Education

University of California - Los Angeles School of Law, J.D., 1980

University of Wisconsin - Madison, B.A. (cum laude), 1976

Bar Admissions

The State Bar of California

Affiliations

Northern California SuperLawyers, 2004-2009, 2011

Laurence M. Berman

Contact information:

Shareholder

lberman@weintraub.com

T: 310.393.9500

Practice Areas

• Employee Mobility/Corporate Raiding Prosecution and Defense
• Intellectual Property
• Litigation
• Misappropriation/Unfair Competition Injunctions Prosecution and Defense
• Trade Secret Misappropriation Prosecution and Defense

Laurence Berman is a shareholder in the firm's Litigation group and is based in the firm’s Los Angeles office. He focuses his practice on complex business litigation, with an emphasis on intellectual property litigation, including copyright, trademark, trade secret and unfair competition cases. He also served as trial counsel in over 40 trials and arbitrations and has represented a wide variety of clients across several industry sectors. From 2004 through 2009 Laurence has been named a Southern California "Super Lawyer" by Law & Politics magazine. He is also recognized by The Legal 500 United States as a leader in the trade secrets field. He was selected by Law Dragon as one of the 3,000 top lawyers in America for 2009.

Representative Experience

Received a $6 million jury verdict, consisting of $2 million in compensatory damages and $4 million in punitive damages after a three and a half week jury trial. The court also awarded $1,125,000 in attorneys' fees, and entered a judgment in the amount of $9,046,000. This verdict was affirmed on appeal.

Successfully moved to compel the deposition of the Governor of Michigan, becoming one of the only people in the history of the United States to obtain a Court Order commanding a sitting U.S. head of state to be deposed.

Served as lead counsel for a design company which was sued for misappropriation of trade secrets and confidential information. Plaintiff requested more than $2 million in damages. After a two week trial, the jury awarded just $47 thousand in damages.

Served as lead counsel for the world’s largest food manufacturing company which was sued in state court in Texas for trade secret misappropriation, interference with contract and related claims. Plaintiff requested more than $330 million in damages. After more than two weeks of trial, the jury awarded approximately $1 million, well below the pre-trial settlement offers.

Obtained dismissal of a lawsuit against former employee of plaintiff company in an action for trade secret misappropriation and unfair competition involving Fortune 100 companies. Dismissal was secured based on favorable evidentiary rulings during a two month jury trial.

Secured settlement in excess of $8 million the day before trial in an action for trademark infringement and related claims against the largest publicly traded company in the health care industry.

Won emergency seizure order of counterfeit goods and a $5 million judgment in an action for trademark infringement involving the U.S. and international distribution of a food product.

Recovered all monies client invested, plus attorneys’ fees and costs, for multinational company in an action for copyright infringement and related claims involving the design and purchase of a proprietary computer software system.

Obtained seizure of counterfeit products and judgment after trial in an action by manufacturer of food products for trademark and copyright infringement.

Defeated seizure order sought by Microsoft Corporation against distributor of computer hardware and software in federal court trademark and copyright action. Secured insurance coverage for client used to achieve favorable settlement and payment of attorneys’ fees.

Won emergency seizure order of counterfeit goods and judgment after jury trial that was ten times the value of the counterfeit products sold by defendant.

Defeated temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction in an action for trade secret misappropriation and unfair competition involving software used to provide customer care in the automotive business. Secured dismissal of action without payment of any monies by defendants.

Secured a mid-six-figure settlement in a copyright and trademark infringement action in federal court where the infringement occurred for a limited period of time, there was no actual damage, de minimis profits earned by the defendants and all of the infringing product had been removed.

Won arbitration at JAMS involving shareholder dispute of a closely held corporation by successfully petitioning to restore the shareholder rights of an individual shareholder and thereafter secured multi-million dollar settlement for the shareholder.

Served as the keynote speaker on copyright and trademark issues at a live seminar in downtown Sacramento being sponsored by a nationally renowned legal education provider.

Laurence earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and his J.D. from the University of California at Los Angeles. While in law school he served as managing editor for the UCLA/ALASKA LAW REVIEW. He is a member of the State Bar of California.