Yuri Mikulka, partner in Alston & Bird’s Intellectual Property Litigation Group, has been named one of California’s top trade secrets lawyers by the Daily Journal.
In “Top Trade Secrets Lawyers 2020,” a special supplement to the Daily Journal’s Los Angeles and San Francisco publications, Mikulka is interviewed about the rise of trade secret misappropriation litigation and important strategies to undertake in such cases.
Mikulka is also featured for her role as lead counsel for Audiology Distribution LLC and subsidiaries MedPlus Health Solutions and Harmony Hearing Services in a case before the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida. The case – Audiology Distribution LLC v. Peter Stephens, et al. – accuses the former officers of MedPlus and Harmony Hearing and other corporate defendants of forming competing businesses and allegedly raiding MedPlus and Harmony Hearing for the companies’ customers, resources, employees, trade secrets, and confidential business information.
After an emergency hearing, Mikulka won a temporary restraining order that enjoined the defendants from certain conduct and required them to take affirmative actions, including sending corrective letters to MedPlus and Harmony customers. After a preliminary injunction hearing conducted virtually, Mikulka also secured a preliminary injunction order against those defendants.
Commenting on the case, Mikulka said: “Despite the challenges of the virtual hearing format, the court thoroughly considered the evidence, witness testimonies, briefing, and oral argument presented by both parties, and issued an order that was well-founded.”
With nearly 25 years of litigation experience, Mikulka focuses her practice on patent, trademark, and copyright infringement; trade secret misappropriation; unfair competition; and complex business litigation. She leads court actions, arbitrations, and pre-suit disputes nationwide; she and her team have eliminated claims of more than $3 billion in damages and obtained verdicts and settlements of nearly $400 million for her clients.
Mikulka, who serves as president-elect of the Federal Bar Association (LA Chapter), was recently appointed to the American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary, which evaluates federal judicial nominees. She was recognized this year by the Daily Journal with its “Top Verdicts” honor for a defense judgment of a federal trade secret misappropriation action. In addition, she was named this year as one of the “Most Influential People” in Los Angeles by the Los Angeles Business Journal, an award she also earned in 2019.