Morris A. Thurston retired from the partnership in November 2004. Mr. Thurston was a previous member of the Litigation Department of Latham & Watkins' Orange County office. He has handled a variety of significant cases for both public and private companies, particularly in trial and appellate issues and in intellectual property law.
Mr. Thurston advised established and start-up companies on all aspects of trademark, copyright and trade secrets matters. An experienced and successful business litigator, Mr. Thurston has represented numerous companies as lead trial lawyer in connection with trademark and copyright infringement lawsuits. He represented a NASDAQ technology company in the trial of a trade secrets litigation concerning a process for manufacturing compact disks, and in the defense of an alleged $10,000,000 copyright infringement action. He represented a NYSE chemical company in a trade secrets trial involving a process for manufacturing polystyrene. He represented a publicly-traded operator of assisted-living facilities in a multi-million dollar securities trial involving the applicability of a so-called “poison pill.” He represented a NYSE defense contractor in a trade secrets trial involving aircraft tow target systems. He represented a NYSE technology company in defense of $20,000,000 private environmental clean-up action. He represented a NASDAQ utility company in defense of a multiple-plaintiff toxic tort action seeking millions of dollars in damages.
At the time of his retirement, Mr. Thurston was a member of the Litigation and Intellectual Property Sections of the Orange County Bar Association and the American Bar Association.