Attorney Michael John Thomas's Legal Cases

Litigation

Cal Fire v. Sierra Pacific Industries, et al.

Feb 04, 2014

OUTCOME: Total Victory for Client. Dismissal of action, terminating sanctions, and monetary sanction in favor of client

Recently, Mike was a member of the Downey Brand team representing Sierra Pacific Industries in its defense of claims arising out of the Moonlight Fire, which burned nearly 100 square miles of forest la ... nd. Mike was deeply involved in all aspects of the case from discovery through pretrial arguments that resulted in the court’s dismissal of all claims. The case has garnered national attention in the Wall Street Journal, L.A. Times and the Sacramento Bee and an award of $32.4 million to defendants. Case is now on appeal.

Atpac v. Nevada County and Aptitude Solutions, Inc.

Jan 01, 2011

OUTCOME: Win for client, and payment of $1.9 million

Lead counsel for AtPac, Inc., a leading supplier of database software used by Clerk-Recorder offices throughout California, in a bet-the-company suit against its direct competitor for copyright infring ... ement and trade secret misappropriation concerning AtPac’s proprietary source code. When AtPac filed suit against its much larger competitor and a governmental entity, Defendants hired intellectual property specialists from Los Angeles to handle the defense opposite our team. Through tenacious discovery efforts, Mike lead a team that uncovered key evidence of defendants’ malfeasance, and demonstrated that defendants had failed to comply with their discovery obligations and had destroyed evidence of their wrongdoing. Through strategic advocacy, Mike obtained substantial monetary sanctions against the defendants and their counsel, and a critical order requiring that the jury would be instructed on the adverse inference arising from Defendants’ destruction of evidence. With the benefit of these hard fought rulings, we secured a $1.9 million settlement for AtPac, Inc. before trial.

Michael John Thomas's Legal Cases (2)

Cal Fire v. Sierra Pacific Industries, et al.

Atpac v. Nevada County and Aptitude Solutions, Inc.