Mariah Brandt

An experienced civil litigator and trial lawyer, Pillsbury partner Mariah Brandt resolves complex business disputes and class actions, securing victories through trial, arbitration and negotiation.

Mariah focuses on business litigation, including intellectual property, contract, policyholder insurance coverage and consumer privacy cases. Her clients span the entertainment, restaurant, banking, health care and technology industries.

Experienced in federal and state trial and appellate courts, Mariah skillfully argues motions for dismissal of claims, temporary restraining orders, preliminary injunctions and discovery orders. She has served as lead counsel in several jury trials, managed all stages of large-scale litigations and crafted winning appellate briefs.

REPRESENTATIVE EXPERIENCE :

• Prevailed on behalf of Disney in a privacy class action regarding employee ID badges.
• Second-chaired a jury trial defending a dental company from a multimillion-dollar tortious interference with contract claim that resulted in nuisance verdict for plaintiff of just $5,000.
• Defended Clearwire in a trademark infringement action brought by Sony Ericsson, defeating plaintiff’s motion for preliminary injunction that led to Sony Ericsson dismissing the case.
• SWH Corporation v. Select Insurance Company, Nos. G036145, G036627, 2006 WL 2786930 (Cal. Ct. App. Sept. 28, 2006)
• Prosecuted a complex fraudulent transfer case in front of the bankruptcy court and the district court for several years that lead to a $17 million settlement recovery.
• Defended domain name startup in a federal suit alleging fraudulent misrepresentations in a merger and sale transaction and obtained complete defense.
• Second chaired privacy class action for large entertainment client in which we successfully demurred to plaintiffs’ primary claim for a statutory violation, leading to plaintiffs’ voluntary dismissal of the case.
• Acted as lead associate on complex dispute in federal court regarding licensing of DVD patents that resulted in favorable settlement the day before trial after prevailing on key motions in limine.

EDUCATION :

• J.D., University of California, Los Angeles, School of Law, 2002
• B.A., Political Science, University of California, Los Angeles, 1999

ADMISSIONS : California

COURTS :

• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
• U.S. District Court for the Northern, Central and Southern Districts of California