Michael J. Songer

Partner, Washington, DC

Biography

Overview

Michael J. Songer is a trial lawyer and partner in White & Case's Washington, DC office and is a member of the Firm's Intellectual Property Group. His practice focuses on complex technology disputes in a wide variety of areas, primarily trade secrets, patents, and complex commercial disputes.

Mike has represented a broad range of clients and has tried numerous cases involving licensing arrangements, trade secrets, patents and copyrights, as well as complex commercial disputes. He has been involved in many high-profile cases. Mike was the lead trial attorney for DuPont in a precedent-setting trade secret case involving the Kevlar® product, and obtained a US$920 million verdict in damages, the largest contested jury trade secret verdict at the time. He also obtained a US$34 million jury verdict in a patent case for LifeNet Health in a case involving soft tissue grafts. That judgment was recognized as one of the "Top 100 Verdicts" by the National Law Journal and the largest jury verdict in Virginia for that year.

Mike has over 25 years of experience in the broad area of technology law and litigation. In addition to his trial work, Mike has conducted work in a wide range of technology and legal areas, including due diligence reviews, IP portfolio valuations, software licensing, digital rights evaluations, privacy and cybersecurity. He has an expertise in "Internet Law" and regularly addresses speech, defamation, content rights disputes, service provider liability, IoT matters and other emerging technology disputes.

Mike is currently an Adjunct Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law Center, where he has taught the "Law of Cyberspace" since 1999.

Bars and Courts
District of Columbia Bar
California State Bar
US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
US District Court for the Central District of California
US District Court for the District of Columbia
US District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
US District Court for the Northern District of California
US Patent and Trademark Office
Education
University of Notre Dame
BSME (energy systems / nuclear power operations) and BA (government)
JD
Duke University
Languages
English

Experience

Patent
AT&T v. Morris Reese (C.D. Cal.)* LifeNet Health v. RTI (N.D. Fl.)* LifeNet Health v. Life Cell Corp. (E.D. Va)*

Trade Secret
FastShip v. Lockheed (D. NJ)* Wabtec v. Siemens (CP Pa.)* Dana v. Burdick (CP Ohio)* DuPont v. Hou (D. Del.)*

Antitrust
DuPont v. Kolon (E.D. Va.)* 

Commercial
Nielsen v. comScore (S.D. NY) (commercial)* 

*Prior to joining White & Case

Publications

"The First DTSA Verdict: $500,000 for Misappropriation of a Fig Spread Recipe ," Crowell & Moring's Trade Secrets Trends (April 7, 2017). Authors: Michael J. Songer and Ali Tehrani

"When it Comes to IPRs are University Patents Bullet Proof?," IP Insights (February 2, 2017). Contacts: Mary Anne Schofield, Ph.D., Michael J. Songer, Terry Rea, Deborah H. Yellin

"Intellectual Property – The Defend Trade Secrets Act: What's the Big Deal?," Crowell & Moring's Litigation Forecast 2017 (January 2017). Contributor: Michael Songer

"PODCAST: Key IP Issues That Should be Addressed by the New Administration — C&M's First 100 Days Series," First 100 Days Series (January 12, 2017). Contacts: Michael J. Songer, Terry

Super Lawyers Recognizes 71 Crowell & Moring Lawyers Across United States (November 30, 2016)

"4 Key Takeaways: What the New Federal Trade Secrets Law Means for Your Clients (June 15 Webinar)," Crowell & Moring's Trade Secrets Trends (June 16, 2016). Authors: Mark Klapow, Mark Romeo, Michael J. Songer, and Vince Galluzzo

"DTSA Update: Alphabet and Google Accused of Misappropriation of Trade Secrets Under The DTSA," Crowell & Moring's Trade Secrets Trends (June 16, 2016). Authors: Mark Klapow, Michael

Awards and Recognition

"Super Lawyer" Intellectual Property – Thomson Reuters

IP MVP – Law360

"Litigator of the Week" – American Lawyer Magazine