Diane M. Doolittle

After a quarter century as a trial attorney, Diane M. Doolittle has tried 72 cases to verdict and won 92% of them, she says.

She boasts of a diverse, trial-oriented practice representing plaintiffs and defendants in state and federal courts across the country in matters varying from discrimination to antitrust.

She has also carved out a specialty in representing individual, high net worth clients in highly sensitive matters.

Doolittle is lead counsel defending Chinese deca-billionaire Richard Liu against civil sexual assault and false imprisonment charges. Liu v. Liu, 27-CV- 19-5911, (D.C. MN., filed April 16, 2019).

Liu is the founder of JD.com, the "Amazon of China," and the third largest internet company by revenue in the world.

"In China, he is as famous as Tim Cook, CEO of Apple or Elon Musk of Tesla and SpaceX, with intense media interest in his every move," Doolittle said.

In 2018, Liu was visiting the U.S. to attend an executive MBA program, and had a sexual encounter with a student at the university. Although the police investigated the matter and declined to charge him, the student filed civil charges, making incendiary allegations against him.

The case has been reported in the New York Times and Wall Street Journal as implicating broader issues around the #metoo movement in China, Doolittle added.

The matter has been significantly delayed because of COVID-19, particularly because most of the witnesses are based in China, which has imposed substantial COVID-related restrictions.

"It is now set for trial on September 26, 2022, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and it is expected to generate a continued firestorm of media and social media interest, particularly in China," Doolittle said.

Doolittle is a former prosecutor who has extensive experience defending corporations, officers and directors in civil and criminal cases, including cases under the False Claims Act, federal securities laws, and the FCPA. Furthermore, she handles intellectual property disputes, including cutting-edge disputes concerning the intersection of intellectual property law and the Internet.

In one of Doolittle's biggest trials, she won a $91 million jury verdict for an underdog, a small hair products company that accused L'Oreal USA Inc. of stealing its trade secrets. The case was appealed and later settled confidentially. Liqwd Inc. v. L'Oreal USA Inc., 1:17-cv-00014 (D. Del., filed Jan. 5, 2017).

Doolittle is also representing billionaire businessman Warren Lichtenstein in Delaware Chancery Court in an action against the CEO of Arojet Rocketdyne and the CEO's director allies in a dispute over board process and control, with a pending proxy contest in the works. That case is set for trial later in May. In Re: Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings, Inc. 2022-0127-LWW (Delaware Chancery Court, Feb. 23, 2022).

-Douglas Saunders