Lara Kasten Hoffman

She advises clients in complex, high-stakes commercial and intellectual property matters, with a focus on media and entertainment, real estate and hospitality, and life sciences and related industries. Known for her vigorous advocacy and strategic problem solving,  Lara represents clients in every stage of litigation, including pre-litigation negotiations, trials, arbitrations, and appeals.

Representative matter highlights include:

Commercial Litigation         

• Successfully prosecuted a global pharmaceutical client’s commercial breach of contract claims and defeated an $8 billion counterclaim by the opposing party after a full evidentiary hearing in a confidential arbitration proceeding.
• Secured a major trial victory in the Superior Court of California, obtaining a judgment exceeding $15 million for a hotel manager, followed by subsequent wins on appeal in the California Court of Appeal and Supreme Court of California.
• Obtained pre-discovery summary judgment in a breach of contract action regarding a brokerage fee for the sale of a radio station, including damages and recovery of all attorneys’ fees, which was affirmed on appeal.

Entertainment + Intellectual Property

Lara has extensive experience successfully defending copyright actions and representing clients in trademark disputes in federal court. She also  litigates breach of contract and tort matters for clients in the entertainment industry. Representative matters include:

• A global entertainment and education company in  a copyright and trademark infringement lawsuit regarding one of the most popular children’s songs of the last 20 years.
• Sony/ATV and its award-winning writer/producer Louis Bell in a music copyright infringement claim regarding the song “Youngblood,” recorded by the band 5 Seconds of Summer.
• Cardi B, City Girls, French Montana, Yo Gotti, Roc Nation, Quality Control, Sony/ATV, Epic, Universal, and others in an infringement claim relating to the licensed sample of “Choppa Style.”
• A large independent music publisher in claims brought by the heirs of a composer who had granted his rights to our client.
• A rap battle league in alleging a tortious interference of contract claim against a competing rap battle league.
• META in trademark infringement and unfair competition litigation against Meta Platforms, Inc. (formerly Facebook).
• sbe Entertainment in a federal litigation to enforce its famous HYDE trademark.
• A leading manufacturer of durable medical equipment in federal litigation to enforce its trademark.