Peter Villar

Peter N. Villar is an experienced trial attorney with a distinguished track record representing companies in complex business, intellectual property and securities litigation. He has successfully tried and defended dozens of high-stakes commercial disputes across the country including several of the largest cases in the Central District of California involving billions of dollars in alleged damages.

Peter represents companies across a wide spectrum of industries including aerospace, manufacturing, energy, finance, technology, and real estate and has litigated claims of securities fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, unfair competition, racketeering, conspiracy, theft of trade secrets, trademark infringement, copyright infringement, and all forms of contractual disputes.

Peter has extensive experience defending companies, broker-dealers, accounting firms and financial institutions in lawsuits arising out of the purchase or sale of securities as well as investigations and enforcement actions by the SEC, PCAOB, FINRA and other regulatory agencies.

Peter litigates cases in state and federal courts throughout the country and in arbitration. He also has successfully briefed and argued numerous cases in the California Courts of Appeal and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Peter serves on the board of directors of the Association of Business Trial Lawyers, Federal Bar Association and Constitutional Rights Foundation.

Representative Matters :

• Successfully defended a multi-billion-dollar contract and fraud dispute involving the aerospace industry.
• Defended venture capital firm in a high-profile case involving claims of fraud, racketeering, conspiracy, trademark and copyright infringement seeking hundreds of millions in damages. Won summary judgment of all claims against client prior to trial.
• Successfully defended officers and directors of bio-tech company against shareholder derivative suit. Won motion to dismiss all claims.
• Represented global auto manufacturer in trademark infringement lawsuit against competitor. Competitor agreed to cease infringement prior to trial.
• Defended brokerage firm in multimillion-dollar professional negligence claims. Won complete dismissal of claims at arbitration.
• Represented Big 4 accounting firm in stock options backdating investigation by SEC. Persuaded SEC to drop the charges.
• Defended publicly traded, international media company in multimillion-dollar securities fraud action brought by shareholder. Won a complete defense verdict at trial.
• Defended geotechnical engineering company in breach of fiduciary duty action brought by shareholders. Achieved favorable settlement for client.

Professional and Community Involvement :

• California Bar Association
• Association of Business Trial Lawyers
• Board of Directors, Federal Bar Association of Orange County (2012–present)
• Board of Directors, Association of Business Trial Lawyers (2018-present)
• Coach, U.C. Irvine Business Plan Competition (2008)

EDUCATION :

• Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law, J.D., 1999
• University of California, Santa Barbara, B.A., 1994

COURT ADMISSIONS :

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

BAR ADMISSIONS : California