee of the Women Leadership Initiative.  During law school, Ms. Mikulka worked for the SEC’s Enforcement Division and the late Honorable Linda McLaughlin of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

Ms. Mikulka is devoted to pro bono and public service.  With her family, she has helped found the Band of Brothers Foundation (www.bobf.org), a grassroots charity dedicated to protecting children in neglected regions of the world.  She is a recipient of the Hon. Benjamin Aranda III Outstanding Public Service Award of the LA County Bar Association. 

Notable Representations:

• Obtained Summary Judgment and Favorable Resolution in Patent Infringement Actions. Defended global LCD panel manufacturer and consumer electronics companies accused of infringing several patents involving thin film transistors involving alleged damages of over $50 million in damages.  After a summary judgment ruling of invalidity and noninfringement in the clients’ favor and days before trial on the issue that plaintiffs’ remaining patent-in-suit was unenforceable due to inequitable conduct before the USPTO, the case settled favorably for the clients.  Also represented automotive companies in multi-party patent infringement actions in W.D. Wisconsin and E.D. Texas involving tire pressure monitoring systems and accelerometers used in airbag restraint systems, obtaining early dismissal in one of the actions before commencement of discovery;
• Obtained an Early Favorable Settlement in a Trademark Infringement and Unfair Competition Case. Obtained a favorable settlement on behalf of a leading athletic shoes and sports equipment company, stopping a competitor from launching an infringing advertisement campaign;
• Won Trial in Complex Commercial Litigation. Represented two Fortune 500 companies in a three-month jury trial arising out of the refusal of insurance carriers to indemnify the companies for damages arising from a nationwide class action alleging product defect. Secured a record jury verdict of $383 million on behalf of clients;
• Obtained Summary Judgment in Unfair Competition Actions. Prevailed in motions for summary judgments on behalf of software companies and electronics companies. Also secured a terminating discovery sanction and judgment against a software company on behalf of a hospital sustaining damages from a failed computer system;
• Successful Defense in Securities Litigation, Arbitration and Proceeding. First-chaired and prevailed in a NYSE arbitration concerning options trading on behalf of a major financial services company. Obtained dismissal or favorable settlements on behalf of numerous companies, officers and directors in the financial services, entertainment, book distribution, on-line business, automotive, publication, clothing and computer software industries in securities class actions, derivative litigation and proceedings before the SEC and DOJ. Negotiated early dismissal of underwriters and securities analysts in a securities class action involving a public offering of securities in a software company; and
• Negotiated Dismissal in a Product Liability Case. In an action alleging product liability and wrongful death against a defense contractor and a manufacturing company, successfully negotiated dismissal of case without monetary settlement at the eve trial.

Representative Interviews:

• “Law Firms Vie For ‘Preferred Provider’ Status,” Los Angeles Daily Journal (September 15, 2009) (Cover Story).

Representative Speaking Engagements:

• Shades of Gray Ethics Curriculum, University of Chicago Law School, Planning Committee and Guest Lecturer (Spring 2009).
• Litigation Roundtable: Best Practices for Litigation Management and Cost Management.” ABA Minority Counsel Program, Chicago, IL (September 2008).
• “Hot Topics for In-House Counsel: Corporate Attorney-Client Privilege Waivers, Increase of Parallel Proceedings, and Auction Rate Securities ” ABA Annual Meeting, New York, NY (August 2008).
• “General Counsel Forum: Strategies for Selecting and Managing Preferred Provider Firms.” ABA Teleconference and Live Audio Webcast (June 2008).
• “Erosion of Corporate Attorney-Client Privilege in the Global Business Market.” ABA Minority Counsel Program Conference, Bellevue, WA (May 2008).
• “Strategies for Enforcing Intellectual Property In China.” ABA’s Committee on Corporate Counsel Annual Conference, Scottsdale, AZ (February 2008).
• “General Counsel Forum: Lost in the Translation - Decoding What Clients (Really) Want.” ABA Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (August 2007).
• “General Counsel Under Attack.” Roundtable Discussion Programs of the Corporate Counsel Committee, New York, NY and Palo Alto, CA (2007).
• “Ethical Issues: 40 Solutions for Litigators.” ABA’s CLE Video program (October 2005).
• “Issues for Corporation Counsel.” ABA Teleconference and Live Audio Webcast (August 18, 2004).
• “First Impressions: The Key to Advocacy (During Trial and Pre-Trial).” ABA Teleconference and Live Audio Webcast (November 2003).
• “Diversity in the Courtroom: Perspectives from the Jury.” ABA Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (August 2003).

Representative Publications:

• ” Ashcroft v. Iqbal: A New Defense Tool for Corporate Defendants,” In-House Litigator 24, No. 1 (Fall 2009).
• “The New Breed of Financial-Crisis Class Actions: New Theories, New Defendants and New Defenses,” Andrews Litigation Reporter: Securities Litigation and Regulation 15, No. 5 (July 2009).
• “Weathering the Economic Storm: Are you Ready?” In-House Litigator (Spring 2009).
• “The Modern Beauty Contest,” Litigation Magazine of the ABA Section of Litigation (Spring 2009).
• “Protecting Privilege in a Global Environment,” AccDocket: The Journal of the Association of Corporate Counsel, (June 2009).
• Contributing author, The Financial Crisis, A Thomson-West Report 119, 2009, Phyllis L. Skupien ed.
• “Managing the Dual Role of Traffic Cop vs. Trusted Advisor: Best Practices for General Counsel in the Post Enron and Sarbanes-Oxley Era,” In-House Litigator (Winter 2008).
• “The Collapse of the Auction-Rate Securities Market and Its Impact on the Securities Litigation Docket,” Andrews Litigation Reporter. Securities Litigation and Regulation 14, No. 12 (October 2008).
• “Be Careful Out There: How GCs Must Navigate Treacherous Waters In Today’s Rough Regulatory Environment,” Corporate Counsel Magazine (March 2008).
• “Cash-Out - How to Protect Proprietary Information Against Departing Employees,” Los Angeles Daily Journal (June 1999).