Michael De Vries

Michael De Vries is a partner at Kirkland & Ellis LLP, specializing in high-stakes intellectual property litigation, including patent infringement and trade secret misappropriation. He joined Kirkland & Ellis in 2011 from Latham & Watkins. His practice encompasses a wide range of technology sectors, including semiconductor, telecommunications, computer hardware and software, life sciences, pharmaceutical, medical devices, investment banking, heavy machinery, media, and internet industries.

De Vries is recognized for his significant experience representing both plaintiffs and defendants in complex IP disputes. While his tracked appearances are exclusively on the defendant side, he has secured over $2.5 billion in plaintiff jury verdicts and settlements for his clients since 2018. Concurrently, he has obtained numerous defense-side jury verdicts, demonstrating a versatile litigation practice.

His notable representations include securing a complete defense jury verdict for Samsung in February 2024, defeating $4 billion in patent infringement claims in a multi-patent case in Waco, Texas, which would have been the largest patent verdict in U.S. history. On the plaintiff side, De Vries was lead counsel in securing an $855 million jury verdict for Cognizant in a trade secret and copyright case in October 2020, and a $765 million jury verdict for Motorola Solutions in a trade secret case against Hytera in February 2020. He also achieved a $125 million jury verdict for EagleView Technologies in a patent case in September 2019 and led successful efforts resulting in ITC exclusion orders for Cisco against Arista Networks. Overall, he has an undefeated streak in nine consecutive jury trial wins as lead counsel over the last five years, contributing to over $2.5 billion in client recoveries.

While his firm, Kirkland & Ellis LLP, is noted for its expertise in parallel proceedings and representing clients in all adjudicative forums for patent disputes, including the PTAB, specific details of De Vries' individual appearances in IPR/PGR proceedings are not explicitly detailed. He earned his J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law (Boalt Hall) in 2000, and a B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley. He was admitted to the State Bar of California in 2000.