Doug is a highly-experienced attorney specializing in the defense of Intellectual Property, Employment, and Business litigation. Prior to founding the Colt Legal Group, Doug worked as a senior attorney with litigation powerhouse Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP. He has represented a diverse range of clients including Intuit, IBM, Intuitive Surgical, Coppola Foods, Charles Schwab, Macrovision, Shell Oil, Oracle, Palm, KV Pharmaceuticals, and other Fortune 500 companies. Doug has spent thousands of hours in trial courts and regularly represents a broad range of clients throughout the country.
Over the years, Doug earned an exceptional reputation for defending against high-stakes temporary restraining orders and preliminary injunctions against employers, including a record-setting reversal of a temporary restraining order issued against a major software corporation; the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the Order on an emergency basis only four hours after it was issued.
A multi-year recipient of the SuperLawyers® award, Doug's practice continues to center on high-stakes employment and intellectual property litigation, with a special emphasis on the defense of trade-secret misappropriation suits. Notable engagements include the following:
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JDS Uniphase and Finisar Corp. v. SerialTek. In a "bet-the-company" suit, Doug represented SerialTek LLC, one of the industry's largest manufacturers of SAS/SATA protocol analyzers and related software. After aggressive discovery, motion practice, and the filing of an antitrust cross claim against JDSU and another major manufacturer of protocol analyzer technology, the firm obtained a complete dismissal of the suit and a settlement of all claims.
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Intuitive Surgical, Inc. v. Ethicon Endo Surgery, Inc. Doug represented Intuitive Surgical, Inc., the world's largest manufacturer of surgical robots, in a nationwide trade secret and employee non-compete suit against Ethicon Endo Surgery, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson. The firm obtained an injunction against Ethicon prohibiting the company from enforcing a non-compete agreement that more than 100,000 employees had signed.
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Helio LLC v. Palm. Only a few days before Christmas, Palm was served with a complaint and a motion for a temporary restraining order that would have shut down a nationwide advertising campaign consisting of television advertisements, radio spots, billboards, and more than 20,000 taxi-top displays. After aggressive motion practice, a Federal judge denied the temporary restraining order. Only a few months later, following aggressive discovery and consumer surveys performed by experts, the court denied Helio's motion for a preliminary injunction and dismissed the case. The judge further ordered that were Helio to assert its claims again in the future, it would be forced to pay Palm's legal fees.

Doug W. Colt
Managing Partner
Ph. (628) 400-2658 (COLT)
Fax. (628) 400-2658 (COLT)
WHAT OUR CLIENTS AND
COLLEAGUES ARE SAYING:
"Our company retained Doug in a high-stakes international trademark and unfair competition lawsuit involving one of the food and wine industry’s biggest players. Doug crafted a litigation strategy that delivered a prompt, global resolution of the lawsuit on time and under budget. He and his team took great personal interest in our case and kept us well-informed and involved every step of the way. We would retain Doug in a heartbeat for future litigation."
Ernesto Coppola
President- Coppola Foods International
"We were on the opposite side from Doug in a high-stakes business dispute. Doug took most of the depositions for his side in our case. His demeanor and style, as well as his great preparation, led to him getting a significant number of key admissions during the depositions. And while Doug was focused on his clients' interest, he was always cordial, candid and professional in his dealings with us. Doug is a fierce advocate, a first-rate litigator and a worthy adversary."
Jason Peltz & Hamilton Hill
Partners- Bartlit Beck Hernan Palenchar & Scott LLP
"Our company has retained Doug to represent us in a wide variety of lawsuits, from employment, to fraud, to an extremely complicated and high-stakes suit brought by the company’s former CEO. In every instance, Doug provided our company with expert legal counsel, timely and accurate litigation budgets, and results that repeatedly exceeded our expectations. Doug is a first-rate litigator and a highly-valued advocate for our company."
Shawn Smith
CEO- Vigilant Solutions, Inc
"One of our funds was joined as co-defendant in a lawsuit brought by a disgruntled employee against that company and its CEO. Doug and his team represented us very capably in a case that was complicated by having multiple defendants with intricate interrelationships, as well as a highly aggressive and emotional plaintiff’s counsel. Doug was excellent on all aspects of the process, including the strategic and tactical handling of our defense, intimate knowledge of the law and effective communications with his client and other parties to the case."
Frank Garcia
Managing Partner- Eastman Capital
"Our company faced one of its darkest hours when we were sued by the industry's two largest competitors. Up against two of the country's largest law firms, Doug skillfully, aggressively, and economically steered us through two simultaneous "bet the company" trade-secret lawsuits where our very existence was at stake. The firm was retained only days before a critical hearing on a motion for preliminary injunction, and we were continually impressed with the firm's thoughtful and creative strategies. Doug wrote great briefs, argued persuasively in court, represented our company in two mediations, successfully and economically handled millions of electronic documents, and worked skillfully with expert witnesses. The firm also worked with us to develop a workable fee structure, and they remained on or under budget throughout the litigation. The firm provided our company with the legal tools we required to thrive in an aggressive and competitive marketplace, and ultimately obtained complete settlements and dismissals of both actions."
Dale Smith
Founder- SerialTek, LLC
"For years, I have worked closely with Doug. I have trusted him with my clients’ most sensitive information and he has excelled in managing complex, sophisticated, and difficult commercial litigation. Doug is a terrific, client-focused lawyer with a keen sense of the practical."
Claude Stern
Managing Partner- Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP- Silicon Valley
"As a senior partner, I have learned that you are only as good as the senior associate on your side. Doug Colt made me look as good as any associate with whom I have worked in my 17 years.
Each client to whom I have introduced Doug raves about him and makes future work contingent on his availability."
Samuel Shepherd
Former Partner- Greenberg Traurig LLP
Member, Association of Business Trial Lawyers
Member, San Mateo County Bar Association
Member, San Francisco Bar Association
Member, Beverly Hills Bar Association
Member, Los Angeles Bar Association
Member, American Civil Liberties Union
The State Bar of California
United States District Court / Northern District of California
United States District Court / Central District of California
United States District Court / Southern District of California
Pro Hac Vice admissions in New York, Delaware, Florida, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Ohio
Georgetown University Law Center (J.D., cum laude, 2000)
The Georgetown Law Journal: Editor
Washington University (B.A., Economics and Political Science, with honors, 1997)
Todd Lewis Friedman Prize for Best Graduate in Political Science
Sally E. Strain Scholarship Recipient
Pi Sigma Alpha Honorary Society
Omicron Delta Kappa Honorary Society
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