Sonal Mehta > WilmerHale > Palo Alto, United States > Lawyer Profile

WilmerHale Offices

WilmerHale
950 PAGE MILL ROAD
PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA 94304
CALIFORNIA
United States
Visit website 1 650 858 6000 1 650 858 6100

Sonal Mehta

Sonal Mehta photo
1 650 600 5051 sonal.mehta@wilmerhale.com

Work Department

Commercial Litigation ; Intellectual Property Litigation ; Life Sciences ; Technology ; Trials

Position

Sonal N. Mehta is a trial lawyer representing many of the world’s leading technology and life sciences companies in high-stakes patent and technology disputes across a wide range of industries. Ms. Mehta has nearly 20 years of experience across all aspects of trial and appellate practice, including federal jury trials, state court jury and bench trials, International Trade Commission investigations, international arbitrations, and appeals to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and the California appellate courts.

Outside of the courtroom, Ms. Mehta is an Executive Committee and Board member—and past president—of the Federal Circuit Bar Association, and serves on the Board of Directors for the Northern District of California’s Practice Program and on the Northern District of California’s Patent Local Rules Attorney Advisory Committee. In 2019, she was selected for a three-year term as a lawyer representative to the Ninth Circuit Judicial Council. Ms. Mehta regularly presents programs on patent litigation at Federal Judicial Center workshops for federal district and magistrate judges, and is a frequent speaker on patent litigation topics.

Ms. Mehta has a special interest in training and mentoring the next generation of trial lawyers. Since 2011, Ms. Mehta has taught Patent Litigation at her alma mater UC Berkeley School of Law. She regularly serves as guest faculty for the Stanford Trial Advocacy Clinic and for litigation practice courses at Berkeley School of Law.

Prior to joining WilmerHale, Ms. Mehta was a partner at another large international law firm, where she built her practice representing major technology sector companies in high-stakes patent litigation at the trial and appellate levels. She then joined a litigation boutique firm based in San Francisco, where she continued to serve as lead counsel for leading technology and life sciences clients in patent and commercial litigation matters.

 

Memberships

  • California
  • US District Court for the Northern District of California
  • US District Court for the Southern District of California
  • US District Court for the Central District of California
  • US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas
  • US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
  • US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

Education

JD, University of California, Berkeley School of Law, 2002

BA, Political Science, University of California, Berkeley, 1998

Lawyer Rankings

United States > Intellectual property > Patents: litigation (full coverage)

(Leading lawyers)

Sonal Mehta –WilmerHale

With full-service capabilities and a global reach, WilmerHale‘s patent attorneys are praised by clients as ‘second to none in their ability to find the right strategies and execute them to win.‘ The firm’s intellectual property litigation practice is co-chaired by Mark Selwyn in Palo Alto, who represents major tech companies in multidisciplinary and multi-jurisdictional IP disputes, and Lisa Pirozzolo in Boston, who specializes in life sciences disputes and Hatch-Waxman cases. Also in Boston, William Lee is an expert trial and appellate lawyer in IP, Emily Whelan focuses on litigation in the chemistry, biotech and pharmaceuticals fields, Joseph Mueller specializes in IP cases with antitrust elements, and Michael Summersgill is praised as a ‘superlative trial lawyer.‘ New York-based Robert Gunther is a seasoned trial lawyer who has specialist knowledge in IP disputes in both the tech and life sciences industries, while litigator Sonal Mehta in Palo Alto represents clients primarily in tech-related patent disputes. The group also includes IP litigation specialists Brittany Amadi and Gregory Lantier  in Washington DC as well as Omar Khan in New York, who focuses on the life sciences sector.

United States > Dispute resolution > General commercial disputes

WilmerHale routinely handles commercial litigation at all levels of the state and federal court systems. Sector expertise across finance, tech, and life sciences is a defining characteristic of the team’s ‘deep bench of super smart, experienced, and highly respected litigators’, who have also carved out a niche in credit reporting litigation. Boston’s John Butts chairs the group and devotes much of his practice to cases involving business torts, trade secret, and contract disputes as well as consumer and securities class actions. In New York, Hallie Levin is known for her work in antitrust cases, business torts, trade secrets cases, and government investigations, while Noah Levine is a key contact for class actions. Boston-based Felicia Ellsworth is highly experienced in government-facing investigations, including those brought by state Attorneys General, and appears in high-profile cases before the Supreme Court. From the Palo Alto office, ‘master strategist’ Sonal Mehta is in-demand for patent and technology disputes. Andrew Rhys Davies joined the practice from A&O Shearman in March 2023 and is praised as ‘a tremendous appellate advocate’.

Lawyer Rankings

Top Tier Firm Rankings

Firm Rankings