Education, Admissions and Affiliations

Bachelor of General Studies, University of Texas at Dallas 1982 - Majors: Pre-Med (Biology/Chemistry Curriculum) and Pre-Law (Business/Marketing), "National Dean's List"-1982; Juris Doctor, The Southern Methodist University School of Law, Dallas, Texas 1985, Course emphasis: civil litigation, intellectual property law and corporate practice; Licensed, Supreme Court of the State of Texas 1986; Licensed, Supreme Court of the State of California 1991; Admissions: United States District Courts for the Northern District of Texas, Central District of California, Southern District of California, and Northern District of Ohio; Court of Appeals for the Fifth, Sixth and Ninth Circuits; Pro hac vice in the Southern District of New York, Eastern District of Pennsylvania and Western District of Arkansas; Supreme Court of the United States; Member: State Bar of California - Intellectual Property and Litigation Sections; State Bar of Texas; American Bar Association - Litigation, Intellectual Property and Antitrust Sections, Federal Practice Committee; American Trial Lawyers Association; International Trademark Association; Orange County Patent Law Association; Phi Alpha Delta Legal Fraternity; nominated for "Who's Who in American Law" - 1990, 1998; Charitable and Social Memberships: Palisades Tennis Club, Newport Beach, CA; Friends of Newport Beach Public Library; Orange County Philharmonic Society, The Sophisticates, Red Ribbon 100

Areas of Expertise

Extensive pre-trial and trial practice in federal and state courts, first and second chair, including extensive depositions and law and motion, specializing in intellectual property law and complex civil litigation in the areas of intellectual property law, including copyright infringement, trademark infringement, patent infringement, trade secret misappropriation and unfair competition, right of publicity, right of privacy, First Amendment issues, sports and media law, computer law, Internet and domain name disputes, antitrust, commercial disputes, insurance coverage issues, libel & slander, RICO, and securities fraud; extensive corporate practice.

Litigation: in both Federal and State courts: all aspects of intellectual property litigation, including copyright infringement, trademark infringement, trademark opposition and cancellation proceedings, trade secret misappropriation and unfair competition; right of publicity and right of privacy; complex commercial litigation; breach of contract; civil RICO; securities fraud; libel & slander; wrongful death; medical malpractice; family law; estate disputes; personal injury; deceptive trade practices and insurance bad faith; products liability; limited Federal criminal practice involving civil/criminal crossover litigation.

Corporate practice: specializing in intellectual property law, including preparation of licensing/technology transfer agreements, non-competition agreements, manufacturing and distribution agreements involving protection of trade secrets and/or proprietary information, preparation and successful prosecution of trademark and copyright applications before the United States Patent and Trademark Office; general corporate consultation and extensive commercial litigation; business start-ups, preparation of business plans, venture capital solicitation, joint venture agreements, partnership agreements, and incorporation of businesses; represented several Dallas corporations and sat on several corporate boards as a director and as outside corporate counsel; Former General Counsel/Board member of Dad's Kid Corp. of Newport Beach, California.

Appellate Practice: before the Courts of Appeals in Texas and the Supreme Court of Texas; before the Courts of Appeals for the Sixth and Ninth Circuits.

Career Highlights

Co-representation of the World Boxing Council in two libel suits, World Boxing Council v. Howard Cosell, and World Boxing Council v. Duva, et al, and Michael Marley of The New York Post, in the Southern District of New York; prevailed on behalf of Defendant, T. Cullen Davis, in lengthy, hotly contested, wrongful death jury trial in Fort Worth, Texas, as described in "Texas Justice", published in 1995; deposed Richard "Racehorse" Haynes on behalf of private investigator-plaintiff in a breach of contract/fraud action; California liaison for Dennemeyer & Co./Dennemeyer & Associates of Luxembourg and Munich in connection with their U.S. intellectual property law clientele; acceptance of and presentation of business plan at Southwest Venture Capital Conference in 1984 prepared for corporate client (1 of 35 presenters and the only female).

From July, 1992 to Spring of 1996, I functioned as first chair litigation counsel and general counsel for Dad's Kid Corp., as their sole attorney against forty one (41) attorneys, eleven (11) law firms and over one hundred (100) support staff, in multidistrict litigation brought by Major League Baseball Players Association and their licensees, Upper Deck, Score, and Leaf (Donruss) involving four copyright and trademark infringement suits and counterclaims for antitrust violations, copyright and trademark infringement and various other state law unfair competition and antitrust claims, pending in Federal Court in the Southern District of New York and the Central District of California. This litigation settled subsequent to the filing of a 55-page brief in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on behalf of my client. No reply briefs were filed by any of the opposing parties.

Prevailed in preliminary injunction and partial summary judgment proceeding in Major League Baseball Players Association v. Dad's Kid Corp., 806 F. Supp. 458 (S.D.N.Y. 1992), a case of first impression.

Experienced in litigation before the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation in Washington, D.C. and successfully argued for consolidation and transfer of four cases in In re Dad's Kid Corp. Baseball Card Trademark and Copyright Infringement, MDL No. 958.

Appeared and argued before the Supreme Court of Texas in deceptive trade practices cause of action on precedent-setting legal issues in the insurance industry.

High Profile Reported Case

Major League Baseball Players Association v. Dad's Kid Corp., 806 F. Supp. 458 (S.D.N.Y. 1992)

Most Recent Significant Ruling and Ongoing Litigation

Cleveland Browns Football Company, LLC and NFL Properties v. Hawaii-Pacific Apparel Group, Inc., Case No. 1:00CV1162 (N.D. Ohio) - Prevailed on motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction after two year battle in the District Court. Dismissal affirmed by the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, No. 02-3559, February 2, 2004.

Hawaii-Pacific Apparel Group, Inc. v. Cleveland Browns Football Company LLC and National Football League Properties, Inc., Case No. 04 CV 7863 (SDNY). This case was settled to the mutual satisfaction of all parties.