Overview
Michael De Vries is a nationally recognized IP trial lawyer with substantial success representing plaintiffs in high-stakes intellectual property trials. He has served as lead counsel in numerous patent and other intellectual property-related matters. Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business has described him as “phenomenal at managing a case, but also phenomenal in a court,” as well as “experienced counsel for the handling of misuse of trade secrets allegations.”
Since 2018, Mike has secured over $2.5 billion in plaintiff jury verdicts and settlements on behalf of his clients in IP litigations, including over $1.8 billion in five straight plaintiff jury verdicts in favor of his clients since September 2019: a $855 million jury verdict in October 2020 on behalf of Cognizant against a competitor in a trade secret and copyright case; a $765 million jury verdict in February 2020 on behalf of Motorola Solutions in a trade secret case against a competitor, Hytera; a $125 million jury verdict in September 2019 on behalf of EagleView Technologies in a patent case against a competitor; a $40 million jury verdict in March 2022 on behalf of Comet Technologies in a trade secret case against a competitor; and a $30 million jury verdict in June 2021 on behalf of LivePerson in a trade secret case against a competitor. On the defense side, Mike has obtained numerous defense-side jury verdicts, including a complete defense jury verdict for Samsung in February 2024 in a multi-patent case brought in Waco, Texas alleging $4 billion in damages, which would have been the largest patent verdict in U.S. history. These verdicts received extensive media coverage including The New York Times, Reuters, Bloomberg Law, and Mike was awarded The Am Law Litigation Daily’s “Litigator of the Week” feature multiple times for these victories in the last two years. In March 2022, The American Lawyer featured Mike’s years-long jury trial win streak in an article entitled “All They Do Is Win, Win, Win: Dissecting a Trial Hot Streak.”
Named Law360’s “Trial MVP of the Year” in both 2020 and 2021 for his lead trial counsel work on IP litigation matters, Mike is a member of the Kirkland practices recognized as Law360 2020 “Practice Groups of the Year” for Intellectual Property and Trials. The Daily Journal named Mike to its 2010, 2014 and 2018–2024 lists of “Top Intellectual Property Lawyers” and its 2020–2022 lists of “Top Trade Secrets Lawyers,” and recognized Mike and his team in "The 2019 CLAY Awards: Intellectual Property" for their successful representation of Cisco in its long-running IP battle: Cisco Systems Inc. v. Arista Networks Inc. Mike was also named one of the Daily Journal’s “Top 75 IP Litigators in California” in 2010, 2014 and 2018–2021, and was featured among the Los Angeles Business Journal’s 2020 “Most Influential People in Los Angeles” and a “Top Litigator in Los Angeles” in 2018, 2020 and 2021. Additionally, he was a recipient of the 2020 “California Trailblazers” award from The Recorder. The 2012 and 2015–2023 editions of The Legal 500 U.S. recommend Mike for his work on the Firm’s Tier 1 Patent Litigation team, noting that Mike is “a key figure” in the Firm’s patent practice, and in the 2020–2022 editions, Mike is featured as a “Leading Lawyer.” In 2024, Forbes named him to its list of “America’s Top 200 Lawyers.” He was also recognized by World Intellectual Property Review (WIPR) in its 2024 “USA Trade Secrets Rankings.”
Experience
Representative Matters
Lead counsel for TriZetto and its parent company, Cognizant Technology Solutions, in a trade secret misappropriation, unfair competition and breach of contract matter case against Syntel, involving healthcare software systems. In the first in-person civil jury trial held in the Southern District of New York since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, where all lawyer presentations and witness testimony were presented from inside a plexiglass enclosure in a specially modified courtroom, with jurors, lawyers and the presiding judge wearing masks, the Kirkland team secured a complete victory following a week-long jury trial in favor of TriZetto, which included an award of $855 million in damages. The victory was profiled in The Am Law Litigation Daily’s “Litigator of the Week” feature.
Won a $765 million verdict on behalf of Motorola Solutions in a trade secret case against Chinese-based competitor, Hytera. The jury awarded every penny Motorola sought—$345.7 million in compensatory damages, and $418.8 million in punitive damages. The victory was profiled in The Am Law Litigation Daily’s “Litigator of the Week.”
Lead counsel for Samsung in defense of a multi-patent case brought by Demaray LLC on what it alleged to be foundational patents in the semiconductor manufacturing industry. Demaray targeted Samsung’s worldwide sales of computer chips, seeking $4 billion in damages. After a trial in the Western District of Texas, Waco Division, the jury rendered a complete victory for Samsung, finding no infringement of all asserted claims on all accused products. The victory was profiled in The Am Law Litigation Daily’s “Litigator of the Week” feature.
Lead counsel for Apcon, Inc. in defense of a six-patent network technologies case brought by industry-leader, Gigamon, Inc. Accusing every one of Apcon’s products of infringing Gigamon’s allegedly foundational patents, and seeking to shut down Apcon, the claims at issue implicated hundreds of millions of dollars in sales. After a jury trial in the Eastern District of Texas, the jury rendered a complete victory for Apcon, returning a verdict of no infringement of any of the patents, and invalidating every one of the asserted patent claims. The victory was profiled in The Am Law Litigation Daily’s “Litigator of the Week” feature.
Lead counsel for EagleView Technologies in a five-patent infringement case against a competitor in connection with decade-long dispute. The jury returned a verdict in less than one hour in favor of EagleView on all counts, finding willful infringement and awarding $125 million in damages, which was the total amount requested by EagleView. The award was subsequently trebled to $375M. The victory was profiled in The Am Law Litigation Daily’s “Litigator of the Week” feature.
Lead counsel in a significant jury trial win for LivePerson, Inc. in its trade secret misappropriation lawsuit against [24]7.ai, Inc. After a four-week trial, the jury sided with LivePerson on every one of its claims and awarded over $30 million in compensatory and punitive damages for trade secret misappropriation and unfair competition, finding also that [24]7’s conduct was willful and malicious.
Lead counsel for Cisco Systems, Inc. against multi-billion dollar network technologies competitor in multiple patent infringement lawsuits before the International Trade Commission and U.S. district courts. After multiple trial victories in Cisco’s favor, the dispute was settled with a public payment to Cisco of $400 million.
Led defense for Energy Labs Inc. in a jury trial against Nortek Air Solutions in which the jury’s verdict was a complete victory for Kirkland’s client, finding no infringement of any of the asserted claims from six different patents and a majority of asserted claims invalid. This was a bet-the-company litigation against a much larger competitor who sought an injunction against Energy Labs. The victory was profiled in The Am Law Litigation Daily’s “Litigator of the Week” feature.
Represented Cisco Systems, Inc. in a district court litigation against Innovatio in which, following two trials in which Mike actively participated, the Court determined all of Innovatio’s patents are subject to a RAND obligation and set a RAND rate for the patents.
Represented Cisco Systems, Inc. before the ITC in an investigation against MOSAID involving 10 U.S. patents. A related proceeding is currently pending in a Delaware District Court.
Represented Cisco Systems, Inc. in an ITC proceeding against ChriMar involving Power Over Ethernet technology. A related proceeding is currently pending in the Northern District of California.
Represented a client in a patent infringement litigation brought by SimpleAir, Inc. against the client and two other defendants in the Eastern District of Texas.
Represented Intel in a patent infringement trial in the Eastern District of Texas involving Wi-Fi technology and RAND issues.
More
Thought Leadership
Publications
"Patent Auctions: emerging trend?" National Law Journal, May 8, 2006
"United States v. Microsoft," 14 B.T.L.J. 303 (1999)
Recognition
Recognized in Benchmark Litigation:
- National Practice Area Star, 2021–2025
- California Litigation Star, 2021–2025
- Local Litigation Star, 2025
Recognized in the World Intellectual Property Review’s “USA Trade Secrets Rankings,” 2024
“Business of Law: Updates, Trends & Visionaries,” Los Angeles Times B2B Publishing, 2024
“America’s Top 200 Lawyers,” Forbes, 2024
Finalist for "Intellectual Property Attorney of the Year," Los Angeles Business Journal, 2021
Ranked #1 in the New York Law Journal’s list of “Top Verdicts & Settlements of the Northeast,” 2020
“Trial MVP of the Year,” Law360, 2020–2021
“Practice Groups of the Year: Intellectual Property and Trials,” Law360, 2020
Recommended by The Legal 500 U.S., 2012, 2015–2023; Rated “Leading Lawyer,” 2020–2023
“500 Leading Litigators in America,” Lawdragon, 2022, 2024
“Top Trade Secrets Lawyers,” Daily Journal, 2020–2022
“Top Intellectual Property Lawyers,” Daily Journal, 2010, 2014, 2018–2024
“The CLAY Awards: Intellectual Property,” Daily Journal, 2019
“California Trailblazers,” The Recorder, 2020
“Top 100 Lawyers in Los Angeles,” Los Angeles Business Journal, 2022
“Top Litigators in Los Angeles,” Los Angeles Business Journal, 2018, 2020, 2021
“LA500: The Most Influential People in Los Angeles,” Los Angeles Business Journal, 2020–2024
“Leaders of Influence: Litigation & Trial Lawyers,” Los Angeles Business Journal, 2020–2022, 2024
Recognized in Litigation in the IAM Patent 1000: The World’s Leading Patent Professionals, 2019–2020
Ranked in Intellectual Property, Chambers USA, 2014–2017, 2021–2023
"Super Lawyer,” Southern California Super Lawyers, 2023
“Rising Star,” Southern California Super Lawyers, 2008, 2011–2014
Berkeley Center for Law & Technology’s Certificate in Law and Technology
Adjunct Professor, University of California at Irvine’s The Paul Merage School of Business, “Intellectual Property Law and Strategy,” Winter Quarter, 2007
Memberships & Affiliations
Association of Business Trial Lawyers
Federal Bar Association (Member of Board of Directors, Orange County Chapter)
Orange County Bar
Credentials
Admissions & Qualifications
- 2000California
Courts
- United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
- United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
- United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
- United States District Court for the Central District of California
- United States District Court for the Northern District of California
- United States District Court for the Southern District of California
- United States District Court for the Eastern District of California
- United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas
Education
- University of California, Berkeley, School of LawJ.D.2000
Order of the Coif
Recipient of BCLT’s Certificate of Law and Technology
- University of California, BerkeleyB.A.1996