Biography
Representative Matters
Throughout his distinguished career as a litigator, Michael Kump has fought tenaciously for plaintiffs and defendants to protect their valuable intellectual property and contractual rights. With a broad and sophisticated litigation practice, Mr. Kump has extensive experience in all aspects of intellectual property, entertainment and trade practices law. His representative clients include Starz Entertainment LLC, USI Holdings Corporation, Vivendi Universal, and Merle Norman Cosmetics, Inc.
For the past ten years, Mr. Kump has represented Starz, which owns and operates the “Starz,” “Encore,” and “Starz Play” movie channels and video-on-demand services made available through cable, satellite, and Internet transmissions. In addition to being a leader in the “traditional” pay television arena, Starz has long been at the forefront of the exploitation of motion pictures, and other video content, on the Internet. Mr. Kump has filed multiple actions in federal court to protect and enforce Starz’s copyright and contractual rights in films licensed under output agreements with major studios – issues that have become more critical with the emergence of electronic downloading and the distribution of entertainment properties over the Internet.
In March 2007, Mr. Kump filed an action on behalf of Starz when a Disney subsidiary began permitting Internet services, such as Apple’s iTunes, to sell Disney Pictures that had been exclusively licensed to Starz (see Complaint). In August 2008, Mr. Kump and his team filed a motion for partial summary judgment, which asked the Court to interpret the parties’ license agreements as prohibiting the conduct at issue (see Motion). In September 2008, the Court granted Starz’s motion and adopted Starz’s interpretation of the parties’ contracts (see Order). The action was resolved in December 2008 on the eve of trial.
In addition, Mr. Kump counsels Starz on a range of intellectual property issues, including the company’s rights in new technologies and markets. Mr. Kump also provides litigation representation and counseling to other companies concerning intellectual property and contractual rights in the media and entertainment industries, including by way of example, Media Rights Capital, a diversified global media company with operations in filmed entertainment, television programming and original digital content, and Winchester Capital Partners, a private transatlantic investment bank.
Over the past decade, Mr. Kump has represented USI – a diversified insurance and financial services firm that is the eighth-largest insurance brokerage in the United States – in numerous misappropriation of trade secrets and unfair competition actions filed throughout California against insurance producers who left to join competing firms. In these actions, Mr. Kump moved quickly to obtain injunctive relief to protect USI’s trade secrets and to enforce USI’s restrictive covenants, which resulted in the cases settling on favorable terms for USI. Mr. Kump also counsels USI on a broad range of trade practice issues, including trade secret protection and the enforceability of contractual covenants governing competition.
In 2003 and 2004, Mr. Kump represented Vivendi Universal in a breach of contract action filed by USA Networks in the Delaware Chancery Court, which sought over $600 million in damages arising out of the parties’ creation of Vivendi Universal Entertainment (VUE). This dispute was resolved favorably when InterActive Corp. f/k/a USA Networks sold its stake in VUE to NBC Universal.
Since 2001, Mr. Kump has represented Greg Garrison, the longtime producer, director and part owner of the Dean Martin television shows, and his Executor and Trustee (after his death), in several disputes and lawsuits over the rights to the shows, including two separate copyright infringement actions in federal court and a declaratory relief action in state court.
When a third party sought to discover financial information concerning the clients of a top entertainment transactional law firm, Mr. Kump obtained an important ruling for the law firm in the California Court of Appeal that barred the discovery on the grounds that it invaded the clients’ constitutionally-guaranteed right to privacy. (Ziffren, Brittenham, Branca, Fischer, Gilbert-Lurie & Stiffelman, LLP v. Superior Court, Case No. B167832, 2003 WL 22138574 (Cal. App. 2d Dist., Sept. 17, 2003).)
For fifteen years, Mr. Kump represented Merle Norman Cosmetics, a national franchisor of cosmetics studios, in several federal and state actions covering a broad array of claims. In 2001, after years of multi-state discovery, Mr. Kump successfully represented plaintiff Merle Norman in a four-week civil RICO and fraud trial filed in New York federal court against an advertising company. The presentation of Merle Norman’s case involved the testimony of eighteen witnesses and over 700 exhibits presented digitally. At the conclusion of the trial, the jury awarded a multi-million-dollar verdict to Merle Norman.
Mr. Kump’s practice encompasses antitrust litigation and counseling. For over ten years in the 80’s and 90’s, Mr. Kump successfully represented Merle Norman in a series of related state and federal actions, defending the company against alleged violations of the Sherman and Clayton Acts, while prosecuting the company’s trademark and Lanham Act claims. (Acton v. Merle Norman Cosmetics, Inc., 163 F.3d 605 (9th Cir. 1998) (Table, Text in WL, No. 97-56269); Acton v. Merle Norman Cosmetics, Inc., 1995-1 CCH Trade Cases 71,025 (C.D. Cal. 1995); Acton v. Merle Norman Cosmetics, Inc., 1994-2 CCH Trade Cases 70,784 (C.D. Cal. 1984); Merle Norman Cosmetics, Inc. v. U.S. Dist. Ct., Cent. Dist. of Cal., 856 F.2d 98 (9th Cir. 1988).) During this litigation, Mr. Kump successfully defended the company in a five-week jury trial on antitrust issues and in a bench trial on causation and damages, while also recovering favorable settlements in two bad faith actions brought against the company’s insurers.
Mr. Kump also represented International E-Z Up, Inc., the originator and manufacturer of instant portable canopies, against antitrust counterclaims filed in the company’s patent infringement case. After creating and implementing a targeted discovery plan, Mr. Kump brought a motion for summary judgment, which the federal court granted in a published opinion. (Carter v. Variflex, Inc., 101 F.Supp.2d 1261 (C.D. Cal. 2000).)
Professional Recognitions
Mr. Kump has been recognized as a “Super Lawyer” in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 by Super Lawyers magazine. In its July/August 2009 annual Corporate Counsel Edition, he was recognized for his success in Intellectual Property Litigation in 2009. Mr. Kump has also been named one of the top 100 trial lawyers in California by the American Trial Lawyers Association. From 2002 to 2007, he served on the Board of Governors of the Association of Business Trial Lawyers (ABTL).
Education and Admissions
Mr. Kump was born and raised in Northfield, Minnesota. He is a graduate of Grinnell College (B.A. 1974, Phi Beta Kappa), the University of Michigan Department of Philosophy (M.A. in Philosophy, 1976, Ph.D. in Philosophy, 1979), and the University of Michigan School of Law (J.D., cum laude, 1981). Mr. Kump was admitted to the California State Bar in 1981, and is admitted to practice before each of the United States District Courts in the states of Arizona and California, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the Ninth Circuit and the Second Circuit, the United States Tax Court, and the United States Supreme Court.
Professional Presentations, Publications and Media Quotes
Mr. Kump has spoken and written extensively, and been quoted in leading newspapers and periodicals, on current topics in his areas of expertise.
For the past five years, including on December 5, 2008, he has been a regular speaker on “Recent Developments in Contract Litigation” at the annual CLE Int’l Film and Television Law Conference.
On November 13, 2008, CIO published its interview with Mr. Kump on intellectual protection and trade secret protection in the employment arena.
On September 25, 2008, Mr. Kump presented an audio teleconference for 150 human resources professionals sponsored by the Employer Resources Institute on “Noncompete Agreements: California Supreme Court Sounds Death Knell for Noncompetes: What Employers Should Do Now to Protect Themselves.”
Other representative articles by Mr. Kump include the following: “Businesses Should Pursue Nonacceptance Injunctions,” Los Angeles Daily Journal, Feb. 24, 2004, p. 7; “The Rule of Proportionality in Civil RICO Suits,” Los Angeles Lawyer, Dec. 2002, Vol. 25, No. 9, p. 12; “New Amendments Give Losing Party Another Bite at the Apple,” Los Angeles Daily Journal, Dec. 3, 2002, p. 7; “The Reasonable Particularity Requirement in Trade Secret Actions,” ABTL Report, Fall 2002, Vol. XXV, No. 1., p. 10; “Businesses Shouldn’t Rely on Nonacceptance Provisions,” Los Angeles Daily Journal, Aug. 29. 2002, p. 7.
Representative quotations by Mr. Kump include the following: “Suit Against Clear Channel Over Racing Goes to Jury,” New York Times, March 21, 2005; “Clear Channel Loses Case With Rival,” New York Times, March 22, 2005; “Clear Channel Antitrust Probe Continues,” San Antonio Express News, March 22, 2005; “Down in the Dirt,” New York Times, August 30, 2004.
Press, Awards & Publications
- On January 21, 2010, Michael Kump spoke for the fifth year in a row at CLE International's annual Film, Television & New Media Conference in Los Angeles.
- Dale Kinsella, Howard Weitzman, Larry Iser, Michael Kump, Greg Aldisert and Shawn Chapman Holley were named Super Lawyers for 2010.
- Michael Kump named Super Lawyer in Intellectual Property Litigation for 2010.
- Michael Kump named Super Lawyer in Intellectual Property Litigation for 2009.
- Dale Kinsella, Howard Weitzman, Larry Iser, Michael Kump and Greg Aldisert named Super Lawyers for 2009.
- Read Michael Kump's interview with CIO.com.
- Michael Kump conducts audio conference for 150 human resource professionals.
- Dale Kinsella, Larry Iser, Howard Weitzman and Michael Kump were named "Super Lawyers" by Southern California Super Lawyers Magazine, a supplement of Los Angeles Magazine.
- Eight KWIKA lawyers named "Super Lawyers" and "Rising Stars" by Los Angeles Magazine in the February 2007 issue.
Representative Matters
Throughout his distinguished career as a litigator, Michael Kump has fought tenaciously for plaintiffs and defendants to protect their valuable intellectual property and contractual rights. With a broad and sophisticated litigation practice, Mr. Kump has extensive experience in all aspects of intellectual property, entertainment and trade practices law. His representative clients include Starz Entertainment LLC, USI Holdings Corporation, Vivendi Universal, and Merle Norman Cosmetics, Inc.
For the past ten years, Mr. Kump has represented Starz, which owns and operates the “Starz,” “Encore,” and “Starz Play” movie channels and video-on-demand services made available through cable, satellite, and Internet transmissions. In addition to being a leader in the “traditional” pay television arena, Starz has long been at the forefront of the exploitation of motion pictures, and other video content, on the Internet. Mr. Kump has filed multiple actions in federal court to protect and enforce Starz’s copyright and contractual rights in films licensed under output agreements with major studios – issues that have become more critical with the emergence of electronic downloading and the distribution of entertainment properties over the Internet.
In March 2007, Mr. Kump filed an action on behalf of Starz when a Disney subsidiary began permitting Internet services, such as Apple’s iTunes, to sell Disney Pictures that had been exclusively licensed to Starz (see Complaint). In August 2008, Mr. Kump and his team filed a motion for partial summary judgment, which asked the Court to interpret the parties’ license agreements as prohibiting the conduct at issue (see Motion). In September 2008, the Court granted Starz’s motion and adopted Starz’s interpretation of the parties’ contracts (see Order). The action was resolved in December 2008 on the eve of trial.
In addition, Mr. Kump counsels Starz on a range of intellectual property issues, including the company’s rights in new technologies and markets. Mr. Kump also provides litigation representation and counseling to other companies concerning intellectual property and contractual rights in the media and entertainment industries, including by way of example, Media Rights Capital, a diversified global media company with operations in filmed entertainment, television programming and original digital content, and Winchester Capital Partners, a private transatlantic investment bank.
Over the past decade, Mr. Kump has represented USI – a diversified insurance and financial services firm that is the eighth-largest insurance brokerage in the United States – in numerous misappropriation of trade secrets and unfair competition actions filed throughout California against insurance producers who left to join competing firms. In these actions, Mr. Kump moved quickly to obtain injunctive relief to protect USI’s trade secrets and to enforce USI’s restrictive covenants, which resulted in the cases settling on favorable terms for USI. Mr. Kump also counsels USI on a broad range of trade practice issues, including trade secret protection and the enforceability of contractual covenants governing competition.
In 2003 and 2004, Mr. Kump represented Vivendi Universal in a breach of contract action filed by USA Networks in the Delaware Chancery Court, which sought over $600 million in damages arising out of the parties’ creation of Vivendi Universal Entertainment (VUE). This dispute was resolved favorably when InterActive Corp. f/k/a USA Networks sold its stake in VUE to NBC Universal.
Since 2001, Mr. Kump has represented Greg Garrison, the longtime producer, director and part owner of the Dean Martin television shows, and his Executor and Trustee (after his death), in several disputes and lawsuits over the rights to the shows, including two separate copyright infringement actions in federal court and a declaratory relief action in state court.
When a third party sought to discover financial information concerning the clients of a top entertainment transactional law firm, Mr. Kump obtained an important ruling for the law firm in the California Court of Appeal that barred the discovery on the grounds that it invaded the clients’ constitutionally-guaranteed right to privacy. (Ziffren, Brittenham, Branca, Fischer, Gilbert-Lurie & Stiffelman, LLP v. Superior Court, Case No. B167832, 2003 WL 22138574 (Cal. App. 2d Dist., Sept. 17, 2003).)
For fifteen years, Mr. Kump represented Merle Norman Cosmetics, a national franchisor of cosmetics studios, in several federal and state actions covering a broad array of claims. In 2001, after years of multi-state discovery, Mr. Kump successfully represented plaintiff Merle Norman in a four-week civil RICO and fraud trial filed in New York federal court against an advertising company. The presentation of Merle Norman’s case involved the testimony of eighteen witnesses and over 700 exhibits presented digitally. At the conclusion of the trial, the jury awarded a multi-million-dollar verdict to Merle Norman.
Mr. Kump’s practice encompasses antitrust litigation and counseling. For over ten years in the 80’s and 90’s, Mr. Kump successfully represented Merle Norman in a series of related state and federal actions, defending the company against alleged violations of the Sherman and Clayton Acts, while prosecuting the company’s trademark and Lanham Act claims. (Acton v. Merle Norman Cosmetics, Inc., 163 F.3d 605 (9th Cir. 1998) (Table, Text in WL, No. 97-56269); Acton v. Merle Norman Cosmetics, Inc., 1995-1 CCH Trade Cases 71,025 (C.D. Cal. 1995); Acton v. Merle Norman Cosmetics, Inc., 1994-2 CCH Trade Cases 70,784 (C.D. Cal. 1984); Merle Norman Cosmetics, Inc. v. U.S. Dist. Ct., Cent. Dist. of Cal., 856 F.2d 98 (9th Cir. 1988).) During this litigation, Mr. Kump successfully defended the company in a five-week jury trial on antitrust issues and in a bench trial on causation and damages, while also recovering favorable settlements in two bad faith actions brought against the company’s insurers.
Mr. Kump also represented International E-Z Up, Inc., the originator and manufacturer of instant portable canopies, against antitrust counterclaims filed in the company’s patent infringement case. After creating and implementing a targeted discovery plan, Mr. Kump brought a motion for summary judgment, which the federal court granted in a published opinion. (Carter v. Variflex, Inc., 101 F.Supp.2d 1261 (C.D. Cal. 2000).)
Professional Recognitions
Mr. Kump has been recognized as a “Super Lawyer” in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 by Super Lawyers magazine. In its July/August 2009 annual Corporate Counsel Edition, he was recognized for his success in Intellectual Property Litigation in 2009. Mr. Kump has also been named one of the top 100 trial lawyers in California by the American Trial Lawyers Association. From 2002 to 2007, he served on the Board of Governors of the Association of Business Trial Lawyers (ABTL).
Education and Admissions
Mr. Kump was born and raised in Northfield, Minnesota. He is a graduate of Grinnell College (B.A. 1974, Phi Beta Kappa), the University of Michigan Department of Philosophy (M.A. in Philosophy, 1976, Ph.D. in Philosophy, 1979), and the University of Michigan School of Law (J.D., cum laude, 1981). Mr. Kump was admitted to the California State Bar in 1981, and is admitted to practice before each of the United States District Courts in the states of Arizona and California, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the Ninth Circuit and the Second Circuit, the United States Tax Court, and the United States Supreme Court.
Professional Presentations, Publications and Media Quotes
Mr. Kump has spoken and written extensively, and been quoted in leading newspapers and periodicals, on current topics in his areas of expertise.
For the past five years, including on December 5, 2008, he has been a regular speaker on “Recent Developments in Contract Litigation” at the annual CLE Int’l Film and Television Law Conference.
On November 13, 2008, CIO published its interview with Mr. Kump on intellectual protection and trade secret protection in the employment arena.
On September 25, 2008, Mr. Kump presented an audio teleconference for 150 human resources professionals sponsored by the Employer Resources Institute on “Noncompete Agreements: California Supreme Court Sounds Death Knell for Noncompetes: What Employers Should Do Now to Protect Themselves.”
Other representative articles by Mr. Kump include the following: “Businesses Should Pursue Nonacceptance Injunctions,” Los Angeles Daily Journal, Feb. 24, 2004, p. 7; “The Rule of Proportionality in Civil RICO Suits,” Los Angeles Lawyer, Dec. 2002, Vol. 25, No. 9, p. 12; “New Amendments Give Losing Party Another Bite at the Apple,” Los Angeles Daily Journal, Dec. 3, 2002, p. 7; “The Reasonable Particularity Requirement in Trade Secret Actions,” ABTL Report, Fall 2002, Vol. XXV, No. 1., p. 10; “Businesses Shouldn’t Rely on Nonacceptance Provisions,” Los Angeles Daily Journal, Aug. 29. 2002, p. 7.
Representative quotations by Mr. Kump include the following: “Suit Against Clear Channel Over Racing Goes to Jury,” New York Times, March 21, 2005; “Clear Channel Loses Case With Rival,” New York Times, March 22, 2005; “Clear Channel Antitrust Probe Continues,” San Antonio Express News, March 22, 2005; “Down in the Dirt,” New York Times, August 30, 2004.
- On January 21, 2010, Michael Kump spoke for the fifth year in a row at CLE International's annual Film, Television & New Media Conference in Los Angeles.
- Dale Kinsella, Howard Weitzman, Larry Iser, Michael Kump, Greg Aldisert and Shawn Chapman Holley were named Super Lawyers for 2010.
- Michael Kump named Super Lawyer in Intellectual Property Litigation for 2010.
- Michael Kump named Super Lawyer in Intellectual Property Litigation for 2009.
- Dale Kinsella, Howard Weitzman, Larry Iser, Michael Kump and Greg Aldisert named Super Lawyers for 2009.
- Read Michael Kump's interview with CIO.com.
- Michael Kump conducts audio conference for 150 human resource professionals.
- Dale Kinsella, Larry Iser, Howard Weitzman and Michael Kump were named "Super Lawyers" by Southern California Super Lawyers Magazine, a supplement of Los Angeles Magazine.
- Eight KWIKA lawyers named "Super Lawyers" and "Rising Stars" by Los Angeles Magazine in the February 2007 issue.