Irvine criminal defense attorney Jennifer Keller doesn’t believe in parachuting into cases midstream. And she’s the first to admit that taking over as lead trial counsel for MGA Entertainment Inc. in its battle over dolls with Mattel Inc. 12 days before the trial was no cake walk — even for a seasoned lawyer with more than 150 jury trials under her belt.
Mattel had tucked away a $100 million win in its copyright infringement suit against its smaller rival in 2008. The jury in that trial found Mattel owned the entire Bratz line, and U.S. District Judge Stephen Larson issued a worldwide injunction preventing MGA from selling any more Bratz products. After MGA won its appeal, the two California companies returned to court to duke it out in a four-month-long, high-profile scrimmage last January to decide who owned the rights to the provocative and hugely popular Bratz dolls. MGA CEO Isaac Larian hired Keller for her chops as a trial attorney to co-counsel with Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe on the case. By then, new evidence had come to light, allowing MGA to hit Mattel with a corporate espionage counterclaim.
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