Michael Kibler

Michael D. Kibler is a Partner in the Firm’s Litigation Department resident in its Los Angeles office. He represents clients in a wide range of complex commercial litigation, trials, and appeals with particular emphasis in the areas of insurance, securities and shareholder derivative litigation, internal investigations and general commercial contract disputes.

Mike also advises clients regarding litigation risks in connection with corporate transactions and regulatory matters. Mike has been involved in several complex commercial jury trials in his career. His representative experience includes:

• Lead trial counsel for the plaintiff Gray Development Group in a lawsuit against the master developer of a master planned community. Claims in the suit included breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty and tortious bad faith in connection with the master developer’s efforts to block a competing project of Mike’s client. Following a six–week jury trial in Maricopa County Superior Court, a unanimous jury found for Mike’s client on all claims and awarded plaintiff its full measure of lost profit damages. The damage award–over $110 million–was one of the largest ever in Arizona.
• Representation of UBS Securities and The Royal Bank of Scotland in various securities cases arising from residential mortgage backed securities.
• Co–Counsel for NYFIX, Inc. and certain of its directors in the successful defense of state and federal shareholder derivative suits alleging breach of fiduciary duty in connection with the alleged “backdating” of stock option grants. Following a successful motion to dismiss the federal actions, In re NYFIX, Inc. Derivative Litigation, 567 F. Supp. 2d 306 (D. Conn. 2008), the remaining claims settled on favorable terms.
• Lead counsel for the buyer in a successful post-closing purchase price arbitration in connection with a $1.8 billion acquisition. Following a merits hearing and post-hearing submissions, the arbitrator awarded Mike’s client over 90% of its claimed reduction in the purchase price.
• Co–Counsel in the defense of affiliates of AIG and Travelers in multi–jurisdictional insurance coverage litigation pending in Texas, Ohio and New York that arose from novel underlying claims for public nuisance.
• Lead counsel in the internal investigation of allegations of violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and related fraudulent conduct in connection with the overseas operations of a U.S. company.
• Representation of Swiss Re, the largest property insurer of the World Trade Center, in epic litigation following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack. The owner of the World Trade Center claimed entitlement to two full policy limits for its destruction. Following three years of litigation and a three–month trial, a unanimous jury found for Mike’s client on all claims, limiting its exposure to a single policy limit.
• Co–Counsel in the arbitration of claims arising from the breach of forward power contracts during the 2001 California energy crisis. Following a one–week hearing, the case settled on favorable terms.

Mike received his J.D. from Seton Hall University School of Law in 1997, magna cum laude, where he was a member of the Moot Court Board, competing in several national moot court competitions.

From 1998 to 1999 Mike served as law clerk to then United States Magistrate Judge, now United States District Judge Robert B. Kugler in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey. He then clerked for United States District Judge Garrett E. Brown, Jr., also in the District of New Jersey, from 1999–2001.

Education:

• Seton Hall University School of Law, 1997 J.D.
  • magna cum laude
• Seton Hall University, 1992 B.A.
  • cum laude

Associations:

• The Los Angeles County Bar Association
• Board Member, Covenant House California
• The Association of the Bar of the City of New York
• Coach, Beverly Hills Little League

Admissions:

• California
• New York
• New Jersey
• U.S. District Court Central District of California
• U.S. District Court Southern District of California
• U.S. District Court Northern District of California
• U.S. District Court Southern District of New York
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit