Mazda Antia

Mazda is head of the Southern California business litigation department. Mazda’s nationwide practice focuses on complex litigation, licensing and contractual disputes, defense of class actions and internal investigations. His practice spans a wide range of industries, including the technology, social media, healthcare, pharmaceutical, biotechnology, retail, communications, investment, medical device, and education industries. He has extensive experience representing companies in challenges to new technologies and disruptive business models.

Mazda has represented technology, social media, retail, communications, healthcare, investment, manufacturing, pharmaceutical, biotechnology and other companies in consumer class actions across the country. These cases have included claims for false advertising, unfair competition, consumer privacy statutes, violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, RICO and other state and federal consumer protection laws. He has defeated class certification and has negotiated complex nationwide settlements.

Mazda's healthcare litigation experience has included the defense of health plans, pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, healthcare manufacturers and suppliers, pharmacy benefit managers, and eHealth companies at the trial and appellate level. He has successfully defended healthcare companies in cases involving breach of contract, licensing disputes, antitrust and unfair competition claims, the False Claims Act, RICO related litigation and ERISA.

Mazda has handled sensitive internal investigations and investigations related to government and regulatory inquiries regarding corporate compliance issues, drug reimbursement and marketing issues and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

In addition to his civil experience, Mazda first chaired a number of criminal cases (resulting in guilty verdicts) for the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office.

Mazda serves on the firm's hiring and diversity committees. He previously served as a lawyer representative for the Southern District of California and was co-chair of the ABA’s Section of Litigation’s Health Law Committee. Mazda is on the board of the ABA's Immigration Justice Project, is a past president of the South Asian Bar Association of San Diego and former advisory board member of the Family Health Centers of San Diego.

Prior to joining Cooley, Mazda served as a judicial law clerk to Chief Judge William J. Zloch of the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Representative Complex Litigation and Class Action Matters

• Successfully defended Patheon in $380 million antitrust claim brought by its former collaboration partner alleging an illegal market allocation in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act. Won summary judgment after demonstrating plaintiff’s claims failed under both the per se and rule of reason modes of analysis and 11^th Circuit Court of Appeals confirmed in an unanimous decision. The district court subsequently awarded $18.5 million in fees and costs to our client.
• Trial counsel for respondent Patheon in a $140 million breach of a contract claim arbitrated before the ICC. Secured a ruling in favor of respondent on all claims.
• Successfully defended Instagram in putative class action challenging the company’s right to modify its terms of use. After successfully demonstrating lack of federal jurisdiction we ultimately prevailed in California Superior Court.
• Successfully defeated claims in nationwide class action alleging Facebook aided and abetted a mobile app developer’s alleged harvesting of data and violated the Fraudulent Transfer Act.
• Successfully represented educational institution in alleged violations of the federal False Claims Act related to Title IV of the Higher Education Act. 311 F.Supp.3d 1288 (2018)
• Won complete dismissal for Fidelity National Home Warranty Co. in putative class action challenging company’s rebate practices.
• Represented Retrophin in antitrust action against Questcor related to alleged monopolization claims.
• Defeated TCPA putative class action alleging improper text messaging.

Representative Healthcare Litigation Matters

• As lead trial counsel, secured a complete arbitration victory for PacifiCare in a case involving allegations that the health plan had illegally engaged in "post claims underwriting" when it rescinded the plaintiff's coverage and engaged in bad faith claims denial. To date, this is the only case dealing with post-claims underwriting that has been successfully tried to verdict in favor of a health plan.
• Successfully defeated class certification in consumer class action raising false advertising and unfair competition claims against health plan premium rating process used to determine renewal premium rates.
• Successfully represented pharmaceutical company in false advertising and unfair competition claim brought against unapproved drug manufacturers.
• Won dismissal and unanimous appellate affirmance of breach of contract and bad faith denial of coverage claims based on application of the Full Faith and Credit Clause of the US Constitution. (194 Cal. App. 4th 192 (2011))
• Successfully defeated federal False Claims Act case brought against a pharmaceutical company regarding the Medicaid drug rebate program.
• Represented multiple health plans in reimbursement disputes with providers, including defeating claims that the parties’ capitated contracts violated California's Knox-Keene Act because the reimbursement rates were not fair and reasonable.
• Obtained summary judgment on behalf of a managed care organization in major multi-district RICO class action brought by physician providers seeking billions of dollars in damages against the managed care industry.

Government and Internal Investigations

• Internal investigation for the shareholder-demand review committee of NASDAQ-traded retailer into allegations of director and executive misconduct relating to an investigation by a federal agency and the DOJ.
• Internal investigation for the audit committee of a public healthcare company regarding allegations that the company had engaged in earnings management.
• Conducted separate, multiple international investigations in the US and India for accused of violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act related to fraud, kickback, vendor padding and government bribery allegations.
• Internal investigation for company related to its broker practices after allegations raised related to bid rigging, price-fixing and steering business.

Representative Pro Bono Matters

• Pursued Civil Rights and ADA claims brought by a former inmate against the California Department of Corrections. Scott v. Garcia, et al., 370 F.Supp.2d 1056 (S.D.Cal. 2005).
• Foreign national at sentencing and convinced Ninth Circuit that district court erred in its interpretation and application of the U.S. Sentencing guidelines. U.S. v. Lopez-Zamora, 392 F.3d 1087 (9th Cir. 2004).
• Successfully represented surety in overturning a forfeiture order sought by the government. U.S. v. Laura-Cota, 262 F.Supp.2d 1118 (S.D.Cal. 2003).

Publications

• Co-author of "Overcoming ERISA as an Obstacle: The Ninth Circuit's Approval of San Francisco's Fair Share Legislation." Journal of Health and Life Sciences Law (2009).
• Co-author of ERISA as an Obstacle to "Fair Share" Legislation and Potentially Other State Legislative Approaches to Medicaid Shortfalls and the Growing Number of Uninsured and Underinsured. Journal of Health & Life Sciences Law (2007).
• Co-author of Community Experiments In Action: Developing Community-Defined Models For Reconfiguring Health Care, 22 Journal of Health Politics. Policy and Law, 1051 (1997).
• Co-author of State Legislative Approaches to Medicaid Shortfalls and the Growing Number of Uninsured and Underinsured—The Preemption of Maryland's "Fair Share" Legislation Under ERISA." Published in American Health Lawyers Association Member Briefing (2006).