James M. Whitelaw

Partner

Biography

James M. Whitelaw possesses both a strong legal and engineering background that is an important asset to the firm and its clients. Mr. Whitelaw's extensive trial and litigation experience with diverse matters has distinguished him as a talented litigator with a winning track record.

Mr. Whitelaw's legal practice was preceded by a ten-year career as an aeronautical engineer at both McDonnell Douglas Corporation and Grumman Aerospace Corporation. Mr. Whitelaw applies his in-depth understanding of complex technologies in patent infringement and trade secret misappropriation matters that span a broad range of technologies. His ability to quickly comprehend and communicate case intricacies in a simple way has been of substantial benefit in numerous jury trials, hearings and arbitrations.

Mr. Whitelaw has acted as a lead lawyer in a host of high-profile, high-stakes commercial litigation and intellectual property matters, as well as real estate construction and securities disputes. He is highly regarded by both clients and his team for both exceptional intellect and strategic thinking.

Mr. Whitelaw works closely to guide and train the associates at the firm, sharing both technical and legal insights. Prior to founding Thomas Whitelaw, Mr. Whitelaw was a partner in the Irvine office of McDermott Will & Emery, where he was a member of its Litigation and Trial Practice Group, with a focus on complex commercial and intellectual property matters.

Education

• Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, California

  • J.D. – 1994

• State University of New York at Buffalo

  • B.S.

  • Honors: Cum Laude; Tau Beta Pi National Engineering Honor Society

  • Major: Aerospace Engineering

Bar Admission

• California, 1994

• U.S. District Court Eastern District of California

• U.S. District Court Northern District of California

• U.S. District Court Southern District of California

• U.S. District Court Central District of California

• U.S. Court of Appeals Federal Circuit

• U.S. Court of Appeals 9th Circuit, 1994

Representative Cases

• Pabban Development, Inc. v. Kyphon Sarl, et. al. (C.D. Cal.)

• Duhn Oil Tool, Inc., v. Cooper Cameron (E.D. Cal.)

• Bird Products Corporation v. Pulmonetic Systems, Inc. (C.D. Cal.)

• Inland Empire Foods v. Zateca Foods, Inc. (C.D. Cal.)

• Bay Area Rapid Transit District (B.A.R.T.) v. Tanforan Park Shopping Center (California Superior Court, San Mateo County)

• Teachout v. S.P. Properties Inc. (California Superior Court, Los Angeles County)

• Food 4 Less of California v. Foothill Marketplace Partners (California Superior Court, Orange County)

Past Positions

• McDonnell Douglas Corporation, Aeronautical Engineer

• Grumman Aerospace Corporation, Aeronautical Engineer

• Irvine office of McDermott Will & Emery, Partner

Professional Associations

• State Bar of California, Intellectual Property Law Section, Member

• American Bar Association, Intellectual Property Law Section, Member

William J. Kolegraff

Partner

Education

• University of San Diego School of Law, San Diego, California

  • J.D. - 1996

  • Honors: Member, Order of the Coif, 1996

• South Dakota School of Mines and Technology

  • B.S.

  • Honors: magna cum laude

  • Major: Electrical Engineering (emphasis in digital design and software development)

Bar Admission

• California

• U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

• U.S. District Court Eastern District of Virginia

• U.S. Court of Appeals 9th Circuit

• U.S. Court of Appeals Federal Circuit

Representative Cases

• RSI Video Technologies, Inc. v. Vacant Property Security LLC, et al. (N.D. Illinois)

• Surpass Tech Innovation LLC v. Sharp Corporation (Dist. Delaware)

• Surpass Tech Innovation LLC v. LG Display Co. Ltd. (Dist. Delaware)

• Graphics Properties Holdings, Inc. v. VIZIO, Inc. (Dist. of Del.)

• Innovus Prime LLC v. VIZIO, Inc. (N.D. Cal.)

• Norman IP Holdings, LLC v. Lexmark International, Inc. (E.D. Tex.)

• Advanced Display Technologies Of Texas, LLC, v. AU Optronics Corporation, et al. (E.D. Tex)

• Azure Networks, LLC, and Tri-County Excelsior Foundation v. Mediatek Inc. (E.D.Tex.)

• Sansay Inc. v. Rates Technology LLC (S.D. Cal.)

• Atwater Partners of Texas, LLC v. AT&T, Inc. et al. (E.D. Tex.)

• U.S. Ethernet Innovations, LLC, v. Acer, Inc. et al. (E.D. Tex.)

• Illinois Tool Works, Inc. v. MOC Products Company (S.D. Cal.)

• On The Go v. AT&T (N.D. Ill.)

• WiAV v. Motorola (E.D. Va.)

• WiAV v. Research in Motion, et al. (E.D. Va.)

• MEC v. Mindspeed, Inc. (C.D. Cal.)

• EBS Automotive Services, et al. v. Illinois Tool Works, Inc. et al. (S.D. Cal.)

• WiAV Solutions LLC v. Kyocera Corp., et al. (E.D. Va.)

• Nortel Networks Ltd., et al. v. Kyocera Wireless (N.D. Tex.)

• Kyocera Wireless v. MLR LLC, et al. (S.D. Cal.)

• Compression Labs Incorporated v. Adobe Systems Incorporated, et al. (E.D. Tex.)

• Duhn Oil Tool v. Cooper Cameron (C.D. Cal.)

• Avaak v. Smartvue (S.D. Cal)

• Pabban Development, Inc. v. Kyphon Sarl (C.D. Cal.)

Past Positions

• Kyocera Wireless, Chief IP Counsel

• Lyon & Lyon LLP, Patent Litigator

• Baker & McKenzie, Patent Litigator

• Lyon & Lyon LLP, Patent Prosecutor

• Baker & McKenzie, Patent Prosecutor

Professional Associations

• California Bar Association

William S. Sanderson

Partner

Education

• University of Southern California Law School, Los Angeles, California

  • J.D. - 1990

  • Major: Computer Law

  • Major: Major Tax Planning Journal

• University of Southern California

  • B.S. - 1986

  • Major: Finance

  • Major: Business Economics

Bar Admission

• California

• New York

• Missouri

• U.S. District Court Southern District of New York

• U.S. District Court Central District of California

Representative Cases

• RE3W, Inc. v. First American Corp. (California Superior Court, Orange County)

• D.B. Zwirn v. Suncal (New York Supreme Court, New York)

Representative Transactional Matters

• Represent municipal landowner in a 95-year ground lease of property to be developed as a downtown hotel/office building/parking complex.

• Represent the purchaser in an asset purchase of a precision plastics molding business.

• Represent manufacturer of medical devises in negotiating purchase agreements with regional hospital systems.

• Represent the landlord in negotiating 95-year ground leases of two 9-acre parcels to be developed as a high-tech office park.

• Represent purchaser of vacant land in Orange County, California to be developed as a medical office building.

• Represent the seller in the negotiation and documentation of the sale of a $2 million shopping center parcel to a home improvement warehouse company.

• Represent international hotel company in connection with purchases of real property to be developed as hotels targeting the business traveler.

• Represent landlords and tenants in negotiation of office leases.

Professional Associations

• American Bar Association

• Orange County Bar Association, Member

• Orange County Bar Association, Real Property Section, Member

Michael Martello

Senior Counsel

Education

• Pepperdine University School of Law, Malibu, California

  • J.D.

• Arizona State University

  • B.S.

  • Honors: magna cum laude

Past Positions

• Mountain View, City Attorneys

• Los Gatos, City Attorneys

• Sunnyvale, City Attorneys

• Concord, California, City Attorneys

• Thousand Oaks, California, Assistant City Attorne

Susan Rutten

Senior Counsel

Education

• Pepperdine University, Malibu, California

  • J.D. - 1982

• Santa Clara University

  • B.S. - 1979

  • Major: Economics

Bar Admission

• California

• U.S. District Court

• U.S. Court of Appeals 9th Circuit

Pro-Bono Activities

• Emerald Bay Service, District Board Member

• Laguna Food Pantry, Board Member

• Laguna Beach Community Foundation

• Santa Clara University

• Emerald Bay Community Association, Past President

• St. Catherine of Siena School, Past Board Member

Past Positions

• Rutten & Morse and Shield & Smith

Grant J. Thomas

Biography

Grant Thomas is a commercial litigator with a focus on intellectual property. In his short career, Mr. Thomas has actively participated in four trials. He prepared jury instructions, preparing witnesses, drafted direct and cross examination outlines, drafted motions in limine, and prepared trial briefs.

Despite his concentration in litigation, Mr. Thomas has not shied away from his roots and his passion for entrepreneurship. He currently is an advisor to AAPlasma LLC, a non-thermal plasma company in the development stage. Mr. Thomas also advises Flock LLC, an artificial intelligence startup working in the construction space. Finally, after working closely during his final year at Santa Clara, Mr. Thomas is a co-founder and board member of The Fifth Wave, a not-for-profit corporation promoting diversity and inclusion in the STEaM fields.

Education

• Santa Clara University School of Law, Santa Clara, California

  • J.D. - 2018

• University of Washington

  • B.A. - 2015

  • Major: History

  • Minor: Entrepreneurship

Bar Admission

• California

• U.S. District Court Central District of California

• U.S. District Court Southern District of California

• Western District of Texas

Representative Cases

• Midas Green Technologies, LLC v. Rhodium Enterprises, Inc. et al.: An active member of the trial team seeking damages for patent infringment.

• T.D. Synnex Corporation v. DFND Security, Inc.: An active member of the trial team representing DFND through litigation.

• Fidelity National Title Insurance v. Francois Badeau et al. Lead counsel defending a claim of unjust enrichment.

• Whitewater Industries, Ltd. v. Pacific Surf Designs: An active member of the trial team representing Pacific Surf Designs in a patent infringement case arising out of the alleged infringement of a wave machine patent.

• T&J Enterprises v. The City of Laguna Beach: An active member of the trial team representing T&J Enterprises in an inverse condemnation suit against the City of Laguna Beach arising out of a sewage spill which occurred during construction on T&J Enterprises’ beachfront property.

• The City of West Hollywood v. MDA Johnson Favaro v. Walker Parking Consultants: An active member of the trial team representing the City of West Hollywood in an action regarding professional (architecture) malpractice arising out of the negligent design of the West Hollywood Library and Park expansion project. The case concluded in a favorable settlement for the City.

• Wamar International, LLC v. Thales Avionic, Inc (S.D. Cal.): An active member of the trial team for Wamar International, in an action regarding in-flight entertainment systems installed on international commercial airliners. The case settled favorably for Wamar International.

Pro-Bono Activities

• Co-founder and board member, The Fifth Wave

Professional Associations

• State Bar of California: Intellectual Property Law Sections

• Orange County Bar Association: Young Lawyers Division

• American Bar Association: Intellectual Property Law Section

Tierra Mendiola

Biography

Tierra Mendiola joined Thomas Whitelaw in 2009 as a litigation paralegal. Her caseload is primarily focused on complex business and intellectual property litigation. Since joining in 2009, she has provided support to attorneys during all phases of the litigation process and is a vital part of the trial team. In 2012, she assisted on a Federal District Court trial regarding patent infringement on oil tool technology. In 2016, she assisted on a Federal District Court trial involving a breach of contract case regarding a bone cement delivery device. More recently in 2019, she assisted on a Federal District Court trial regarding patent infringement on sheet wave machines. She has expansive knowledge and expertise in e-discovery, the trial process, as well as arbitration, mediation, settlement and appeals.

Education

• University of California, Irvine, Paralegal Certificate Program, (ABA Approved)

• California State University, Long Beach, Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies

Professional Associations

• Orange County Paralegal Association