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

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’s Litigation Department. As a specialist in intellectual property and complex commercial litigation, Ms. Mikulka handles high-stakes litigation for major domestic and foreign companies in cases involving patent infringement, trademark and trade dress infringement, unfair competition, anti-counterfeiting, false advertising, antitrust violations, class actions, and fraud.

Ms. Mikulka has successfully prevailed in dispositive motions and successfully tried cases, including obtaining a summary judgment in a case with $100 million in alleged damages to obtaining a nine figure jury verdict for Fortune 1000 companies. She represents clients in a wide range of industries and technologies, including in consumer electronics, e-commerce, new media, video gaming, medical devices, semiconductor technology, ROM chips, green technology, automotive, apparel, advertising, defense contracts, and healthcare software. She also counsels clients at early stages of dispute to maximize results. 

Ms. Mikulka has been named Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America, a Trial Lawyer Honor Society, and elected by her peers 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. 

A recognized industry leader, Ms. Mikulka was appointed to serve as national Co-Chair of ABA’s Section of Litigation Committee on Corporate Counsel and in various other leadership positions. She currently serves on the Editorial Board of the Litigation Magazine and ABA’s Taskforce on Independence of the Judiciary.

Ms. Mikulka frequently lectures nationwide on topics of trial advocacy, litigation strategy, intellectual property litigation, and ethics, including at national CLE conferences for ABA, Association of Corporate Patent Counsel, NAPABA, and as a guest lecturer at the University of Chicago Law School. Ms. Mikulka’s articles have been published in the Corporate Counsel Magazine, Docket Magazine of the Association of Corporate Counsel, Los Angeles Daily Journal, Litigation Journal, and In-House Litigator. She is a contributing author of the 2009 book, The Financial Crisis (Thomson-West) and has been quoted in a number of publications including in Litigation News, The Daily Journal, Business Journal, and ABA Journal.

Prior to joining Zuber & Taillieu, Ms. Mikulka practiced 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. Ms. Mikulka worked for the late Hon. Linda McLaughlin of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California during law school and the SEC’s Enforcement Division.

Ms. Mikulka is devoted to public service. With her family, she has helped found the Band of Brothers Foundation (http://www.bobf.org), a charity that protects children in neglected regions of the world. She is a recipient of the 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 seeking $100 million in damages. After a summary judgment ruling of invalidity and noninfringement in the clients’ favor and days before trial on the issue of inequitable conduct of plaintiffs, the case settled favorably for the clients;
• Obtained Early Dismissal of Patent Infringement Action.  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 without settlement payment before commencement of discovery;
• Stopped Infringing Ad Campaign in Trademark Infringement and Unfair Competition Cases on Behalf of Major Consumer Product Company and E-Commerce Company.  On behalf of a global footwear and apparel company, stopped a competitor from launching an infringing ad campaign and secured assignment of the infringing mark; on behalf of a leading e-commerce company, prevented a competitor from using an infringing mark online and in traditional marketing;
• Obtained Favorable Early Settlements Involving E-Commerce Businesses.  Served as lead counsel in several intellectual property and breach of contract actions involving leading on-line media and consumer electronics companies; obtained multi-million dollar settlements for clients;
• Obtained Record Jury Verdict in Complex Commercial Litigation.  Represented a Fortune 100 and Fortune 1000 company in a three-month jury trial arising out of insurance carriers’ refusal to indemnify clients for damages arising from a nationwide class action alleging product defect. Secured a jury verdict of $383 million on behalf of clients;
• Obtained Discovery Sanctions and Summary Judgment in Unfair Business Practice and Unfair Competition Cases.  In a Bus & Prof. Code 17200 case, obtained discovery sanctions and a seven figure judgment on behalf of a hospital sustaining injury arising from a failed IT system; Prevailed in motions for summary judgments in unfair competition actions on behalf of software and electronics companies; and
• Favorable Resolution of Class Actions.  Represented corporations in class actions asserting consumer fraud, product liability or securities fraud, in which favorable resolutions were achieved including dismissals and disqualification of class counsel based on conflict of interest.

Representative Speaking Engagements:

• “Corporate Counsel’s Dilemma: Preserving Corporate Attorney-Client Privilege In Intellectual Property Cases in the Global Business Environment,” Association of Corporate Patent Counsel Conference, Tucson, AZ (February 2010).
• “Shades of Gray” Ethics Curriculum, University of Chicago Law School, Planning Committee and Guest Lecturer (Spring 2009, Spring 2010).
• “Strategies for Enforcing Intellectual Property in China,” ABA’s Committee on Corporate Counsel Annual Conference, Scottsdale, AZ (February 2008).
• “First Impressions: The Key to Advocacy (During Trial and Pre-Trail),” ABA TEleconference and LIve Audio Webcast (November 2003).
• “Erosion of Corporate Attorney-Client Privilege in the Global Business Market.” ABA Minority Counsel Program Conference, Bellevue, WA (May 2008).
• Litigation Roundtable: Best Practices for Litigation Management and Cost Management.” ABA Minority Counsel Program, Chicago, IL (September 2008).
• “General Counsel Forum: Strategies for Selecting and Managing Preferred Provider Firms.” ABA Teleconference and Live Audio Webcast (June 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).
• “Diversity in the Courtroom: Perspectives from the Jury.” ABA Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (August 2003).
• “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).

Representative Publications:

• “SEB v. Montgomery Ward: ‘Deliberate Indifference’ Can Sustain Inducement Claim,” LawUpdates.com (April 2010).
• “Exergen v. Wal-Mart: Raising the Pleading Requirement for Inequitable Conduct,” LawUpdates.com (December 2009).
• “In re Bose: Fed. Cir. Rejects Medinol and Requires Intent to Establish Trademark Fraud,” LawUpdates.com (October 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).
• “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). 
• Contributing author, The Financial Crisis, A Thomson-West Report 119, 2009, Phyllis L. Skupien ed.
• “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).
• “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).