Cyndie M. Chang

Cyndie M. Chang is the managing partner of Duane Morris LLP's Los Angeles office and a member of the firm's governing partners board, the youngest and the first Asian American woman to serve in that role. She specializes in commercial and antitrust litigation and in insurance and reinsurance coverage matters.

"I'm privileged and honored to be trusted to take on very interesting cases," she said.

Chang is lead counsel for a client suing Playboy Enterprises International Inc. in a $100 million dispute over licensing the familiar "rabbit ears" logo for a line of condoms. Her client, which manufactures condoms, accuses Playboy of breaching its contract, stealing its business, violating franchise laws, poaching its agent and misappropriating licensing fees. Playboy's alleged motive was to offset losses in its magazine publishing arm by moving into the sexual wellness field and abruptly ending a long-running business relationship. Thai Nippon Rubber Industry Public Co. Ltd. v. Playboy Enterprises International Inc. et al., 2:21-cv-09749 (C.D. Cal., filed Dec. 17, 2021).

"Clearly my sexiest case," Chang said. "We are seeking $100 million, and that was in the first line in our complaint. We licensed the use of the ears, and we are challenging Playboy's blatant bad-faith conduct. Now they want the ears back." The case is in its early pleading stage.

In a major pro bono case over the current threat to Roe v. Wade in the U.S. Supreme Court, Chang is lead counsel representing nearly 30 national and community organizations in the Asian Pacific American Women's Forum and other groups in an amicus brief supporting reproductive rights. Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, 19-1392.

"This case strongly piqued my interest because of the cultural stigmas around abortion in the Asian American and Pacific Islander community," Chang said.

"Overturning Casey and Roe would allow states across the nation to enforce pre-viability abortion bans, including sex-selective abortion bans that are based on racial stereotypes and harm AAPI women by encouraging racial profiling," she wrote in the brief.

In a long-running matter, Chang is lead counsel for an insurance company seeking contributions from other carriers for having funded environmental contamination costs for an industrial policyholder. In re: Vulcan Materials Consolidated Coverage Litigation, BC328022 (L.A. Super. Ct., filed Jan. 31, 2005).

"There are many millions at stake here," she said. "This is a case that represents my experience in this kind of complex litigation. My client paid some of the insurance costs at issue, and now we're suing others to chip in." Chang said that her visible cases are only part of the story.

Recently, a cosmetics manufacturer client called her on a Friday because a large inventory of perishable skin care products was held up by regulatory authorities in China. "Due to my contacts, I had it cleared up and mitigated the exposure and penalties by the following week," she said. "I specialize in solving problems behind the scenes."

- John Roemer