Moez M. Kaba

Kaba has quickly emerged as the face of the next generation of leadership of the young boutique Hueston Hennigan. He represented T-Mobile Inc. in a trade secrets dispute with a supplier of headsets.

Kaba, who delivered closing arguments at the end of the two-week trial in Seattle, said that unlike defendants, plaintiffs pursuing trade secrets claims have to “bat 1000” to prove every prong of their case.

“On the plaintiff side you have to hit every element, you have to prove every one of these things happened,” he said.

The defendant had no shortage of defenses, but Kaba enjoyed the challenge of developing a narrative to sway the jury. The effort paid off when his client walked away with a unanimous jury verdict and a $4.8 million damages award. T-Mobile USA Inc v. Huawei Device USA Inc. et al., CV14-01351 (W.D. Wash., filed Sept. 2, 2014).

Two days after receiving the verdict Kaba began arbitration proceedings between an international company and a privately held U.S. company. The matter is confidential, but Kaba said Hueston Hennigan represented the plaintiffs and secured a nine-figure settlement, which he called “very rewarding.”

Kaba also helped secure a courtroom victory for IMDB.com Inc., which sued the state of California to block a law that required the website to remove the birth dates of listed actors. In February, a U.S. District judge granted a motion filed that barred implementation of the law because it would infringe on IMDb’s First Amendment rights. IMDB.com Inc. v. Becerra, CV16-06535 (N.D. Cal., filed Nov. 10, 2016).

Kaba recently took a prominent role beside John Hueston as trial counsel for Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc., which is a defendant in a complex securities suit with Pershing Square Capital Management LP. Kaba could not comment on the pending litigation, but he said the firm recently filed summary judgment briefs that address several of the core issues in the case. Basile et al. v. Valeant Pharmaceutical International Inc. et al., CV14-02004 (C.D. Cal., Dec. 16, 2014).

— Eli Wolfe