Michael Skokna

Some highlights of Michael’s experience include the following:

Commercial Litigation

• • Represented Fox News in a highly publicized defamation lawsuit in Delaware Superior Court arising out of coverage of the 2020 Presidential Election.
  • Obtained full grant of summary judgment in favor of defendant medical device manufacturer in post-merger earnout litigation in Massachusetts state court, in which plaintiff sellers sought in excess of $100 million.
  • Represented a major financial services firm in a post-merger earnout and fraud litigation in Delaware Chancery Court.
  • Represented a defendant medical device manufacturer in a series of post-merger earnout litigations in Delaware federal court involving the development of cardiac implant devices.
  • Represented defendant medical device manufacturer in post-merger earnout litigation in New York federal court involving heart implant tools.
  • Obtained dismissal of employment-related claims against client company in Cook County, Illinois.
  • Member of the trial team that secured a US$84.5M policy-limits verdict in Cook County, Illinois in favor of a pharmaceutical company and against certain London-based insurers who denied claims under product recall insurance policies covering a recall prescription diet drug.
  • Member of a small team that obtained a recovery on breach of warranty and fraud claims following arbitration hearing on behalf of a buyer that acquired a small medical device company.

White Collar and Investigations

• • Member of multiple teams that conducted internal investigations concerning, and on some occasions subsequently filed lawsuits arising out of, the alleged theft and misappropriation of our clients’ trade secrets and competitively sensitive information. Michael worked closely with outside computer forensic experts to uncover and develop evidence of the alleged thefts and misappropriations, including by developing digital trails of the thefts and identifying where and how misappropriated information has been relocated and misused. In one such matter filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, following extensive briefing and a two-day evidentiary hearing, the court granted a preliminary injunction in favor of our client and against the alleged wrongdoers.

• • Member of two small teams that tried major white-collar criminal cases to jury verdict in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado and the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin.

Pro Bono

• • Successfully obtained affirmative grants of asylum for clients forced to flee Kenya and Egypt as a result of religious persecution.
  • Following a successful appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals, secured asylum for a client forced to flee Guatemala as a result of political persecution by gangs.
  • After a merits hearing, secured a grant of asylum for a client that fled Uganda due to political persecution by the dominant political party.