From his 69th-floor office at downtown’s U.S. Bank building, Dr. Dariush Adli has “an unobstructed, beautiful view” of Los Angeles, a long way from his childhood in Iran. As head of Adli Law Group P.C., the Malibu attorney recently embarked on a third career phase, transitioning from engineer to patent attorney to running his own practice.
His firm handles technological, pharmaceutical and entertainment intellectual-property (IP) claims. It’s a wide-ranging field, requiring that Adli and his staff work hard to keep pace with these fast-changing industries.
“We’re going to school every day,” he says.
Born in Tehran, Adli’s father was a physics professor at the National University of Iran. Adli moved to Boston in 1976 at the age of 19 to follow in his father’s footsteps and study electrical/physics engineering. But he tired of engineering, and instead focused on the law and IP studies, graduating law school in Michigan in 1998.
“In my heart, I always wanted to be a lawyer,” said Adli, describing his parents as “good arguers.”
Adli—a San Diego resident until 2002 before relocating to Malibu—spent a decade as one of 20 IP attorneys at Hogan Lovell, a British firm employing 2,000 barristers. One trial, lasting five years across several jurisdictions, involved representing a Japanese corporation’s U.S. subsidiary, Glory, against American company Cummings regarding the patent on bank-teller, money-counting machines. For six months, Adli traveled from Europe to Brazil looking for prototype machines preceding Cummings’ version. He succeeded, and ultimately settled the case.
But while he enjoyed the work at the large firm, Adli said the size of Hogan Lovell sometimes got in the way of the client-attorney relationship.
“Clients complained about not getting the personal attention,” Adli said.
So in March 2010, at age 53, Adli invested $130,000 to open his own practice.
Despite the crippling recession, he soon grew his office to 21 attorneys and 23 staff members. He sought to build his firm’s reputation by focusing on clients’ needs, not on the country club’s 18th hole.
About a year after opening his own firm, Adli won an important decision against major automobile wheel manufacturer Mobile Hi-Tech Wheels in what might be called a “David and Goliath” story. Mobile, a big company with more than 100 design patents for wheel designs, had sued a much smaller company called Direct Wheel & Tires, accusing them of infringing on two of its patent designs. It was one of 40 other lawsuits Mobile filed against other wheel distributors, forcing them to either discontinue sales or pay royalties. Mobile hired international law firm Cristie, Parker & Hale and sued for $700,000 in damages. It was either win or watch Direct go bankrupt. Adli, in order to continue with the case, billed Direct half the going rate, and won.
While it is still business, Adli’s philosophy is one of equity. In December, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office announced that Adli would head up the California Inventor Assistance Program (CIAP). Modeled after a similar program in Minnesota, the pilot program provides pro bono IP legal services to financially needy, independent investors and small businesses. The idea behind the program is to make sure that no worthy independent investor’s idea fails due to a lack of access to competent IP counsel.
Now, Adli splits his time between working downtown and globetrotting. He currently has cases pending in Texas, Delaware, France and Germany, and he manages satellite offices in London, Tokyo and Taipei.
He attributes much of his success to his equity philosophy, which he shares with his employees. He offers them respect and responsibilities, which “has also worked to my advantage,” allowing him to spend time with his wife of 21 years Soheila and their sons, Malibu High students Alireza, 12th grade; Arya, 11th; Quemars, 8th and Ardalan, sixth. Adli enjoys basketball, soccer and tennis, holds black belts in Tae Kwon Do and Kung Fu, and assistant-coaches AYSO (two of his boys play). His firm sponsored 30 local basketball teams.
For Adli, who provided pro bono legal services to the needy while completing law school and who writes a legal rights column for The Malibu Times, giving back begins at home: “I want to link my firm to the city I live in and love. With Malibu, it’s personal.”
As founder of a successful practice during hard times, Adli says his advice to law students jumping into today’s rough job market remains consistent during any economy: “Find your passion, learn your trade, don’t get discouraged, don’t give up.”