Experience
Breach of Contract; Business Torts. Successfully defended the City of Los Angeles at trial in three consolidated cases involving complex commercial lease issues. The litigation arose out of a long-term lease and concessionaire operations agreement for the Equestrian Center within Griffith Park. The City prevailed in a bifurcated Phase I trial regarding a lynchpin dispute as to whether the lessee had validly exercised its option to extend the lease term, paving the way for entry of final judgments for the City on all claims and cross-claims.
Negligence and Public/Private Nuisance. Represented the Santa Clarita Valley Water Agency in a three-week federal jury trial, in which the Agency prevailed on its claims of negligence, public nuisance and private nuisance. The Agency succeeded in obtaining a jury verdict of more than $68 million for damages arising out of the subsurface intrusion of perchlorate and VOC contamination into the Agency’s drinking-water wells. The judgment was affirmed by the Ninth Circuit in Santa Clarita Valley Water Agency v. Whittaker Corp., 99 F.4th 458 (9th Cir. 2024).
Trade Secret Misappropriation; Patent Infringement; Trademark Infringement. Represented the designer and manufacturer of a unique medical device in trade secret misappropriation, patent infringement and trademark infringement litigation against a competitor. The competitor was using information it had misappropriated from the plaintiff and was also deliberately confusing consumers in an effort to increase the competitor’s market share and dilute the plaintiff’s brand. The matter included multistate litigation and proceedings before the International Trade Commission. The client received a very favorable result at the end of the proceedings, with the competitor’s manufacture and sale of the competing devices shut down.
Trade Secret Misappropriation; Breach of Contract. Successfully defended the City of Oakland in a federal lawsuit filed by the City’s former business tax software provider, including claims asserted under the federal Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 (“DTSA”) and the California Uniform Trade Secrets Act, as well as related contractual and business tort claims. The case was resolved in the City’s favor by summary judgment and the court further awarded attorney’s fees and costs to the defense.
Breach of Contract Defense. A Californian publisher and distributor of entertainment software games was sued in Florida for breach of contract. Ilse filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit for lack of jurisdiction. With the pending threat of dismissal, Ilse was able to settle the case favorably for the client in an early mediation.
Copyright Infringement. Defended a claim of copyright infringement and related state-law claims. Plaintiff was a competitor of the defendant and alleged that certain content on the client’s business website had been copied from the plaintiff’s copyrighted website. After early successes in defense motion practice, the case was ultimately dismissed.
Breach of Contract. Successfully defended a major computer hardware manufacturer against breach of contract allegations with consequential damages exceeding $45 million, including attorneys’ fees, arising out of a multi-million dollar transaction in San Jose, California, in a six-week binding arbitration before JAMS.
Trademark Infringement. Defended a trademark infringement case brought by a furniture designer against a competitor. Although the defendant held federally-registered trademarks, the plaintiff alleged it had recently obtained an assignment of unregistered common-law trademarks developed through prior use. The plaintiff filed suit shortly after the assignment, following a long period of inactivity by the assignor. Defendant responded by asserting that the claims were barred by laches, among other defenses and the case was resolved with a very favorable settlement for the client.
Trade Secret Claims. Represented a major social gaming company as a plaintiff in litigation against its competitor, including claims of trade secret misappropriation and employee raiding. Former employees had left the plaintiff’s company carrying designs for a new game that was yet to be released, threatening to be the first to bring the game to the market. It was critical that the plaintiff obtain a preliminary injunction to prevent the defendant from releasing the game first, thereby irreparably harming the plaintiff’s business. The court granted the preliminary injunction, which paved the way for prompt resolution of the dispute.
Trademark Infringement. Defended parallel cases brought in Texas state court and federal court in California. The plaintiff held a federally-registered trademark, but defendant had developed common-law trademark rights through prior use. Ilse brought a motion for summary judgment that threatened to eviscerate the plaintiff’s claims, which paved the way for settlement.
