About a month before trial, Isaac Larian turned to Jennifer Keller in a high-profile copyright dispute with Mattel Inc. over his company’s main product: the Bratz doll. Larian, chief executive officer of MGA Entertainment Inc., needed an attorney with jury trial experience, and at Mattel’s request the trial judge had just disqualified his lead counsel, Patricia Glaser, for conflict of interest.
Keller immediately felt the pressure. Larian’s other lawyers at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe refused to work with her because she was a criminal defense attorney, not a civil litigator; they even threatened to quit.
