Sonal N. Mehta

In 2023, Sonal N. Mehta was named partner in charge of Wilmer Hale's Palo Alto office. She is vice chair of the firm's litigation/controversy department; in her practice, she represents leading technology and life sciences companies in high-stakes patent and technology disputes.

She joined WilmerHale in 2019 after working as a partner at both Durie Tangri LLP and Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP.

"This is a really exciting moment for us," Mehta said of taking the helm in Palo Alto at the same time as WilmerHale announced other changes in the firm's top management. "I'm really focused on maintaining the overall culture of WilmerHale as we get better connected to our clients and the Silicon Valley community."

After getting her JD at UC Berkeley School of Law, where she was editor-in-chief of the Berkeley Technology Law Journal, she clerked for Judge Paul R. Michel at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. She teaches patent litigation each spring at her alma mater.

Facebook Inc. is a longtime client that followed Mehta from Durie Tangri to WilmerHale -- and gave her a giggle, she said, after it changed its name to one that sounded like hers. "So, I get to get up and say, 'Sonal Mehta for Meta' now."

She obtained the dismissal of antitrust claims when Meta acquired Instagram and WhatsApp and prevailed in several tech cases for the client. So Meta asked her to lead the defense in a different sort of litigation when former Florida congressional candidate Laura Loomer challenged her ban from Facebook and Twitter for alleged hateful conduct.

Loomer had contested the bans before and failed, so Mehta successfully used a res judicata defense, coupled with arguments under the Communications Decency Act to obtain a bench verdict for her client. Loomer v. Facebook Inc., 3:22-cv-02646 (N.D. Cal., filed May 2, 2022).

"I value the chance to diversify my practice," Mehta said.

In a more conventional IP case, Mehta represents The Walt Disney Co. in defending against a visual effects company's patent infringement claims over animation technology in the billion-dollar blockbuster movies "Avengers: Infinity War" and "Avengers: Endgame." Rearden LLC et al., v. TWDC Enterprises 18 Corp. et al., 4:22-cv-02464 (N.D. Cal., filed April 21, 2022).

Mehta successfully moved to dismiss, and the plaintiff's amended complaint remains in the early pleading stages. "There are interesting legal issues, and I get to work on this great movie motion capture technology," Mehta said.

-- John Roemer