Lead Role
Snapchat Founder Dispute
Represented Reggie Brown in his co-founder lawsuit over the ownership of Snapchat—one of the most publicized technology-founder disputes since Facebook.
High-Stakes Litigation Boutique
Trial Lawyers for High-Stakes Disputes.
TCM represents plaintiffs and defendants nationwide in founder disputes, complex commercial litigation, intellectual-property disputes, trials, arbitrations, and appeals.
Track Record
Significant Results in Business-Critical Disputes.
View Representative Results →$150M
Complete Defense Victory
Led the trial team for DAS Corporation and achieved a complete defense victory following a month-long trial and subsequent appeals.
100%
Jury Verdict + Punitive Damages
Secured a complete jury verdict awarding 100% of damages sought, plus punitive damages, for an entrepreneur ousted from his company without compensation.
Our Approach
Trial-Ready from Day One.
End-to-End Litigation Strategy
TCM structures its work toward winning on dispositive briefing or at trial and preserving that result on appeal. The firm identifies both the strongest path to victory and the reasons a client could lose, then focuses on the evidence and arguments that matter.
Aligned Financial Interests
The firm offers traditional hourly arrangements as well as contingency, success-based, fixed, and hybrid structures when appropriate to the matter.
Expertise
Focused Experience in Complex Disputes.
TCM takes on selected matters in which experienced trial counsel can make a decisive difference. Founder disputes are a signature strength within the firm’s broader high-stakes litigation practice.
Founder & Co-Founder Disputes
High-stakes disputes over ownership, control, equity, compensation, fiduciary duties, partnership rights, and founder-created intellectual property. TCM represents founders, companies, shareholders, and other stakeholders.
Explore the practice →Complex Commercial Litigation
Plaintiff and defense representation in breach-of-contract, fraud, business-tort, RICO, competition, and other business-critical disputes.
Explore the practice →Intellectual Property & Trade Secrets
Trademark, copyright, trade-secret, unfair-competition, technology, and related disputes for rights holders, companies, founders, and entrepreneurs.
Explore the practice →Trials, Arbitrations & Appeals
Jury and bench trials, domestic and international arbitrations, dispositive motions, and appeals handled with an end-to-end litigation strategy.
Explore the practice →Our Team
Experienced Lawyers. Direct Responsibility.
Every matter is handled directly by seasoned litigators with experience at leading litigation firms, in-house legal departments, trials, arbitrations, and appellate courts.
Joe Tuffaha
Partner
Seasoned trial attorney and appellate advocate representing clients from individual entrepreneurs to Fortune 500 companies.
Representative Matters
Château Miraval ownership dispute
Multibillion-dollar AR company co-founder ouster
EV charging company founder IP dispute
$100 million ICDR arbitration defense
Prashanth Chennakesavan
Partner
First-chair trial lawyer with experience in founder disputes, intellectual-property cases, class actions, and complex business litigation.
Representative Matters
$150 million complete defense victory
100% jury verdict in founder-ouster trial
Bird nationwide class-action defense
TP-Link Ninth Circuit victory
Ray Mandlekar
Partner
Trial lawyer with more than twenty-six years of experience in complex financial, commercial, and founder-dispute litigation.
Representative Matters
Snapchat co-founder dispute for Reggie Brown
Enron securities litigation
$1.5 billion Lehman Brothers bankruptcy case
$100 million AT&T securities class-action trial
Representative Results
Experience Across the Full Life of a Dispute.
TCM’s lawyers have handled significant founder, commercial, securities, intellectual-property, class-action, trial, arbitration, and appellate matters.
View Representative ResultsFounder Disputes
Snapchat, founder-ouster trials, equity and control matters.
Commercial Defense
Nine-figure trial, arbitration, RICO, and contract disputes.
Appeals
State and federal appellate victories, including the Second and Ninth Circuits.
IP & Competition
Copyright, trademark, trade-secret, antitrust, and unfair-competition matters.
Current Matters
Selected Current Work.
TCM handles significant matters that often cannot be described publicly. The firm publishes current representations only when the client and governing obligations permit.
Multi-Jurisdictional · Ownership and Control
SPI Group v. Pitt
TCM represents SPI Group in a multi-jurisdictional dispute with actor Brad Pitt concerning the ownership and management of Château Miraval, a leading wine producer.
Insights
A Trial-First Approach to High-Stakes Litigation.
How early case assessment, focused discovery, dispositive briefing, trial preparation, and appellate preservation work together.
Contact
Discuss a Matter.
To discuss a potential matter, contact the firm using the information provided. Do not include confidential or sensitive information before an engagement has been confirmed.
Los Angeles Office
515 S. Flower St., 18th Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90071
Main Phone: 213-449-5230
Contacting the firm does not create an attorney-client relationship. Please do not send confidential information until the firm has confirmed an engagement in writing.