James Cekola is an associate in the Litigation Group of Morrison & Foerster's San Diego office. His practice focuses on intellectual property litigation and other commercial disputes, with an emphasis on pharmaceutical patent cases brought under the Hatch-Waxman Act. He regularly develops case theories, handles motions, patent claim construction and expert reports, and is involved in pretrial work and discovery.
Mr. Cekola also maintains an active pro bono practice. He first-chaired a jury trial to unanimous verdict. He has worked on high-profile civil rights cases such as Fehrenbach v. Department of the Air Force, et al. (D. Idaho), successfully challenging the Air Force’s efforts to discharge highly decorated Air Force Lt. Col. Victor J. Fehrenbach under the “Don't Ask, Don’t Tell” law. Mr. Cekola received an Inn of Court Pro Bono Publico Award from the Casa Cornelia Law Center for his efforts helping Casa Cornelia clients fight for their human rights. He has also received the Wiley W. Manuel Award from the California State Bar for his pro bono contributions.
Mr. Cekola is a member of the State Bar of California and is registered to practice before the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. He received his J.D. from Northwestern University School of Law in 2008, where he was an Editor of the Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business and recipient of the Arlyn Miner Book Award for Excellence in Legal Writing and Research. Prior to law school, he worked for three years in research and development for Invitrogen (Life Technologies), where he learned first-hand about the daily challenges that clients face. Mr. Cekola received his B.A., magna cum laude, in chemistry and mathematics from Kalamazoo College, where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and a Heyl Science Scholar.