Partner Ryan Baker was quoted in a January 30^th article in the San Diego Union Tribune about Razuki v. Malan, a San Diego Superior Court complex civil case arising from a failed real estate partnership. The equitable doctrine of unclean hands has become a central issue after the plaintiff engaged others, with his civil litigation pending, to intimidate and/or murder the defendant, plaintiff’s former business partner. The defendant has argued the plaintiff should not be permitted to recover because the plaintiff has unclean hands, having engaged in criminal conduct against the defendant.

Baker explained to Union Tribune reporter Alex Riggins that defendants will often use the unclean hands doctrine as an affirmative defense when first responding to a lawsuit, but it’s not often that the unclean hands doctrine is litigated as a central issue. Explaining the unclean hands doctrine, Baker said, “[y]ou’re coming and asking the court to punish (the defendant), but you’ve also done wrong here,” Baker said. “You’re not entitled to any recovery because you also engaged in misconduct as related to the claim.” “Courts are ultimately trying to be fair.”

Baker also said that unclean hands typically only applies to conduct that directly relates to the claims and it is therefore usually based on conduct that occurred prior to the filing of the litigation in which it is argued. He identified the example of an employee who sues his employer for wrongful termination but had lied on his resume to get the job. A court might find the employee had unclean hands and bar any recovery. With regard to the Razuki case, Baker warned that although unclean hands is an equitable “doctrine based on fairness,” allowing the defendant to cite conduct subsequent to the filing of a lawsuit would create a slippery slope for courts and litigants.

Although plaintiff Razuki certainly has unclean hands in the sense that he committed a crime, the question is whether his criminal act, which took place after he filed his civil claims, deprives him of his rights in the civil action. It’s an interesting question that will probably ultimately be considered by the appellate courts.

Partner Ryan Baker recently spoke to Bloomberg Law about a Supreme Court case addressing the issue of whether a district court must stay or may dismiss a case pending arbitration. In story published January 24, 2024, Baker said that the Smith v. Spizzirri case, addressing whether a district court may dismiss rather than stay a case in arbitration, “is a battle between making remedies available to litigants versus the administrative cost or burden on the judicial system.”

Baker said a stay pending arbitration can benefit litigants because it allows parties to file status reports to update the district court on the progress of the out-of-court proceeding and to potentially resolve any problems or disputes that may arise in arbitration, including issues related to the scope of the arbitration proceeding.

“But it may make sense” in some cases for claims subject to arbitration to be dismissed in their entirety. For example, filing status reports can stretch judicial resources, and both parties incur additional legal expenses, Baker said. “It can be a waste of the court’s time,” he said. “The whole point of arbitration is to be out of court.”

The Association of Business Trial Lawyers (ABTL) was founded in Los Angeles, California to develop a better forum for the discussion of business trials. It also provides a forum in which litigators and judges meet to address issues important to business trial lawyers.

Huggins represents individual and corporate clients at all stages of complex commercial litigation in both state and federal trial and appellate courts, with an emphasis on intellectual property and fintech matters. She has significant experience litigating business disputes, and has represented executives, entrepreneurs, investors and corporations.

Law360 quoted Waymaker Partner Brian Klein speaking about the upcoming USA v. Gordon Coburn et al. trial in a story about New Jersey cases to watch in 2024. Klein said, “This is a high-profile prosecution of a CEO and chief legal officer. There aren’t a lot of Foreign Corrupt Practice Act trials out there.”

“Usually, the company takes a plea or enters into a non-prosecution agreement and individuals implicated in the bribery aren’t prosecuted, often because they are located abroad, making them difficult to arrest and extradite,” Klein said. “So this is a pretty unique situation that an FCPA trial of executives based in the U.S. is going to trial.”

In the 12-count indictment, Gordon Coburn, the former Cognizant chief executive, and Stephen Schwartz, the former chief legal officer, have been charged with approving a $2 million payment to an Indian Government official in exchange for a permit to speed up a construction project in Chennai, India that had been long delayed.

Partners Ryan Baker, Brian Klein, Scott Malzahn, Jaime Marquart and Donald Pepperman have been named Southern California Super Lawyers 2024. Baker was honored for Intellectual Property Litigation, Klein for Criminal Defense: White Collar, Malzahn for General Litigation, Marquart for Business Litigation, and Pepperman for Antitrust Litigation.

Partner Ryan Baker, speaking to Law360 in a December 19, 2023 story about the top patent damage awards of 2023, said, “Every court was backlogged. I’ve had more trials than I’ve had in years past. There was a breakup of this logjam…”

Law 360 reported that there were a “striking” number of trials in the first six months of 2023 as “the COVID-19 bottleneck broke …”

When asked about the magnitude of 2023 patent verdicts, Baker wondered whether the numbers “this year [are] more in line with where things ought to be, because then you don’t have these humongous verdicts that then get relitigated for the next decade.”

Partner Keri Curtis Axel’s client YouTuber and former U.S. Olympian snowboarder Trevor Jacob praised his “incredible lawyer” as he was spared the 12-month prison term sought by federal prosecutors and instead was sentenced to six months after he crashed his plane in a YouTube stunt and obstructed a federal investigation into the crash in Los Padres National Forest in 2021. The December 4, 2023 sentencing was reported in multiple outlets, including the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, CNN, and The Washington Post.

Prosecutors recommended a 12-month prison sentence. Responding to Axel’s arguments and Jacob’s support letters, U.S. District Judge John F. Walter found that Jacob’s regret was sincere and ordered a sentence of 6 months in prison. “It’s hard to reconcile his law-abiding life with the incredibly poor decisions he made,” Judge Walter said.

A former federal prosecutor, Alex said, “Trevor is taking full responsibility for his mistake in judgment; he hopes to move past it and to use his status as a world-class action sports athlete, entrepreneur and influencer, to be a source of good for society.”

In a statement, Jacob said, “This was a massive learning experience. I’m grateful for the support system I have around me. Especially my incredible lawyer. This would have been a much worse outcome without her.” Judge Walter said that Jacob acted with the intention of creating a video for his YouTube so that he could “gain notoriety and make money.”

Jacob pled guilty earlier this year to one count of destruction and concealment with the Intent to obstruct a federal investigation, a crime that carries a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison. On Monday, Jacob told the judge that he wanted to again compete for a place on the U.S. Olympic team.

The Chambers USA FinTech Guide 2024 ranks Waymaker LLP, partner Brian Klein and Counsel Ashley Martabano among the nation’s elite practices, with Klein earning two Band 1-rankings (the highest possible) and Martabano earning Up and Coming in Crypto-Asset Disputes. Klein was again ranked Band 1 in Crypto-Asset Disputes and FinTech Legal: Blockchain & Cryptocurrencies. As a firm, Waymaker was ranked Band 1 for Crypto-Asset Disputes and Band 3 for FinTech Legal: Blockchain & Cryptocurrencies.

The Chambers FinTech Guide 2024 reports that the Waymaker team “is held in high esteem for FinTech and crypto-asset disputes.” One client wrote “Waymaker is absolutely tier one.” Another client said, “The Waymaker team is small but mighty” and “highly responsive.” Chambers says Klein is “one of the pre-eminent cryptocurrency litigators in the USA” and one impressed source said, “he really is the crypto lawyer in the country in the white-collar space. He is brilliant, the person that everybody turns to.” Of Martabano, one crypto-asset client said, “Ashley is terrific” and another said, “Ashley is incredibly impressive in her ability to quickly and efficiently understand a client’s business, and understand the challenges that the matter at hand presents. ”In FinTech Legal: Blockchain & Cryptocurrencies space, one client told Chambers, “Brian is the best of the best. He is my first call and he responds immediately.”

Interviewed for a Bloomberg.com story October 25, 2003 about Sam Bankman-Fried taking the stand in his own defense, after numerous witnesses implicated him in defrauding investors and customers of the failed cryptocurrency exchange FTX out of billions, Partner Brian Klein said, “He couldn’t stop talking to the press and wider world after FTX collapsed and before he was arrested and then while out on bail so no one should be surprised that he is choosing to take the stand.”

Three of Bankman-Fried’s closest former employees, Caroline Ellison, Nishad Singh, and Gary Wang plead guilty to fraud, cooperated with federal prosecutors, and gave searing testimony portraying the former crypto mogul as the criminal mastermind. A former federal prosecutor, Klein said after those witnesses, Bankman-Fried’s testimony will be “rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.”

The 31-year-old Bankman-Fried is facing decades in prison if convicted.

Partner Ryan Baker urged a California judge to award nearly $46 million to Beverly Hills urologist Dr. James Elist and his company International Medical Devices (IMD) after Waymaker’s unanimous federal June trial win in a contentious trade secrets case, saying his client deserves $15 million in royalties that should be tripled for willful and malicious conduct, reported Law360 on October 25, 2023

Arguing against the minimal damages theory presented by the defense, Baker told the judge, “They can steal everything and walk out, do nothing with it, or they can get caught red-handed and be prevented from the court from doing anything, and if they get caught, they don’t owe anything,” Baker said. “They can’t lose. That’s not how it works, Your Honor.”

A California federal jury, on June 16, 2023, found a Houston-based urologist and others stole trade secrets and infringed other intellectual property rights related to a cosmetic penile implant that Beverly Hills urologist Dr. Elist had developed over decades. After three years of litigation against Dr. Robert Cornell and others, the jury invalidated two patents and unanimously found for plaintiffs on nearly every single liability issue.

Partners Ryan Baker, Brian Klein, Jaime Marquart, and Donald Pepperman have been recognized as Litigation Stars in the Benchmark Litigation 2024 US Rankings.

Baker is ranked in Intellectual Property and Commercial Litigation, and Klein and Pepperman are ranked in Commercial Litigation. Speaking of the firm as whole, Benchmark says Waymaker has “carved itself out a unique position in the local litigation community through its cases, which encompass practices such as antitrust and intellectual property, with novel niche focuses in areas like fintech and cryptocurrency.”

On October 4, 2023, the California federal judge overseeing the Puig case refused to reconsider its previous order barring prosecutors from using a retracted plea deal by former Major League Baseball star Yasiel Puig in his upcoming trial on charges of obstruction of justice and making false statements.

Partner Keri Curtis Axel told Law360 that she was “pleased that Puig will receive a trial on the merits” after U.S. District Judge Dolly M. Gee said in her order that she will not “further address” federal prosecutors’ claim that the Cuban-born, Spanish-speaking Puig waived the argument that the plea’s factual statement is inadmissible under Federal Rule of Evidence 410.

The judge previously found the plea agreement unenforceable and its factual statement inadmissible, and she reaffirmed that ruling, extending it to bar use of the factual statement on impeachment in response to Waymaker’s arguments. The case is USA v. Puig Valdes in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California and Puig is represented by Waymaker lawyers Keri Curtis Axel, Jose Nuño, Emily Stierwalt, and Riley Smith. The matter is set for trial January 16, 2024.

Brian Klein, a former federal prosecutor, was interviewed by June Grasso for the Bloomberg Law podcast about the criminal trial of Sam Bankman-Fried in New York.

Klein discussed what to expect at the trial, including both how the prosecution will present its case and what to expect from the defense.

While there are millions of pages of evidence, Klein explained, “The prosecution will focus on 10 to 20 documents central to the prosecution’s theory.”

Based on pre-trial reports, Klein anticipates that “the defense will argue that Bankman-Fried was out-of-the-loop and that the things he knew about he had sought legal counsel.”

Listen to Podcast

In an August 29, 2023 story, the Wall Street Journal quoted Waymaker partner Brian Klein about the challenges judges face in deciding whether a presidential candidate’s remarks violate the rules protecting a fair and orderly trial. “They’re going to tread carefully here,” said Brian Klein, a former federal prosecutor and a partner at Waymaker LLP. “Anything that one of these judges does is going to be quickly appealed if it’s adverse to Trump.”

The WSJ story points to one of the exceptional circumstances surrounding the multiple criminal trials faced by the former president. In advance of trial, most defendants do not flout the rules judges establish to preserve an unbiased jury pool and ensure a fair trial. The standard advice of defense counsel is for their clients to keep quiet and avoid antagonize the judge. Trump, however, appears to disregard such advice and regularly attacks the judges and prosecutors saying his speech is protected by the First Amendment.

After Elon Musk’s Twitter (now X Corp.) sent a letter accusing Meta’s new Threads platform of stealing Twitter trade secrets, BBC WorldService interviewed Partner Ryan Baker on July 6, 2023, who said the claims “sound like saber rattling” and may be difficult to prove in court.

“It is hard to imagine that a company like Meta, with hordes of lawyers, both in house and external, would go off and create a product that obviously infringes on a competitor,” Baker said. Thirty million people have already signed up for Threads only days after launching and, in response, Musk sent a letter to Meta threating legal action, saying, “Competition is fine, cheating is not.”

Twitter alleges that Meta has “raided its employees in an effort to take trade secrets and other information that is proprietary,” Baker said. The difficulty for Twitter is that “California is a fairly free market state for employees. There have been litigations that held that employees had the specific right to go work for a competitor … Google tried to limit a lot of its employees from working for other browsers or other search engines and those cases all failed.”

“It’s hard to say right now if there is real merit to the claims,” Baker said. To prevail, Twitter would have to prove that Meta had the intent of seeking these employees for this information. Additionally, Twitter’s lawyers would have to “establish that the information sought and obtained was subject to a confidentiality agreement or was otherwise protected,” Baker said.

In a “How They Won It” July 3, 2023 story, Law360 reported that Ryan Baker’s “strong direct examination of the defendant (Dr. Robert Cornell) that left him ‘red-faced’ and ‘sputtering’” was the turning point in a contentious IP trade secrets trial between Beverly Hills urologist Dr. James Elist and his Houston rival Dr. Cornell.

A Los Angeles federal jury on Friday, June 16, 2023, invalidated two patents as it found that Dr. Cornell stole trade secrets from Dr. Elist, the inventor of the first FDA-cleared cosmetic penile implant. Baker undermined Cornell’s credibility when he got Cornell to “admit to filling his website with false statements” and then told the jury Cornell contradicted a sworn declaration. Baker said, “When I pulled that declaration out it was just another assail on his credibility.”

Another key moment in the nine-day trial, according to Law360, was when Emily Stierwalt questioned Minerva Acosta, a surgical technician for Elist. At the conclusion of the trial, the jurors told to U.S. District Judge Consuelo B. Marshall that Ms. Stierwalt, “did a good job with a difficult witness.”

Said Baker, “I had to decide, was I going to roll the dice on Emily, my junior associate, being able to properly defend and take this important witness, and ultimately, I decided to do it … obviously it was the right call.”

The Waymaker trial team also featured vital contributions from Managing Partner Scott Malzahn, who cross examined the expert witnesses for the defense, Partner Donald Pepperman, who identified the reasonable royalty damages theory as a court issue, and Associate Sam Meehan, who was involved with every aspect of the case.

After a Los Angeles federal jury found that a Houston-based urologist and others stole trade secrets from Dr. James Elist, the urologist who invented the first FDA-cleared cosmetic penile implant, Partner Ryan Baker told Law.com in a June 20, 2023 story that damages could reach $10 million. Baker said the jury was limited to finding that misappropriation occurred and that the court will decide the amount of damages later based on a hypothetical reasonable royalty analysis.

“The idea is [Dr. Cornell] already let the horse out of the barn,” Baker said. “The main issue from our perspective is we have these things that were trade secrets that would have had an infinite life as long as we could keep them confidential.” A jury of eight in the Central District of California found that defendants Cornell and all the other defendants misappropriated trade secrets, including ‘voids of space within the silicone body of the penile silicone implant to add softness and elasticity,’ according to the verdict form reported Law.com.

Disgorgement of profits was not possible because, prior to any FDA clearance, plaintiffs obtained an injunction preventing Cornell’s company from further commercializing its implant, Baker told Law.com. Instead of lost profits or disgorgement, plaintiffs will seek royalty fee damages based on a hypothetical license – the fees defendants would have paid if they had entered into a licensing agreement with Elist and his company, International Medical Devices Inc

“In this ‘but for’ world, our expert witness will come up with some hypothetical damages figure,” said Baker. Under the California Uniform Trade Secrets Act, the judge will decide the appropriate reasonable royalty..

A Los Angeles federal jury on Friday, June 16, 2023 ruled overwhelmingly in favor of Waymaker client Dr. James Elist as it invalidated two patents and found that a rival urologist stole trade secrets from Elist in a case involving the first FDA-approved cosmetic penile implant. The high-profile case received coverage by Law360 and Daily Journal.

The sweeping verdict means that Waymaker client Dr. James Elist will be able to keep the defendant’s rival device off the market. Defendant Dr. Robert Cornell viewed several of Elist’s surgeries in 2018 to learn how to install Elist’s “Penuma” implant. Dr. Cornell had claimed he had asked a mere three questions during the surgeries, an assertion Partner Ryan Baker attacked in closing. Several other witnesses testified that Dr. Cornell asked numerous questions about the procedure and potential improvements to the implant device. “Is it credible that Dr. Cornell claims he asked fewer questions than he witnessed surgeries?” Baker asked the jury. Baker argued that the evidence showed that Cornell signed a nondisclosure agreement with his “fingers crossed” and within months of viewing Elist’s Penuma surgery, filed patent applications based on Elist’s trade secrets.

Those patents were an attempt “to build a legal moat that would prevent the plaintiffs from using their own ideas,” Baker said. After the verdict was read on the ninth day of the trial, Elist told Law360 that he wanted to “thank God” and that the verdict shows that people are “responsible for their actions” and that “the truth, and only the truth, will come out.”

The jury was presented with 52 liability questions and answered 48 in favor of Waymaker’s clients. The court will now consider plaintiffs’ damages claim, which are based on a hypothetical reasonable royalty. According to Baker, “the damages question was a challenge in this case, because we had obtained a preliminary injunction before the defendants were able to sell a single product, but the firm’s clients were substantially harmed by defendants’ publication of trade secrets.”

The victory was nearly absolute as the jury went Waymaker’s way on every single claim and almost every defendant on every single claim in a case the firm handled from inception more than three years ago. Among the victories along the way, Waymaker won a preliminary injunction, defeated a motion to amend the complaint, defeated a motion for summary judgment and won claims on summary adjudication, defeated Daubert motions and won a $100,000 motion for contempt sanctions.

The Waymaker trial team included Partners Baker, Scott Malzahn and Donald Pepperman, and Associates Sam Meehan and Emily Stierwalt. Malzahn cross examined the defendant’s experts and presented IMD’s experts to show that there were confidential meetings regarding the very trade secret concepts at issue more than a year before the alleged theft. Pepperman identified the reasonably royalty damages theory as a court issue, Meehan won two critical motions to exclude distracting arguments from the defense team, and Stierwalt, who according to the jury, did “a great job with a tough witness,” helped tell the story about what really happened in the operating room when Dr. Cornell received training from Dr. Elist.

International Medical Devices Inc. CEO Dr. Jonathan Elist told the Waymaker team: “You were superb. You’ve each been amazing across this three-plus year journey together. You’ve managed to win every single major motion, and you got a jury verdict that was a total sweep.”

The case was International Medical Devices Inc. et al. v. Robert Cornell et al., case number 2:20-cv-03503, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

A Los Angeles federal jury on Friday, June 16, 2023, invalidated two patents as it found that a Houston-based urologist stole trade secrets from a rival Beverly Hills urologist who invented the first FDA-cleared cosmetic penile implant reported Law360.

The verdict means that Waymaker client Dr. James Elist will be able to keep the defendant’s rival device off the market. Defendant Dr. Robert Cornell viewed several of Elist’s surgeries in 2018 to learn how to install Elist’s “Penuma” implant. Dr. Cornell had claimed he had asked a mere three questions during the surgeries, an assertion Partner Ryan Baker attacked in closing. Several other witnesses testified that Dr. Cornell asked numerous questions about the procedure and potential improvements to the implant device. “Is it credible that Dr. Cornell claims he asked fewer questions than he witnessed surgeries?” Baker asked the jury. Baker argued that the evidence showed that Cornell signed a nondisclosure agreement with his “fingers crossed” and within months of viewing Elist’s Penuma surgery, filed patent applications based on Elist’s trade secrets.

Those patents were an attempt “to build a legal moat that would prevent the plaintiffs from using their own ideas,” Baker said. After the verdict was read on the ninth day of the trial, Elist told Law360 that he wanted to “thank God” and that the verdict shows that people are “responsible for their actions” and that “the truth, and only the truth, will come out.”

The jury was presented with 52 liability questions and answered 48 in favor of Waymaker’s clients. The court will now consider plaintiffs’ damages claim, which are based on a hypothetical reasonable royalty. According to Baker, “the damages question was a challenge in this case, because we had obtained a preliminary injunction before the defendants were able to sell a single product, but the firm’s clients were substantially harmed by defendants’ publication of trade secrets.” The Waymaker trial team included Partners Baker, Scott Malzahn and Donald Pepperman, and Associates Sam Meehan and Emily Stierwalt.

The case was International Medical Devices Inc. et al. v. Robert Cornell et al., case number 2:20-cv-03503, in the U.S. District Court for the Central

In his opening statement, Partner Ryan Baker told a Los Angeles federal jury on Wednesday, June 7 that said the theft of the first FDA-cleared cosmetic penile implant was sloppy, reported Law360

Waymaker client Urologist Dr. James Elist testified as the first witness in a trial based on claims he filed against Dr. Robert Cornell, who, Dr. Elist says, received specialized training under terms of a nondisclosure agreement about how to surgically implant Elist’s “Penuma” penile device. During that training, Dr. Cornell asked numerous questions about the implant and planned future improvements, said Baker.

Elist says Cornell violated the agreement by developing a rival device and revealing Elist’s closely guarded secrets by filing a patent application based on Elist’s work. The theft was sloppy, Baker said, because Cornell’s patent application included a copyrighted graphic of a penis with Penuma implanted on it. “All of this was a pattern to take [Elist’s] business and build his own.”

The Penuma device developed by Elist is designed to create cosmetic improvements to the male genitalia by making it larger or fixing deformities.

Attorney Weining Bai, who represents Cornell and other defendants, denied any misappropriation occurred, although he admitted copyright infringement and that Cornell described himself as a Penuma specialist on his website, using the registered Penuma trademark without authorization.

The case is International Medical Devices Inc. et al. v. Robert Cornell et al., case number 2:20-cv-03503, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

Associates Kevin Casey, Sam Meehan, Jose R. Nuño and Emily Stierwalt have been named Southern California Rising Stars 2023 by Southern California Super Lawyers. Meehan was first selected in 2021, Meehan and Nuño also were honored in 2022.
No more than 2.5 percent of California lawyers are selected for the Rising Stars list. Meehan, Nuño and Stierwalt are graduates of USC Gould School of Law. Casey graduated from Columbia Law School.

Los Angeles Business Journal has named Partner Ryan Baker one of the Top 100 Lawyers in Los Angeles 2023. Noting Baker’s record of winning trial verdicts and appeals

in “high-profile and high-stakes cases across the country,” LABJ identified him as one of LA’s top Intellectual property lawyers, whose cases often involve innovative or disruptive technology.

This is the second year that Baker has been honored by Los Angeles Business Journal as one of the Top 100 Lawyers in Los Angeles.

Partner Ryan Baker and Counsel Ashley Martabano led roundtables at the 8^th Annual Fullstack GC Conference on Friday, May 19, 2023 at the Intercontinental San Francisco. Baker co-led a Litigation Roundtable on Best Practices to Protect Privilege in the Corporate Context while Martabano co-led an Investigations Roundtable: What to Do When a Regulator or Law Enforcement Comes a Knocking.

TechGC, an independent, invite-only organization of GCs and CLOs of leading high-growth technology companies and venture capital firms, hosts the annual San Francisco conference that draws more than 250 attendees. Globally, TechGC has more than 2,000 members.

The Litigation Roundtable hosted by Baker focused on how GCs can protect privilege communications when communicating internally and with outside counsel so that when litigation arises sensitive communications are protected.

Former federal prosecutor Keri Curtis Axel, interviewed on May 12, 2023 about New York Republican Congressman George Santos facing 13 federal charges for fraud, money laundering, and theft, told LiveNow Fox, “This is a very interesting indictment because it’s a potpourri of different fraud charges,” involving lying to contributors, lying to state and federal authorities about unemployment benefits, and lying on campaign disclosure forms. Rep. Santos pled not guilty to the 13-count federal indictment Wednesday, May 10, 2023.

Speaking with Fox Host Giacomo Luca, White Collar Defense Attorney Axel said, “It’s always serious business to bring federal charges against anyone, because steep sentences are involved, and, if convicted, it will change your life forever.”

Axel said that when the government has hard evidence, such as text messages, it is harder to refute the charges. “The government does often put one’s emails and text messages together to devastating effect,” she said. “He may have some kind of defense, but his defense strategy seems difficult.”

Partner Teresa Huggins was quoted by the Daily Journal in a May 5, 2023 story about economic strains on the commercial real estate market in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Huggins said, “If the only excuse [for nonpayment] is COVID, the tenant will likely lose. In multiyear leases, COVID restrictions were for part of the time, so the lease wasn’t particularly frustrated.”

Huggins and Associate Kevin Casey recently obtained summary judgement of $2 million in compensatory damages for 6759 Hollywood Associates LLC, which sued its tenant, Museum of Selfies, for breach of its commercial lease.

The Waymaker team, Teresa Huggins and Associate Kevin Casey, prevailed on two summary judgment motions in 6759 Hollywood, LLC v. Museum of Selfies, LLC, et al., winning the case in favor of the firm’s client, 6759 Hollywood, LLC.

On April 11, 2023, Superior Court Judge Holly J. Fujie ruled, based on the evidence, that there was no triable issue of material fact in the matter and granted Waymaker’s request for summary judgment in Plaintiff’s favor on its affirmative claims. Judge Fujie also granted Waymaker’s request for summary judgment against the cross-complaint, dismissing all existing cross-claims against Plaintiff.

This was a breach of contract case in which the tenant left the building with outstanding rent obligations of more than $2 million and additional property damage. 6759 Hollywood, LLC is also entitled to recover attorneys’ fees.

Los Angeles Business Journal has named Partners Keri Curtis Axel and Teresa Huggins “Women of Influence: Attorneys 2023” and included their profiles in the April 17, 2023 edition. Axel and Huggins were honored as among the leading female lawyers in Los Angeles based on their legal skill and achievements, and community leadership.

Axel, a former federal prosecutor, currently defends former Dodgers star Yasiel Puig, who is alleged to have made false statements to the government during its investigation of a sports betting ring. She practices white-collar criminal, government enforcement defense, and civil litigation. Huggins handles complex commercial litigation at both the trial and appellate level, in state and federal court, with an emphasis on intellectual property, fintech, cryptocurrency, and First Amendment matters. Both Axel and Huggins are graduates of Harvard Law School.

The Los Angeles Business Journal reported February 20, 2023 that Waymaker Managing Partner Scott Malzahn has been elected president of Equality California, the largest statewide LGBTQ+ rights organization in the nation. “We are the primary voice in California for LGBTQ-plus issues,” said Malzahn.

“For a long time, we’ve played an important role in state politics and building the pipeline for local leaders in state and federal positions,” Malzahn said. He will serve a two-year term as president and previously was vice president of the organization. Before joining Waymaker, Malzahnwas at Gibson Dunn and a member of the trial team for Perry v. Schwarzenegger, the case that overturned Proposition 8 and legalized same-sex marriage in California.

“Scott has been an invaluable member of Equality California’s board of leadership and we’re so grateful for his and Waymaker’s generous support of our mission,” Equality California Executive Director Tony Hoang said.

Given the conservative tilt of the U.S. Supreme Court, Malzahn said Equality California will focus on the state level. “Here in California, we playa leading role in terms of establishing a standard that the country can look forward to as a whole,” Malzahn said. In addition, “We’re going to be keeping our eyes closely on trans issues that arrive in other states … to make sure that families with trans kids are protected and that California is a place where they can be protected,” he said.

Malzahn has a complex commercial litigation practice that spans entertainment disputes, class actions in the securities arena, fintech, and intellectual property and has handled many high-profile disputes both in the trial court and on appeal.

Partner Brian Klein will speak at the Southern California ABA’s White Collar Crime Committee Tuesday, February 21, 2023 about trends in Cyber Enforcement at a 5:30 p.m. event hosted by Holland & Knight in downtown Los Angeles.

Klein joins Kal Shobaki, the Deputy Cyber Crimes Chief of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, and Jennie VonCannon of Crowell & Moring to discuss a number of topics including the DOJ’s latest guidance on the new Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and developments in the case law, the SEC’s consideration of the new cybersecurity rules, and the Biden administration’s approach through recent legislation. The CLE panel will take place from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.

The address for Holland & Knight’s Los Angeles office is 400 South Hope Street, 8th Floor, Los Angeles 90071. Please check the Holland & Knight website for information.

Speaking to the Wall Street Journal about an alleged $110 million crypto market manipulation scheme by his client, Avraham Eisenberg, Partner Brian Klein said the defense team is trying to work out a bail package for Mr. Eisenberg, who faces U.S. criminal and civil charges.

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York has charged Mr. Eisenberg, arrested on December 26, 2022 in Puerto Rico, with commodities fraud, commodities market manipulation, and wire fraud in connection to what prosecutors said was manipulation of Mango Markets, a decentralized cryptocurrency exchange. The Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission have filed parallel civil charges against Mr. Eisenberg, which are first of their kind.

Speaking about Eddie Antar, a notorious high-stakes gambler who was convicted of fraud in 2019, Klein said, “A party’s recent criminal conviction can,for example, often be used when cross-examining that party, and no doubt the other side will raise it at every available opportunity as the case proceeds.”

“On a practical level, it’s also just harder for his attorney to work with him when he’s behind bars,” said Klein. “It doesn’t mean he can’t overcome all the serious difficulties this can pose, but it does mean it’s going to be much more difficult for him to pursue his civil case than it was before.”

Antar, who says he wagered nearly $30 million from July 2020 to January 2021, claims BetMGM would disconnect him every 15 to 30 minutes when he had a favorable hand. He filed suit against BetMGM and Borgata and other defendants accusing them of fraud, negligence, and violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act.

LOS ANGELES – Waymaker LLP is pleased to announce that its Managing Partner Scott Malzahn has been elected to a two-year term as the 2023 President of Equality California, the nation’s largest statewide LGBTQ+ civil rights organization, beginning January 2023. Malzahn has been involved in the organization since 2017 and most recently served as Vice President.

“Equality California does a tremendous amount of legislative work to improve the lives of LGBTQ+ people in different communities where they live across the state,” says Malzahn. “Given the current composition of the Supreme Court, the work performed by Equality California becomes all the more urgent.”

Malzahn and Waymaker have supported Equality California’s mission by offering legal and financial support to the organization. And, more than a dozen years ago, Malzahn was involved in the federal trial that resulted in Proposition 8 being ruled unconstitutional, which brought marriage equality to California and eventually to the entire country.

“Scott has been an invaluable member of Equality California’s board leadership, and we’re so grateful for his and Waymaker’s generous support of our mission,” says Equality California Executive Director Tony Hoang. “We look forward to our continued partnership in the fight for full, lived equality for all LGBTQ+ people.”

Through its Leadership Program and other initiatives, Equality California plays a big role in building a pipeline for LGBTQ+ individuals and allies to run for public office at the local, state and federal levels, and brings elected leaders together.

“Equality California will continue to vigorously defend the rights of LGBTQ+ Americans at the federal level as well as work with the state’s legislature to expand protections at the state level to make California a safe place for the most marginalized – including trans kids and their families,” says Malzahn.

January 11, 2023

Partners Ryan Baker, Brian Klein, Scott Malzahn, Jaime Marquart and Donald Pepperman have been named Southern California Super Lawyers 2023.

Baker was singled out for excellence in Intellectual Property Litigation, Klein for Criminal Defense: White Collar, Malzahn for General Litigation, Marquart for Business Litigation, and Pepperman for Antitrust Litigation.

The Anti-Defamation League’s Board of Directors has approved Partner Ryan Baker’s nomination to the ADL’s National Commission allowing Baker to contribute to the fight against ignorance and hatred countrywide beginning January 1, 2023.

“I am pleased to continue working with the great and dedicated people of the ADL, and I am eager to continue the fight against hate on a national level,” said Baker. “The ADL is an organization aimed at creating better understanding among people with different backgrounds—ethnic, religious or otherwise. Although the organization is rooted in the fight against anti-Semitism, the ADL fights all manner of hate.”

Currently, Baker is a member of the Anti-Defamation League’s Regional Executive Committee. “My engagement with the ADL on a national level will help connect me with others who can ensure I am doing all I can through advocacy to not only generally promote tolerance, but to also specifically advocate for laws to increase transparency online and otherwise fight hate speech.”

Partner Ryan Baker, interviewed by Law.com on December 15, 2022, About the proliferation of anti-SLAPP suits said, “The cure has become the disease. Anti-SLAPP has become bloated … it’s become a problem for real plaintiffs …”

Anti-SLAPP, shorthand for anti-strategic lawsuits against public participation, law is intended to protect First Amendment and petitioning rights. “There’s a catch-all provision of the Anti-SLAPP statute, which essentially says, ‘Anything that’s a matter of public interest, or relates to a matter of public interest or public dialogue [is protected],’” said Baker. The law is meant to protect litigants from abusive lawsuits, but wealthy defendants frequently use anti-SLAPP motions early in the cases to essentially freeze the action and require the plaintiff to surmount what can be a formidable challenge—it is difficult if you are “a little guy filing a suit [to overcome] anything that can touch upon public interest.”

Baker overcame the public interest hurdle in 2019 in a unanimous decision, FilmOn.com Inc. v. DoubleVerify Inc., by the California Supreme Court because the case dealt with private, confidential contract. Notably, however, the trial court and court of appeal had found the conduct protected.

Venue matters said Baker. He said a key reason Depp’s attorneys took the viral defamation case of Johnny Depp v. Amber Heard to Virginia was to escape California’s much tougher anti-SLAPP statute. “In California, the case would have been dead on arrival … it just illustrates the difference between states.”

Ryan Baker speaking to CBS News Morning on December 12, 2022 about more than 1,200 families suing social media companies for allegedly impacting their children’s mental health, including cases of teen suicides, said “the algorithms are products that the companies develop themselves and those products can be the basis for liability”…

Speaking with Anchor Anne-Marie Green, Baker said, “The state of the law is in flux.” Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act provides some immunity from liability to providers of a social media site because the host is not the provider. However, Baker said, “It is exactly right” that the host companies are responsible for the algorithms. Baker said negligence law takes into account to whether a company acted in a reasonable and responsible manner.

The CBS News Morning episode featuring Baker followed a 60 Minutes report on Sunday evening that featured an interview with parents who had lost a daughter to suicide after she saw a Instagram video detailing a certain method of hanging yourself. The girl’s parents said the Instagram video was not taken down for another year and a half even though the social media company has a policy against showing content about self-harm.

Keri Curtis Axel, an experienced criminal and civil litigator and parent of a Swiftie, interviewed by BBC on December 6, 2022 about the lawsuit by angry Taylor Swift fans against Ticketmaster, and its parent company Live Nation, said the goal is “to get rid of the bots so that common customers have a chance to get tickets in the first place. The claimants have a beef and so did Taylor Swift.”

The lawsuit was the result of Swift fans not being able to get tickets to the pop stars new tour. “This is a trade practice case, not an antitrust case,” said Axel. The problem, she said, is not the resale of tickets, which is common, but “how to make the first round more fair.” Axel continued, “Congress is interested in this issue as well and a lawsuit like this is part of customer outrage to make the law fairer to individual buyers.”

Axel told BBC that her daughter did get tickets.

Daily Journal on December 7, 2022 named Partner Brian Klein as one of its top White Collar Attorneys 2022. A former federal prosecutor and accomplished and renowned trial attorney, Klein leads Waymaker’s White Collar practice.

Klein has a nationally recognized finance and technology-focused litigation practice handling high-stakes criminal and regulatory defense matters and civil litigation in federal and state courts around the country. His cases often involve the DOJ, SEC, CFTC, FTC, CFPB, and state authorities.

Chambers ranked Waymaker LLP and its partner Brian Klein as having elite litigation practices in FinTech, with Klein earning two Band 1-rankings (the highest possible). As a firm, Waymaker was ranked Band 1 for Crypto-Asset Disputes and Band 3 for FinTech Legal: Blockchain & Cryptocurrencies.

The Chambers FinTech Guide 2023 reports that the Waymaker team “is held in high esteem for FinTech and crypto-asset disputes” and that the group is “very, very active.” Waymaker is “very reputed for this work and are on the big cases.” One impressed source said of Klein: “He is one of the best crypto litigators in the country … I think the world of him; he really, really knows this space and should be ranked as highly as possible in this sector.”

The Guide went on to report that “Waymaker attorneys handle some of the most complicated crypto matters. They understand the technology completely and can help to develop incredibly sophisticated strategies that incorporate a deep knowledge of how blockchain works.”

Continuing Chambers wrote, “They are great co-counsel to work with – very responsive, cooperative, and with high-quality work product.” Speaking of Klein, one Chambers source said: “Brian is an excellent attorney with whom I enjoy working and I often recommend to my clients when crises, in the form of enforcement actions, hit.”

Representing former Dodgers star Yasil Puig in a sports betting case, former federal prosecutor Keri Curtis Axel said “significant new evidence” prompted the defense to withdrawal Puig’s agreement to plead guilty of lying to investigators, reported the Los Angeles Times on November 30, 2022.

“I want to clear my name,” Puig said, “I never should have agreed to plead guilty to a crime I did not commit.” Speaking about the new evidence, Axel said, “We are prepared to publicly share that information in the appropriate forum and at the appropriate time.”

In an earlier court hearing, Axel raised the possibility that “Puig might have been entrapped,” reported the Times.

Ryan Baker spoke to BBC World Service about the Balenciaga BDSM ad scandal, which erupted when the edgy high-end fashion house published photographs from a new “gift collection” ad campaign, which featured images of children holding stuffed teddy bears wearing bondage, discipline, sadism, masochism articles with other BDSM objects also on display. The gift collection campaign caused an immediate uproar on social media, which resulted in the discovery of the U.S. v. Williams Supreme Court opinion depicted in a separate Spring 2023 ad campaign, meant for spring 2023. In U.S. v Williams, the U.S. Supreme Court confirmed that the pandering of child pornography was not protected free speech. In the wake of significant criticism over these images, Balenciaga sued the set designer the company claims is responsible for the placement of U.S. v. Williams case. Baker characterized the suit as a strategic attempt to shift the dialogue, as no one wants to take responsibility.

In U.S. v. Williams, 553 U.S. 285 (2008), the Supreme Court found that a federal statute prohibiting the pandering of child pornography was not unconstitutional, reversing an Eleventh Circuit ruling based primarily on the premise that there is “offers to participate in illegal transactions are categorically excluded from First Amendment protection.”

In the wake of significant criticism, Balenciaga filed suit in the Supreme Court of New York against the set production company, North Six, and set designer, Nicholas Des Jardins, which Balenciaga alleges were responsible for the design of the spring 2023 ad campaign photoshoot. Although the complaint has not been filed, Balenciaga has indicated it seeks up to $25 million in damages for the resulting “false association” between Balenciaga and the “repulsive and deeply disturbing subject of the court decision.” Ryan Baker, speaking to the BBC, described the suit as an attempt to shift the blame, questioning whether Balenciaga could reasonably expect to recover damages. “Often these cases are kneejerk reactions to shift the focus to another party,” said Baker speaking to the BBC’s Davina Gupta. Many such cases, according to Baker, are “filed for strategic reasons, not really to recover damages.”

Balenciaga has also issued press releases in which it takes some responsibility for the images. Ultimately, however, Baker described responsibility as a “hot potato” passed among Balenciaga, the photographers and the set designers

In response to the lawsuit, Jardins’ agent told the Washington Post that the legal papers in the ad “were obtained from a prop house … Everyone from Balenciaga was on the shoot … and worked on the edit of every image in post-production.” The photographer said the materials in the shoot were not his responsibility.

Partner Keri Curtis Axel, a former federal prosecutor, quoted by Yahoo! Finance November 23, 2022 on Elizabeth Holmes’ 11-year prison sentence for her fraud while CEO of the blood-testing start-up Theranos, said, low-security federal prison facilities such as the one Holmes is being sent to in Texas, “they’re not great places. No one wants to be there.”

Axel said non-violent offenders, such as Holmes, are often granted the opportunity to serve their time in one of the federal government’s minimum-level security facilities such as FPC Bryan, a female-only facility about 100 miles northwest of Houston. The prison allows for frequent family visitation and requires that inmates participate in work programs.

“Sometimes they’re called ‘Camp Fed’ because they have more amenities and are a little nicer places” compared to high security prisons, said Axel. Federal prosecutors had asked the judge to sentence Holmes to 15-years in federal prison for her crimes while running the high-profile Silicon Valley company. Judge Davilia noted that FPC’s lenient visitation policy could benefit Holmes who is currently pregnant with her second child.

Former federal prosecutor Keri Curtis Axel, quoted by Yahoo! Finance November 18, 2022 on Elizabeth Holmes’ sentencing hearing for her fraud and conspiracy conviction related to the blood-testing venture Theranos, said, “the judge has pretty broad discretion to depart almost entirely from [the guidelines] if he chooses to do so.”

Government prosecutors asked Judge Edward Davila, who presided over the case, to sentence the former Theranos CEO to 15 years in federal prison, plus three years of supervised release. Holmes’ defense attorneys asked the judge not to send Holmes to prison and instead sentence her to only 18 months house arrest.

Partner Brian Klein speaks at the ABA’s Blockchain and Cryptocurrency National Virtual Institute on Thursday, October 27, 2022 on a panel discussing how law enforcement and regulatory actions play a critical role in shaping the industry. Brian has organized the National Institute since its inception almost a decade ago.

The Key Enforcement Actions panel will discuss recent law enforcement and regulatory enforcement actions, how they impact the industry, and offer thoughts and predictions on the direction of enforcement actions. Klein is joined on the panel by crypto leaders at the DOJ, SEC and OFAC.

Partner Brian Klein was quoted by the Wall Street Journal in an October 5, 2022 story about the alleged Capital One hacker receiving probation for one of the largest purported data breaches ever and not the seven-year prison sentence sought by federal prosecutors.

“Although we disagree that Paige committed any crimes, we are Pleased the judge sentenced her to no prison time, especially when the prosecutors sought years,” said Klein.

Judge Lasnik was persuaded by defense arguments, including that prison would be particularly difficult for Ms. Thompson, who is transgender, owing to her status and mental health. Klein, Melissa Meister, and Emily Stierwalt were co-counsel with the Federal Public Defender’s Office in Seattle. The firm undertook this case pro bono as part of its ongoing commitment to help those who cannot afford legal services and face pressing legal matters.

Partners Ryan Baker, Brian Klein, Jaime Marquart and Donald Pepperman have been recognized as “Benchmark Litigation Stars” and Waymaker LLP is ranked as “Recommended” in Benchmark Litigation California 2023

Baker is ranked in Intellectual Property and Commercial Litigation, Klein is ranked in Commercial Litigation as a California Litigation Star and Local Litigation Star, and Marquart and Pepperman are ranked as Local Litigation Stars.

This is the 16^th year of Benchmark Litigation, a trusted guide to the nation’s leading litigation firms and lawyers. The rankings are based on a rigorous nomination system that Includes extensive interviews with litigators and their clients as well as analysis of the region’s most important cases and firm developments.

The Daily Journal named Partner Brian Klein, one of the nation’s elite trial attorneys, to its 2022 list of the Top 100 Lawyers in California.
The list, published on September 21, 2022, recognizes lawyers who have made an impact on the legal profession by handling the most challenging and cutting-edge work.

Klein, a former federal prosecutor, was honored for his nationally recognized finance and technology-focused litigation practice. He handles high-stakes criminal and regulatory defense matters and civil litigation in federal and state courts around the country.

Representative clients this past year include Frances Haugen (the Facebook whistleblower), Kraken (a leading cryptocurrency exchange), and Paige Thompson (the alleged Capital One hacker).

The National Law Journal on September 1, 2022

profiled Partner Brian Klein as a Fintech/Blockchain/Cryptocurrency Trailblazer 2022 for his pioneering legal work.

The Trailblazer Award is given to those legal professionals “who have made significant marks on the practice, policy and technological advancements in their sector.”

Klein, a former federal prosecutor, leads Waymaker’s FinTech and Cybersecurity & Data Privacy practice groups. He has a nationally recognized finance and technology-focused litigation practice handling high-stakes criminal and regulatory defense matters and civil litigation in federal and state courts around the country. Klein has handled numerous “firsts” and been a pioneering litigator in those fields.

Ryan Baker was quoted in Rolling Stone about fans of Johnny Depp who crowdsourced thousands of dollars to obtain unsealed court documents that ultimately contained unflattering and embarrassing information about Johnny Depp.

He told Rolling Stone that the more than 6,600 pages of documents did not do any favors to Depp. But the documents also show the work Depp’s legal team did prior to trial to exclude the otherwise damaging evidence.

Discussing other strategic decisions that helped Depp’s case, Baker explained: “Amber Heard made emotional distress or post-traumatic stress an issue in the case, because she made that an issue, she had to submit to a psychiatric evaluation,” referencing a clinical psychologist testifying that she had diagnosed Heard with borderline personality disorder. “That’s pretty damning. Then you are waiting for the other person to get up and say [something] about Johnny Depp but Johnny Depp never got evaluated because he never had to submit because he didn’t make emotional distress or post-traumatic stress any kind of issue in the case.”

Baker also noted that Heard’s team had some big wins by keeping details of more damaging testimonies and declarations out of the court, including from Jennifer Howell and Heard’s sister Whitney, noting those details were “tightly and narrowly constrained.”

To read the full piece, click here: https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/johnny-depp-amber-heard-backfire-1391807/

Partner Brian Klein, quoted by Law360 in a July 21, 2022 story on proposed cybersecurity legislation co-sponsored by Sens. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), said, “Everyone in the industry agrees that cybersecurity is really important, but that doesn’t mean that everyone is looking to the SEC and CFTC – two agencies that don’t have any special expertise in cyber – for guidance.”

“This proposal, if enacted, is likely to sow confusion and not be helpful, at least at first,” Klein said. The Responsible Financial Innovation Act, proposed in June, would require the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to develop “comprehensive, principle-based” cybersecurity guidance for a wide-ranging number of companies that create, store or transfer digital currencies.

Los Angeles Business Journal has named Co-Managing Partner Ryan Baker one of its 2022 Leaders of Influence: Litigators and Trial Attorneys. He is profiled in a special section appearing in today’s issue, July 18, 2022, as one of an elite group of accomplished lawyers. Those honored were selected based on legal achievements and community leadership over the past 12-18 months.

The National Law Journal on July 1, 2022 announced that Partners Keri Curtis Axel, Ryan Baker and Brian Klein have been selected as Elite Boutique Trailblazers 2022 for their pioneering legal work.

The Trailblazer Award is given to those legal professionals “who have made significant marks on the practice, policy and technological advancements in their sector.” Axel, Baker and Klein were selected for their stellar record representing industry innovators and taking on cases involving novel technology.

Baker has a record of success both at trial and on appeal, often litigating cases involving intellectual property and innovative or disruptive technology. He co-founded the firm 17 years ago and continues to lead as one of Waymaker’s managing partners. Klein, a former federal prosecutor, leads the firm’s FinTech and Cybersecurity & Data Privacy practice groups. He has a nationally recognized finance and technology-focused litigation practice handling high-stakes criminal and regulatory defense matters and civil litigation in federal and state courts around the country. Axel is a former federal prosecutor and before that an attorney in the SEC’s Enforcement Division. As the co-head of the firm’s Criminal and Regulatory practice, she is focused on cutting-edge white collar criminal defense and governmental enforcement matters, as well as financial services related complex civil litigation. All three attorneys are frequently sought out by the legal and national media for their views on high-profile legal matters.

The Los Angeles Times Business of Law: Trends. Updates. Visionaries magazine on June 26, 2022 named Partners Ryan Baker and Scott Malzahn Legal Visionaries 2022. The award is based on three criteria: noteworthy success and accomplishment over the past 24 months, strong leadership, and innovative strategies for their clients and their firm.

As Co-Managing Partners, Baker and Malzahn oversaw the firm’s 2021 rebrand from Baker Marquart to Waymaker, a move meant to reflect diversity and inclusion. Also under their leadership, the firm recently expanded into new offices at City National Plaza in Los Angeles (515 South Flower Street).

Baker often deals with cases involving intellectual property and innovative or disruptive technology. His litigation practice includes commercial and entertainment disputes, intellectual property (copyright, trademark, trade secret and patent), antitrust, securities, financial technology and white-collar crime. Malzahn has a complex commercial litigation practice that spans entertainment disputes, class actions in the securities arena, fintech, and intellectual property and has handled many high-profile disputes both in the trial court and on appeal.

Partner Brian Klein, who gave the opening statement last Wednesday in Ms. Thompson’s trial in Seattle federal court and has been cross-examining government witnesses since then, was quoted by the New York Times in a June 8, 2022 story saying, “They [prosecutors] are interpreting [the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act] so broadly that it captures conduct that is innocent and as a society we should be supporting.” The Thompson trial raises important questions about how far security researchers can go in their pursuit of cybersecurity flaws without running afoul of the law. Klein explained to the New York Times that computer fraud law “doesn’t give a lot of visibility to people on what could get you in trouble.”

Klein, Counsel Melissa Meister, and Associate Emily Stierwalt are handling the case pro bono, as part of Waymaker’s longstanding commitment to pro bono work. Ms. Thompson’s trial raises questions about the reach of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, an anti-hacking law. She is alleged to have been the responsible for one of the largest data breaches in history, the alleged hack of Capital One in 2019. As a result, the government has accused her of violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, an anti-hacking law, when she downloaded data of more than 100 million Capital One customers, as well as other laws.

Waymaker is co-counsel with the Federal Public Defender’s Office in Seattle.

Britain’s Sky News interviewed Ryan Baker shortly after the verdict in the Johnny Depp v. Amber Heard defamation case. In the interview, Baker expressed some surprise at the magnitude of Depp’s win, crediting Depp’s legal team for doing a “tremendous job” undermining Heard’s credibility “time and again.” Baker also explained that under Virginia law, Depp’s award of punitive damages would be reduced from $5 million to $350,000, the statutory maximum.

Addressing another issue that may have affected the outcome, Baker told Sky News, “It’s hard to imagine the jury was not influenced by the massive amount of public support for Johnny Depp, which, because of the crowds at the courthouse almost universally supporting Johnny Depp, was impossible to hide from the jury.”

Baker also explained that Heard’s team must now consider post-trial motions and an appeal. Because Heard also prevailed on one of her claims, Depp could also seek to challenge that component of the jury verdict.

A California federal judge has tentatively approved a $20 million cash plus extended warranty and other valuable benefits settlement in the Prius stalling defect class action lawsuit, reported Law360 on May 19, 2022, in a case in which Partner Donald Pepperman and Associate Emily Stierwalt are among the plaintiffs’ counsel. In the 2018 lawsuit, consumers alleged that defendant Toyota hid stalling problems in its 2014-2018 Priuses that could pose safety risks at high speeds.

U.S. District Judge Josephine Staton’s Order read: “The parties have reached a settlement at a relatively late stage of the proceedings, and the court finds that this factor favors preliminary approval. Negotiations took place for 17 months before the parties reached a settlement, and ‘consequently, every material issue underwent intensive scrutiny.’”

When the settlement was first announced in December 2021, Pepperman said: “It is a $20 million cash settlement with more in warranty and other benefits.” The district court in 2019 rejected Toyota’s effort to dismiss the consolidated class action and in 2020 rebuffed the company’s attempt to send the matter to arbitration. A final settlement fairness hearing is scheduled for January 2023.

Partner Ryan Baker, quoted by BBC.com about the June 1, 2022 verdict in the Johnny Depp v. Amber Heard defamation case, said for the Virginia jury to award Depp $15 million ($10 million compensatory damages, as well as $5 million in punitive damages) it “had to discredit Heard’s testimony almost in its entirety.”

Heard spent days as a witness detailing the abuse she claimed to have suffered from Depp, but Baker said, “perhaps she went too far.” A key factor was that much of Heard’s testimony was contradicted by other witnesses, who, Baker said, “the jury may have found more credible due to their perceived neutrality … In a case of his word against hers, the testimony of corroborating witnesses(including experts) is often influential.”

Co-founding partners Ryan Baker and Jaime Marquart were interviewed by Reuters about renaming the firm Waymaker in a May 18, 2022 story headlined, “Move over Dull, Boring & Stiff. Law firm trade names are finding their place.”

In making the name change from Baker Marquart, Baker said, “We wanted to create something that would be more representative of everyone at the firm, not just two Caucasian males.” The name Waymaker encompasses the “contributions of a diverse group of talent,” said Marquart.

A recent change in state bar rules has allowed law firms to use trade names, much like other companies. The firm’s co-founders said making the change was a deliberate, careful process and that they took steps to mitigate confusion among current and potential clients. “I would not recommend just slapping a new name on the door and hoping for the best,” said Marquart.

Former federal prosecutor Keri Curtis Axel was quoted by Law360 on May 16, 2022 on the trial of a former Perkins Coie partner accused of lying to the FBI. Axel said that while the false statement statute is “pretty simple,” prosecutors “are going to have to show that the information [allegedly] omitted would have been material to the government. That seems like the biggest challenge.”

In U.S. v. Sussman, Michael Sussman is accused of allegedly hiding his affiliation with the Hillary Clinton 2016 presidential campaign when he approached investigators about a potential link between Donald Trump’s company and a Russian bank.

Alex said the battle over whether Sussman’s alleged deception was material, meaning that It actually influenced the FBI’s investigation after agents received the information, holds the key to the trial.

Partner Brian Klein was quoted by Law360 explaining how last month’s Ninth Circuit cybercrime ruling is “a natural extension” of Supreme Court precedent and supports the firm’s defense of Paige Thompson, the alleged Capital One hacker, who is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Seattle.

Klein said last month’s hiQ v. LinkedIn ruling is “a natural extension” of the Supreme Court ruling in Van Buren v. U.S., the landmark Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) case. The Supreme Court held that an ex-Georgia police officer did not violate the CFAA, by exceeding authorized access when he looking up in a police database whether someone was an undercover officer in violation of department policy. Klein noted that the hiQ Ninth Circuit’s decision “further calls into question the DOJ’s often overly aggressive interpretation of the CFAA,” Klein said. “In Ms. Thompson’s case, we believe it helps show why the prosecutor’s CFAA theory is fatally flawed.”

Klein, Melissa Meister, and Emily Stierwalt of Waymaker represent Ms. Thompson along with attorneys in the Federal Public Defender’s Office in Seattle.

Los Angeles Business Journal has named Co-Managing Partner Ryan Baker one of the Top 100 Lawyers in Los Angeles. The honor goes to the region’s “most impactful attorneys.” Baker, identified as one of LA’s top intellectual property trial lawyers, is a litigator and trial lawyer who often deals with cases involving intellectual property and innovative or disruptive technology. Dedicated to social justice, Baker is a member of the Anti-Defamation League’s Regional Executive Committee.

Read Profile Here

In a May 9, 2022 Newsweek article about the closely watched defamation litigation between Hollywood celebrities Johnny Depp and Amber Heard, Partner Ryan Baker said Amber Heard’s “testimony was quite compelling.” He added that it’s “hard to imagine that testimony won’t be bouncing around in the heads of jurors” during the week break in the trial “at the expense of the prior evidence.”

“Even if you’re not a fan of Amber Heard and you’re biased toward Johnny Depp, she has presented some fairly detailed, emotional, strong testimony.” The trial is set to resume May 16, 2022, and is expected to continue for two more weeks.

In a Friday, May 6 segment titled “Sex, Shame and the Internet,” on NBC NOW Tonight with Joshua Johnson, Partner Ryan Baker discussed privacy issues related to social media, specifically addressing a recently released video of U.S. House Representative Madison Cawthorn. Addressing potential legal consequences, Baker stated that “[a] lot, obviously, will depend on the facts.” American Muckrakers (the political action committee responsible for the release of the video) claims it obtained the video from an individual with “a bona fide right,” someone “who owned the video or recorded the video.” Additionally, “Madison already acknowledged, seemingly pretty definitively, that it is him in the video, and it was a real video, so it’s not false.” If the video is not false, there would be no claim for defamation, but it could give rise to other claims.

The question then turns, Baker said, to whether the video is an accurate portrayal of North Carolina Congressman Cawthorn. “Is this attempt to put this video out there now, an attempt to put him in a false light. False light does not require that the information be false, but that rather the information is putting him into a light that makes him appears to be something he is not … But because he has embraced it and said we all make mistakes, I frankly don’t know if there will be any legal follow through here.” Baker then explained that technology presents constantly evolving challenges that the law struggles to address, but state and federal governments have enacted laws against certain wrongs. It is up to the courts to interpret and apply those laws to different facts. (The full segment, hyperlinked above, includes a discussion of “revenge porn.”)

In a BBC article, Co-Managing Partner Ryan Baker said Depp faces a steep challenge. “For the jury to side with Johnny Depp, they will have to completely disregard Amber Heard’s testimony, consider her a liar,” he said.

The two movie stars have given testimony deeply at odds. Depp told the jury that Heard bullied and abused him during their marriage and Heard claims Depp physically abused her during violent rages. While Depp’s fan base remains loyal, Baker said Heard’s testimony was compelling. Baker said the critical question is whether Heard can claim to be a victim of some form of domestic violence – whether it be physical, emotional, or verbal. “All the jury needs to do is believe some of what she is saying,” he said.

Partners Teresa Huggins and Brian Klein addressed TechGC’s 7^th Annual Fullstack GC Conference May 4-May 6 in San Francisco. Huggins co-led a roundtable “IP: Keeping ‘Trade Secrets’ Secret” and Klein co-led “Dispute Resolution Provisions (e.g., Arbitration and Class Action Waivers). Huggins’s co-lead was Chester Shiu, GC and Secretary of Emerald Cloud Lab and Emerald Therapeutics, and Klein’s was Chris Ramos, GC & Chief of Staff of Time by Ping, Inc. The conference is by invitation only.

BBC News
April 20, 2022

Ryan Baker, who has represented plaintiffs and defendants in defamation and other speech-related cases, commented on the ongoing legal battle between Hollywood celebrities Johnny Depp and Amber Heard. Ryan specifically addressed Depp’s testimony during the segment on BBC’s ‘Good Morning Britain’ – “Depp’s testimony was well prepared, but was a mixed bag.” He agreed that Depp’s legal strategy is risky to the extent Depp delved into his family history of abuse, but that there is a path for Depp to win, although it may come down to “his word against hers.” Ryan also identified other “free speech and privilege issues [Depp] has to surmount.” Those issues include whether or not any of the speech at issue is protected by the First Amendment and are therefore covered by Virginia’s anti-SLAPP laws.

Los Angeles Business Journal has named Partners Keri Curtis Axel and Teresa Huggins “Women of Influence: Attorneys 2022.” Axel, a former Federal prosecutor, practices white-collar criminal, government enforcement defense, and civil litigation. Huggins handles complex commercial litigation at both the trial and appellate level, with an emphasis on intellectual property, fintech and First Amendment matters. Both Axel and Huggins are graduates of Harvard Law School.

They were honored based on their professional achievements, community leadership, and notable contributions over the past 18 months.

In an April 11, 2022 BBC article, Co-Managing Partner Ryan Baker said, “It’s not uncommon for a plaintiff to choose the forum, but that doesn’t explain why they chose Virginia over California … in California, I think Heard would have just knocked this case out right away.”

The reason said Baker is because of anti-SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation) laws, which are state statutes that give provide protection to speech related to matters of public interest. “If someone, like Amber Heard, writes something about domestic violence and spousal abuse – those are clearly mattes of public interest. She has some form of immunity for saying those things.”

While both Virginia and California have anti-SLAPP laws, the California law is stronger, allowing defendants to invoke protection immediately while the Virginia law cannot be used in the early phases of the trial.

After divorcing Depp, Heard wrote a 2018 opinion article for the Washington Post in which she wrote about her experience as a “public figure representing domestic abuse.” Heard did not name Depp, but Depp filed suit arguing the article “incalculably” damaged his reputation.

Baker said, “It seems to me that his strategy may be backfiring. There are now endless opportunities for a peanut gallery to form. At the end of the day, is it better just to move on?

In an April 7, 2022 Vulture article, Co-Managing Partner Ryan Baker addressed the upcoming Depp v. Heard Virginia trial: “In my opinion, if this case were brought in California, I think it would be dead on arrival.” California’s strict anti-SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation) law allows a defendant to seek early dismissal of litigation arising from certain forms of protected speech; under California’s anti-SLAPP law, a fee award to a party prevailing on an anti-SLAPP motion is mandatory. Although Virginia has an anti-SLAPP statute that mirrors California in some ways, the impact of the Virginia statute is greatly reduced by critical differences. For instance, Virginia does not provide a defendant with a mechanism to test an anti-SLAPP defense early in the case. In addition, under Virginia law, a fee award is permissive and not mandatory. These differences significantly reduce the deterrent value of Virginia’s anti-SLAPP law.

“In California, this gets shot down right out of the gate,” Baker said. “In Virginia, you don’t have this early procedural opportunity to shut the case and freeze it.”

On March 8, 2022, Partners Brian Klein and Teresa Huggins’ client Alex Amsel, who purchased artist Kevin McCoy’s Quantum (often regarded as the first-ever NFT) for $1.5 million, was dismissed from a case in which he was a defendant along with Mr. McCoy and Sotheby’s.

Plaintiff Free Holdings Inc., a Canadian holding company, claimed in its lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on February 1, 2022 that it became the rightful owner of Quantum after McCoy allegedly failed to renew his ownership of the famed NFT. Free Holdings will continue to pursue its claims against Sotheby’s and Mr. McCoy. Through Sotheby’s “Natively Digital” auction, Mr. McCoy sold Quantum to Mr. Amsel, who goes by the moniker SillyTuna, in June 2021.

Waymaker vacates judgment, wins dismissal for pro bono client in trademark infringement case. Asked by the Central District Pro Bono Panel to assist a defaulted foreign litigant, Waymaker moved for, and on February 9, 2022, obtained, vacatur of the judgment and dismissal of the entire action on jurisdictional grounds.

Waymaker attorneys Melissa Meister, Brian Grace and Managing Partner Ryan Baker initially represented defendants EURL Eleonora De Gray (“De Gray LLC”) and Eleonora De Gray (“De Gray”) for the limited purpose of a settlement conference. At the settlement conference, Waymaker argued the court should have never exercised jurisdiction over the foreign client defendants. Following the conference, which did not result in settlement, Waymaker was invited by the pro bono panel to continue its representation for the further purpose of bringing a jurisdictional challenge to the complaint. Waymaker accepted the expanded engagement.

Waymaker prepared the motion against plaintiff Runway TV LLC (“Plaintiff”), which purported to assert trademark infringement and other claims against De Gray and De Gray LLC. Plaintiff alleged that the court had “personal jurisdiction over [defendants] which are not authorized to do business in the State of California” and repeated this argument in opposition to the jurisdictional motion. On February 9, 2022, the court granted Waymaker’s jurisdictional motion, finding no jurisdiction over De Gray or De Gray LLC. In its order, the court vacated the judgment and dismissed the action in its entirety.

A French citizen residing in Paris, France, Eleonora De Gray owns De Gray LLC, a French holding company with its sole and principal place of business Paris. From 2004 to 2014, De Gray operated a fashion magazine in France utilizing the mark “Runway Magazine,” which is owned by De Gray LLC. De Gray LLC continues to operate the website www.runwaymagazines.com, which has approximately two million readers per month. Advertisers on the site are exclusively located in France and Italy and all sales from the website are transacted in Euros.

While plaintiff, Runway TV, LLC, asserted that De Gray sought to sell magazines in the United States, plaintiff failed to set forth any facts in support of its contention that the defendants’ conduct was expressly aimed at California. The Court wrote: “Based on the record before the court, there is no basis for the court to conclude that defendants expressly aimed their conduct at the United States, much less California … In short, the court finds that plaintiff has failed to make a prima facie showing of specific jurisdiction over defendants.” De Gray and De Gray LLC are now free to continue their international operations free of the burdens imposed by U.S. litigation.

In a January 31, 2022 Business Insider article, Co-Managing Partner and Litigator Ryan Baker addressed the M&A frenzy in Hollywood observing that “traditional media companies are trying to pivot.”

The current streaming wars are periods of disruption that foster M&A activity said Baker. In order not to be left behind, it’s “quite common for entrenched incumbent players tied to existing technology to not be as nimble,” Baker said. As a result, traditional media companies pursue a strategy of acquiring rather than developing new technologies.

Baker and the firm regularly handle high-stakes litigation matters in the fields of entertainment and technology, often at the intersection of disruptive technology and complex legal issues.

White collar partner and former federal prosecutor Keri Curtis Axel, quoted by Law360 on February 1, 2022 on the Second Circuit’s reversal of a Libor case involving two former Deutsche Bank traders accused of fraud, said that she does not expect the ruling to disrupt the DOJ’s appetite for bring complex cases that have a high deterrence value.

“When you walk into the Southern District of New York, you see sketches throughout the lobby of judges officiating over various high profile white collar and national security cases. I would say that has a profound impact on creating a culture where prosecutors want to bring these kinds of cases. This ruling won’t change that.”

Partners Ryan Baker, Brian Klein, Scott Malzahn, Jaime Marquart and Donald Pepperman have been named Southern California Super Lawyers 2022 …

Baker was singled out for excellence in Intellectual Property Litigation, Klein for White Collar Crimes, Malzahn for General Litigation, Marquart for Business Litigation, and Pepperman for Antitrust Litigation.

Partner Brian Klein, who represents one of the defendants, a prominent crypto and open finance-focused investment firm, told the Wall Street Journal on January 13, 2022: “This apparently ideologically-driven lawsuit is a waste of the court’s and everyone else’s time …”

Filed in the Eastern District of New York, the lawsuit challenges a DeFi protocol’s claims that it is autonomous and self-governed. The lawsuit centers around a blockchain-based app that gamifies savings by cryptocurrency holders.

White Collar Partner Keri Curtis Axel, quoted by Law360 on January 5, 2022 on Elizabeth Holmes’ trial takeaways, said “Judge Davila played chicken with the defense, allowing [Holmes] to testify about the abuse and giving the defense a chance to see if they could connect it up to her state of mind. Ultimately, they did not, so it did not really help Holmes at trial, and she doesn’t get an appellate issue out of it either.”

Judge Davila allowed Holmes to testify about her claims that alleged co-conspirator Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, the former Theranos’ chief operating office, abused her while she was Theranos’ CEO.

Axel, a former federal prosecutor, said Holmes’ conviction, which could result in a significant prison term, does not bode well for Balwani’s defense in his forthcoming trial. While some legal experts say the Holmes’ case gives the Balwani defense team an edge over the government in preparing for trial, Axel said, “If I were Sunny Balwani’s counsel, I would take no joy in this verdict.”

Donald Pepperman, quoted by Law360 in a January 3, 2022 story about California cases to watch In 2022, said antitrust cases “send a clear message to these tech behemoths that their market dominance and acquisitions will be challenged and not go unchecked.”

“Waymaker LLP partner Donald R. Pepperman is keeping an eye on multiple antitrust lawsuits against tech giants that are playing out in California federal courts, including Fortnite creator Epic Games Inc.’s hotly contested case challenging Apple Inc.’s App Store fees, which went to a bench trial last spring.” Both sides have appealed elements of U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers’ opinion.

Pepperman said Sherman Act antitrust cases are important because they test the boundaries and reach of the nation’s anti-monopoly laws in critical markets.

Partner Brian Klein was quoted by Law360 on cybersecurity and privacy policy to watch in 2022. “There’s been an uptick across the board in terms of the attention cybersecurity has gotten at all levels of society, from Washington, D.C., prosecutors’ offices, companies, and the courts, so its prominence in the legal field has grown basically exponentially, said Brian Klein, a partner at Waymaker LLP, who handles cybercrime matters around the country.” Klein added: “[This year] we should expect to see cybersecurity only grow in importance and to see regulators, prosecutors, and everyone else paying more attention than ever to cyberthreats.”

Partner Keri Curtis Axel was quoted by AP on January 3, 2022 just before the jury convicted Elizabeth Holmes in the Silicon Valley fraud trial. “‘For all intents and purposes, the government needs only a guilty verdict on one count,’ said Keri Curtis Axel, a former federal prosecutor now working as a trial lawyer at the Los Angeles law firm Waymaker.”

Before a federal jury found Theranos founder and CEO Holmes guilty on four counts, the jury told U.S. District Judge Edward Davila they were deadlocked on three of the 11 felony counts against Holmes. Davila told the jury to keep deliberating on the remaining eight counts. Axel told AP that the deadlock on three counts made it more likely that the jurors had reached guilty verdicts on some of the other counts.

Later Monday, the jury found the 37-year-old Holmes guilty of four counts (two counts of wire fraud and two counts of conspiracy to commit fraud), not guilty on three counts, and deadlocked on three counts on charges that she knowingly misled Theranos investors into thinking her company’s blood-testing technology worked better than it actually did. Holmes faces up to 20 years in prison for each guilty count.

“She chose fraud over business failure,” said prosecutor Jeff Schenk in his closing statement.

In an NPR broadcast December 29, 2021 about the jury deciding Elizabeth Holmes’ fate in the Theranos fraud case, Partner Brian Klein said, “The question becomes, ‘what were you thinking when you were doing these things?’ And that’s really hard to get to.”

“The difference in this case versus a case of someone dealing cocaine is if you’re caught with a suitcase of cocaine, that’s a problem,” said Klein, a former federal prosecutor. “Whereas here, running a startup, trying to develop a new technology for blood testing, that’s all very legal.”

Co-Founding Partner Jaime Marquart has been recognized as a 2021 “Leader of Influence: Thriving in Their 40s” by Los Angeles Business Journal.

Named one of LA’s top 100 professionals, Marquart was honored for his outstanding legal career and accomplishments in commercial litigation. Chosen annually, LABJ’s “Leaders of Influence” are recognized for exceptional leadership in their fields and contributions to the Los Angeles community.

Klein is among the top dozen U.S. lawyers practicing in the Fintech blockchain and cryptocurrencies space. About Klein, Chambers wrote:

Brian Klein of Waymaker LLP is one of the pre-eminent litigators in the cryptocurrency space in the USA. He is experienced in representing early adopters and innovators in the FinTech sector and has represented a number of businesses in responding to regulatory inquiries. An impressed source says: “Brian Klein is one of the best in understanding the blockchain technology given his history working with clients and on matters in this space. He has the benefit of multiple interactions with regulatory staff to know exactly how to push the limits for the client’s benefit but also how to manage the relationship to keep parties amicable rather than hostile.”

Donald Pepperman was mentioned in Law360 a December 6, 2021 story about Prius owners negotiating a $20 million plus settlement in a class-action against Toyota. In the 2018 lawsuit, consumers alleged that Toyota hid stalling problems in its 2014-2018 Priuses that took place at high speeds.

On Friday, December 3, the parties asked a California judge to greenlight their $20 million deal to resolve for all valid claims for reimbursement for the repair or replacement of defective parts. Under the agreement, the total amount of the settlement is uncapped meaning that if claims exceed $20 million, Toyota would have to pay. After the settlement, Pepperman said, “It is a $20 million cash settlement with more in warranty and other benefits.”

Pepperman, Associate Emily Stierwalt, and other plaintiff counsel representing Prius owners, withstood two motions to dismiss and sparked two safety recalls by the automotive giant.

Former Federal Prosecutor Keri Curtis Axel was quoted on November 23, 2021 by Yahoo! Finance Live about Elizabeth Holmes taking the stand in the Theranos criminal fraud trial. Axel said, “It is very rare for a defendant to take the stand and speak in her own defense.”

Speaking about what motivated the defense team to take the risk of putting the ex-Theranos CEO on the stand, Axel said, “The defense made the determination that it’s best for the jury to hear in her own words what she told investors.”

Co-Managing Partners Ryan Baker and Scott Malzahn and Associate Emily Stierwalt have been recognized as 2021 Leaders in Law by Los Angeles Business Journal.

Baker was honored for his prowess in Intellectual Property Litigation, Malzahn was honored for his success in Commercial Litigation, and Stierwalt was selected as an Associate Rising Star. Chosen annually, LABJ’s “Leaders in Law” are recognized for their exceptional legal skill, leadership, and contributions to the Los Angeles community.