Larry Schmadeka

Partner | Litigation

About

Larry R. Schmadeka brings over 25 years of substantive litigation and transactional experience in domestic and international matters over a wide range of practice areas, including commercial, intellectual property, products liability, employment, and shipbuilding litigation. He has represented foreign corporations, along with their domestic subsidiaries, from Korea, Japan, China, Taiwan, India, Sweden, and Germany in various state and federal courts.

  • Larry has also represented clients in and managed foreign arbitral matters, including the LMAA, SIAC and ICC. He has also worked with local counsel in the coordination of litigation and transactional matters in Asia, Europe and the Middle East.

    Employment Law

    Larry’s experience includes defending small to large, domestic and foreign-based employers in single, multi-party and class actions matters involving wage and hour, wrongful termination, unlawful discrimination and sexual harassment claims in state and federal courts and arbitral forums. He also has extensive experience in advising employers, including Korean and Chinese-owned enterprises, on employment practices involving wage and hour issues, employment policies and practices, employee training, and issues involving trade secrets, confidentiality and protection of intellectual property.

    International Arbitration & International Law Issues

    Larry’s international experience includes being embedded within the legal department of a Korean shipbuilder where he advised, managed and coordinated foreign legal matters, including litigation matters in various arbitral forums and contractual matters involving international parties and foreign law.

    Intellectual Property

    Larry’s intellectual property experience includes counseling and assisting clients in perfecting their trademarks and other intellectual property in the United States and abroad. Such counseling also involves developing market entry and distribution strategies across various platforms. For example, he has provided counsel to foreign franchisors, foreign nutraceutical manufacturers and distributors, and start-up beauty, skincare brands and medical equipment brands. Additionally, he has represented clients in patent litigation relating to mobile communications, cellular telephone systems, and digital audio and/or video players. Larry has also defended trademark infringement claims, breach of patent and licensing agreements, false advertising claims and claims of misappropriation of trade secrets.

    Product Liability Litigation

    Larry’s experience also includes representing foreign OEM automobile manufacturers and distributors, as well as automobile suppliers in product liability actions, involving catastrophic injury and wrongful death. He has successfully defended defect allegations in roof strength, safety restraints, air bag systems, interior padding, fuel systems, vehicle stability, seat-back strength, window glazing, tire defects and numerous other areas related to vehicle crashworthiness. His products liability experience also includes defending industrial chemical manufacturers against cancer, serious disease, and wrongful death claims.

    Law and Community Associations

    Larry serves as Vice-Chair on the Board of Governors for the Keck Center for International and Strategic Studies at Claremont-McKenna College. He is the former Co-Chair of the International Law Practice Area Committee of the National Association of Minority and Women Owned Law Firms (NAMWOLF), as well as the past President of the International Law Section of the Orange County Bar Association. He is a member of the International Association of Defense Counsel, the Inter-Pacific Bar Association, the Southern California Chinese Lawyers Association, and the Korean American Bar Association.

    As a former small college All-American baseball player, Larry is an avid baseball fan. He and his wife are intrepid travelers, seeking out new experiences and cuisine. Larry was raised in a military family which allows him to be comfortable in new environments, is conversant in Mandarin Chinese, and says that “he has just enough knowledge of other languages to get him into trouble; never out of trouble.”


Practices

  • Commercial Litigation

  • Employment and Labor

  • Intellectual Property Litigation

  • International Disputes

  • Products Liability Litigation and Counseling

Admissions

  • California

  • US Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit

  • US District Court, Central District of California

  • US District Court, Northern District of California

  • US District Court, Southern District of California

  • US District Court, Eastern District of California


Education

  • Southwestern University School of Law, J.D., magna cum laude, 1992

  • Claremont McKenna College, B.A., 1987

Experience

  • FisherBroyles, LLP

  • Steptoe & Johnson LLP

  • Lewis, Brisbois, Bisgaard & Smith, LLP

  • LeBoeuf, Lamb, Leiby & MacRae LLP


Representative Transactions

Selected Reported Opinions

  • Starpoint USA, Inc. v. Daewoo Motor Co., Court of Appeal of the State of California, Second Circuit, No. B234891 (Cal. Ct. App. May 21, 2013) (Upholding trial court order granting defendant’s motion for new trial on case involving right to attorney’s fees on breach of contractual right to indemnity; reversing trial court ruling granting defendant’s motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict)

  • Republic of Iraq v. ABB AG, 920 F. Supp. 2d 517 (USDC SD NY 2013) (Granting motion to dismiss against plaintiff for claims based upon alleged illicit payments under the United Nations Oil for Food Program), affirmed 768 F.3d 145 (2d Cir. 2014)

  • ITT Manufacturing Enterprises v. Cellco Partnership, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 153065 (USDC DE, December 29, 2011) (Claim Construction Rulings in Patent Litigation)

  • Bernal v. Daewoo Motor America, Inc., 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 58918 (USDC AZ, June 2, 2011) and 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 166509 (USDC AZ, August 31, 2011) (Various Rulings on Motions for Summary Adjudication, Motions in Limine and other trial issues in Automotive Product Liability case involving catastrophic injury)

  • Korean Am. Broad. Co., v. Korean Broadcasting System, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 80210 (USDC ND IL, August 4, 2010) and 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 63855 (USDC ND IL, June 9, 2011) (Rulings on motions to dismiss on plaintiff’s first and second amended complaints)

  • Minerva Indus. v. Motorola, Inc., 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9329 (USDC ED TX, Feb. 3, 2010) (Claim Construction Rulings in Patent Litigation)

  • Angelov v. Wilshire Bancorp, 331 Fed. Appx. 471 (9th Cir. 2009) (Decision upholding in part and reversing in part granting of motion to dismiss claims, including aiding and abetting fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, etc. without leave to amend)

  • Angelov v. Wilshire Bancorp, 2007 Westlaw 2375131 (USDC SD NY 2007) (Ruling on motion to transfer venue)

  • Seung Woo Lee v. Imaging3, Inc., 283 Fed. Appx. 490 (9th Cir. 2008) (Motion for Summary Judgment enforcing Korean Commercial Arbitration Board award pursuant to New York Convention) (Lead attorney for trial court team; supervised appellate team)

  • Mercuro v. Superior Court (Countrywide Securities Corporation), 96 Cal. App. 4th 171 (2002) (Appellate decision regarding enforcement of pre-dispute arbitration agreement to plaintiff’s discrimination and wrongful termination claims)

  • Casey v. Atlantic Richfield Co., 2000 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6836 (USDC CD CA, March 29, 2000) (Granting defendants’ motion to dismiss plaintiffs putative class action for pension and welfare benefits coverage under ERISA)

  • Neubauer v. Disneyland, Inc., 875 F. Supp. 672 (USDC CD CA 1995) (Ruling on 12(b)(6) motion challenging common carrier allegations in complaint against amusement park ride operator).

Presentations and Teaching Experience

  • Moderator, “Practical Tips for International Arbitration: A Global Perspective,” Orange County Bar Association, International Section, March 2021

  • Moderator, “When Your Deal Becomes Part of US Foreign Policy: Don’t Miss These Critical ‘Must Know’ 2019 Changes In US Law That Could Impact Transnational Deals,” National Association of Minority and Women Owned Law Firms (NAMWOLF), Driving Diversity and Leadership Meeting, February 2020

  • Co-Presenter, “Pitfalls for the Unwary in Dealing with FCPA and U.K. Anti-Bribery Laws,” Orange County Bar Association, International Law Section, February 2019

  • Moderator, “Investigation of an International Scandal and the Pitfalls to Avoid Creating Another One,” NAMWOLF Driving Diversity and Leadership Meeting, February 2019

  • Panelist, “FCPA Challenges in Asia and Latin America,” NAMWOLF Mid-Year Meeting, February 2018

  • Panelist, “What are the Hot Topics in International Law,” NAMWOLF Annual Meeting, September 2016

  • Volunteer Guest American Law Lecturer, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, China, 2002