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Ringgenberg Law Firm
Legal representation driven by the values of excellence and integrity.
The firm’s founder, Kieran Ringgenberg, has litigated cases around the state of California, in federal district courts across the nation, in the United States Court of Appeals, and in the United States Supreme Court. He has taken and defended more than 75 depositions, including senior executives of major companies, expert witnesses, and class action representatives. He has led the briefing on, and argued, crucial motions including motions to dismiss, summary judgment, and class certification in major cases involving hundreds of millions of dollars or more in claimed damages. He has served as a key member of teams during trials and arbitrations, including examining and cross-examining important witnesses such as the parties’ retained experts.
“Kieran’s representation brought my firm through a very hard time; his exceptional ability to get to the heart of our issue, research, argument development, and broad professional network resolved our case exactly as he predicted.”
Kelly Ross
Co-Founder of Admios
Commercial and corporate disputes
Kieran Ringgenberg has represented plaintiffs and defendants in a wide array of matters involving business deals and corporate relationships gone wrong.
Kieran successfully represented the founder and an early shareholder in a startup software company in a dispute with investors that took control of the company and fired the founder. The dispute involved the controlling shareholders fiduciary duties and allegations of self-dealing, and was resolved after two lawsuits and three years of litigation.
He likewise represented a leading independent physicians association in a corporate governance dispute with a major hospital. The parties disputed whether the hospital’s physician employees, as board members of association, should be involved in decisions about the association’s relationship with the hospital. The matter was successfully resolved.
Kieran also represented a major financial institution in a series of lawsuits involving investment losses by large investment funds arising from the 2008 financial crisis.
"This has been a very, very complex case . . . . I’ve never seen a case this complex that involved this many issues before a jury as what you’ve seen here and before the Court. . . . [I]t is certainly what you call a mega trial and a mega lawsuit under any view. . . . The jury saw professionalism at the top of the ladder and the trial team’s performance, from a professional standpoint, [was] one that’s just totally praiseworthy."
United States District Judge Larry Hicks
Co-Founder of Admios
Intellectual
property
Kieran has litigated cases involving patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets.
Kieran spent more than five years litigating a major copyright infringement and computer fraud case. After the trial, where Kieran played a key role on the trial team, the jury returned a verdict in favor of Kieran’s client. The veteran federal judge overseeing the trial said, “I’ve never seen a case this complex that involved this many issues before a jury as what you’ve seen here and before the Court,” and told the jury it saw “professionalism at the top of the ladder” and the trial team’s “performance, from a professional standpoint, [was] one that’s just totally praiseworthy.” A judgment for more than $120 million and injunctive relief was entered in favor of Kieran’s client.
Kieran also represented a start-up company and two founders accused of stealing trade secrets and breaching non-compete contracts of the founders’ former employer. After a hearing on the plaintiff’s claim for preliminary injunctive relief, the court dismissed the case entirely, which a complete victory for Kieran’s clients, and which launched a growing and vibrant business.
Kieran has also successfully represented major companies in patent cases, including achieving a hotly-contested transfer of a patent infringement case from the famously patent-friendly Eastern District of Texas to his client’s home in the Northern District of California.
Antitrust
Kieran has been involved in some of the most significant antitrust cases in recent years.
He was part of the team representing American Express against Visa, Mastercard, and a number of the nations largest banks for claims based on anticompetitive conduct regarding bank-issued credit cards. American Express ultimately settled the claims for more than $4 billion, which was the largest known settlement of a company’s claims.
Kieran represented Broadcom in connection with its antitrust claims against Qualcomm based on patent licensing and other conduct. The Third Circuit’s opinion in this matter set key precedent on the importance of promises by technology holders to license intellectual property on fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms. Broadcom and Qualcomm settled the claim as part of a deal involving Qualcomm paying more than than $800 million. Kieran also successfully served on the trial team in a rare antitrust class action trial. The plaintiff class sought hundreds of millions of dollars in damages based on alleged anticompetitive conduct by Apple. The jury returned a complete defense verdict for Apple, and plaintiffs did not appeal.