Melissa D. Ingalls

Acted as national counsel on several pending putative class actions filed against DIRECTV, Inc., which were consolidated in an MDL proceeding in California federal district court, regarding fees assessed to customers who choose not to fulfill programming commitment agreements. Successfully moved to compel arbitration of each plaintiff’s individual claims and secured dismissal of MDL proceeding. Also represented DIRECTV, Inc. in putative nationwide class action cases in California federal court alleging violations of California consumer fraud statutes regarding the lease and use of DIRECTV receiving equipment. Secured dismissal of complaints and ultimately achieved dismissal award in arbitration

Represented DIRECTV against a putative nationwide class action alleging that DIRECTV was falsely advertising its High Definition programming service. The plaintiff sought to represent a class of millions of DIRECTV subscribers to its HD programming service and asked for damages (allegedly in the hundreds of millions of dollars) and injunctive relief. Kirkland defeated the plaintiff's motion for class certification, and secured the Second District Court of Appeal's affirmance in one of the first appellate opinions regarding class certification after the California Supreme Court's decision in In re Tobacco II. See Cohen v. DIRECTV, Inc., (2009) 178 Cal. App. 4th 966.

Represented client before Federal Trade Commission on matters concerning consumer complaints related to telemarketing and credit scoring.

Represented General Motors in trade secret misappropriation case against Finmeccanica, an Italian conglomerate, regarding development of axial flux permanent magnet wheel motors.

Represented DIRECTV, Inc. in putative nationwide consumer class action alleging violations of consumer fraud statutes with respect to late fees and other administrative fees. In Bess v. DIRECTV, Inc., 381 Ill. App. 3d 229 (2008), the Illinois Appellate Court, in a rare rehearing opinion, reversed itself and found that the arbitration provision in the 2001 DIRECTV Customer Agreement was enforceable under Illinois law. Once in arbitration, Kirkland convinced the AAA Arbitrator to dismiss the nationwide class claims that were alleged to exceed $300,000,000 in damages.

Represented Gary K. Michelson, M.D., and Karlin Technology, Inc. in lawsuit against Medtronic Sofamor Danek, Inc. and Medtronic, Inc. regarding breaches of various contracts, tortious interference and patent infringement related to spinal implant technology, methods and instruments. After a three-month jury trial, obtained a jury verdict of $560 million against Medtronic, and findings of breach of various licensing agreements and patent infringement on all six asserted patents related to spinal instrument systems. The case was featured in The American Lawyer's Big Suits column, and Corporate Counsel's Deal & Suits column.

Represented DIRECTV, Inc. in contract dispute against Pegasus Satellite Television in federal district court in Los Angeles. After a three-week jury trial, obtained over $62 million judgment for DIRECTV. The case was selected as one of the Top Ten Plaintiff's Verdicts of 2004 by the Daily Journal Extra and one of the Top 100 Verdicts of 2004 by the National Law Journal.

Represented GKM Trust in lawsuit against Medtronic Sofamor Danek, Inc. and Medtronic, Inc. to enforce conversion of promissory note into over $30 million of Medtronic, Inc. common stock and recovery of attorneys' fees. Obtained summary judgment in favor of client.