Michael Fluhr

Partner

About

Areas of FocusAntitrust and Competition Blockchain and Digital Assets Consumer Goods, Food and Retail Financial Services Litigation, Arbitration and Investigations Technology

Bar admissionsCaliforniaNew York

CourtsUnited States Court of Appeals for the Second CircuitUnited States Court of Appeals for the Third CircuitUnited States Court of Appeals for the Ninth CircuitUnited States District Court for the Northern District of CaliforniaUnited States District Court for the Central District of CaliforniaUnited States District Court for the Southern District of New YorkUnited States District Court for the Eastern District of New YorkUnited States District Court for the Western District of New YorkUnited States District Court for the Northern District of New YorkUnited States District Court for the Southern District of CaliforniaUnited States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan

EXPERIENCE

Products Liability, Consumer Class Action, and MDL Litigation

In re BPO Marketing and Sales Practices Litigation (JPML) – Defeated attempt to create an industry-wide MDL against manufacturers of benzoyl peroxide acne medication and defended manufacturer in set of nationwide class actions
Eisman v. Johnson & Johnson Consumer Inc. (C.D. Cal. 2025) – Obtained dismissal with prejudice on preemption grounds of class action alleging presence of benzene in OTC dandruff shampoo
Grodnick v. Johnson & Johnson Consumer Inc. (D.N.J. 2025) – Obtained dismissal on standing of class action alleging presence of benzene in OTC dandruff shampoo
Defend numerous consumer product manufacturers against prelitigation class action claims
Led internal investigation of alleged environmental contamination in coworking spaces
Served as national coordinating counsel for international automaker, supervising the defense of hundreds of lawsuits across the U.S. and abroad, and obtaining myriad dismissals on the merits and without payment
Hume v. Daimler Buses North America (WDNY) – Led team of multiple law firms in defense of bus manufacturer and distributor in over sixty related lawsuits across multiple jurisdictions arising from a severe accident, obtaining dismissal with prejudice without payment
Luppino v. Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC (D.N.J.) – Defended auto manufacturer in class action alleging defects in wheels, obtaining denial of class certification
Montemarano v. Daimler, et. al (NY Sup. Ct.) – Obtained dismissal at trial, affirmed on appeal, for auto manufacturer and distributor against lawsuit by estate of deceased individual involved in a bus accident
Defended airplane manufacturer in lawsuit alleging fuel line defects leading to crash

Blockchain and Digital Assets

ParaFi v. Egorov (1st Dist. Ct. App. Cal. 2025) – Won published appeal affirming dismissal of securities fraud and trade secret misappropriation claims against Curve founder Michael Egorov
Archer v. Coinbase (1st Dist. Ct. Appeal. Cal. 2020) – Won published appeal affirming summary judgment dismissing claims against Coinbase for not supporting BTC forks
Zamfir v. CasperLabs (S.D. Cal.) – Defeated motion for preliminary injunction seeking to enjoin sale over US$100 million+ in cryptocurrency
Nike, Inv. V. StockX LLC (SDNY) – Representing Nike in trademark infringement and dilution claims against StockX over sales of unauthorized Nike-branded NFTs
Counseling US$2 billion+ market cap AI token creator on corporate, regulatory, and commercial structuring
Counseled DePIN Solana project providing cloud GPU access for AI modeling on export control and sanctions compliance
Counseled large, public media company on creation of Polygon-based verification tool to authenticate media and identify AI-generated content
Represented token issuer in arbitration against token sales platform for breach of the token sales agreement
Counseled major film studio on creation of a blockchain-based protocol for authentication of news and other media content
Counseled NFT issuer in response to California DOJ and SEC complaints
Represented token issuer in arbitration against token sales platform for breach of the token sales agreement
Counseled major film studio on creation of a blockchain-based protocol for authentication of news and other media content
Counseled NFT issuer in response to California DOJ and SEC complaints
Counseled DeFi protocol company on response to hack resulting in loss of substantial assets
Counseled major film studio on myriad NFT projects, including creation of NFT trading platforms, sales of media-themed NFTs, and regulatory compliance
Advised large social media company on partnership with NFT platform to launch NFT collectibles
Advised NFT platform on partnership with professional car racing organization to launch NFT collectibles
Counseled ownership group for several professional sports clubs (including NHL and NBA teams) on creation of a platform to mint and trade NFT collectibles
Counseled private equity firm on various issues relating to NFT collectible platform to assess potential acquisition of sports collectibles company
Defeated motion for preliminary injunction and temporary restraining order that could have enjoined client's imminent sale of tens of millions of dollars' worth of new cryptocurrency and release of new blockchain
Defended large, international cryptocurrency exchange against multiple lawsuits from customer alleging failure to support forked currencies, obtaining summary judgment and affirmance in published appellate decision
Defended large cryptocurrency exchange against numerous consumer disputes, lawsuits, and arbitrations
Defended large, international cryptocurrency exchange in several commercial disputes
Defended cryptocurrency exchange against prelitigation allegations of trademark infringement in the distributed domain name space
Defended SAFT issuer in securities fraud lawsuit
Counseled foreign cryptocurrency issuer on compliance with US securities laws
Counseled foreign cryptocurrency exchange on setting up unclaimed property law compliance program

Other Commercial Litigation and Dispute Resolution

Land Intelligence v. Second Century Ventures (Vir. Cir. Ct. 2025) – Won dismissal on personal jurisdiction grounds of trade secret misappropriation and fraud claims against accelerator and venture arms of National Association of Realtors
Orfin, LLC v. AEye, Inc. (D. Del.) – Secured dismissal without payment for AI Company going public via SPAC against claims it breached contract to issue convertible note
Defended venture capital firm focused on gaming against claims it tortiously interfered with SAFE investment in gaming company
Defended private fund investing in manufactured housing communities against claims of securities fraud
Represented medical device distributor in lawsuit and companion arbitration against manufacturers alleging product defects
Defended professional race truck team against lawsuit by race promoter alleging violations of race contracts
Defended large music festival promoter in lawsuit arising from cancellation of festival
Counseled medical technology company in prelitigation dispute with former director over trade secret theft and
Defended fitness SAAS company in class action alleging violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act
Defended credit reporting agency in over a dozen cases filed under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, obtaining multiple dismissals
Represented foreign bank in litigation seeking to draw down on US$103 million line of credit, defeating motion by counterparty bank to enjoin draw down
Represented investment bank in litigation over enforceability of interest rate swap

Education

J.D., Harvard Law School, 2006

B.S., Physics, Pennsylvania State University, 2003

Awards

The Legal 500 United States

Recommended, Fintech, (2024 — 2025)

Additional Recognitions

Cryptocurrency/Blockchain/Fintech Trailblazer, National Law Journal, (2018)

Pro Bono

Michael has argued and won several pro bono appeals and currently sits on the Ninth Circuit pro bono panel. Some of his representative wins include:

Peasley v. Spearman, 2022 WL 2301992 (9th Cir. 2022) – Obtained reversal of summary judgment dismissing prisoner's Eight Amendment claim he was denied medical care
People v. Spells, 66 A.D.3d 924 (N.Y. App. Div. 2009) – Appearing as Special Assistant District Attorney, obtained affirmance of criminal charges for murder in second degree and criminal possession of weapon in third degree
People v. Pena, 60 A.D.3d 1089 (N.Y. App. Div. 2009) – Appearing as Special Assistant District Attorney, obtained affirmance of criminal charges for robbery and grand larceny

Publications

Seminars

Speaker, "Developments in Crypto Litigation," Crypto Law 2025: Evolving Best Practices for an Industry in Transition, Practising Law Institute, May 28, 2025
Speaker, "DLA Piper (Canada) CCC&I Symposium: Crypto scams and new crypto regulation in Canada," Webinar, October 12, 2023
Speaker, "NFT Legal Deep Dive: Securities law, entertainment unions, and licensing [Part III]," Federal Bar Association, May 24, 2023
Speaker, "#web3 Legal Eagles: DLA Piper, The Platform Where Success is Solved," Edge of NFT Podcast & Outer Edge L.A., May 11, 2023
Speaker, "Legal Matters in the Web3 Economy at the University of Chicago Law School," University of Chicago Law School Blockchain Conference, January 19, 2023
Speaker, "Non-Fungible Tokens: Securities Law, Entertainment Unions and Licensing Strategies, " Lexology, November 15, 2022
Speaker, "BHBA NFT Week: Regulatory Implications in the NFT and the Metaverse Spaces," Beverly Hills Bar Association, Webinar, March 25, 2022
Speaker, "Tokenizing Creativity: Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) and Intellectual Property," American Intellectual Property Association Mid-Winter Institute, February 3, 2022
Moderator, "The State of Blockchain Law 2020," Northern California Harvard Law School Alumni Association, March 5, 2020
Speaker, "Blockchain 101: An Introduction to Blockchain Technology, Industry, and Regulation for Attorneys," California Lawyers Association, July 18, 2019
Speaker, "Blockchain 101," 3DHEALS Global Healthcare Conference, April 21, 2018
Moderator, "Emerging International Issues in Regulation of Blockchain and Cryptocurrencies," DRI Annual Meeting, October 17, 2018
Panelist, "Funders Fire," AI Global Tech Summit, May 11, 2018
Panelist, "ICO? Where to Go?" German-American Chamber of Commerce, September 7, 2018
Presenter, "Everything Is the Same/Nothing Has Changed," NorCal eDiscovery Retreat, July 18, 2016
Presenter, "A Closer Look at Social Media eDiscovery and Governance," Actiance Webinar, May 19, 2015
Presenter, "Establishing In House eDiscovery Playbooks, Procedures, Tool Selection, and Implementation," NorCal eDiscovery & Information Governance Retreat, April 26, 2015
Panelist, "The Three Rs of Enterprise Discovery Management," Legal Tech New York, February 2014
Panelist, "The Why of eDiscovery Understanding the Frameworks: eDiscovery Goals," Laguna Beach eDiscovery Retreat, July 2013
Panelist, "An Analytical Primer: Assessing the Pros & Cons of Established & Emerging Review & Analysis Paradigms," Carmel Valley eDiscovery Retreat, July 2013
Panelist, "Laying the Foundations for eDiscovery Competence," Carmel Valley eDiscovery Retreat, May 2013
Panelist, "The Unforeseen: eDiscovery Project Management," Legal Tech New York, January 2013

Media Mentions

"Should you still care about cryptocurrencies?" ITPro., March 6, 2019
Representing Corporate Officers and Directors and LLC Managers, Third Edition, Marc J. Lane

Clerk Experience

Law Clerk, Honorable Warren Matthews, Alaska Supreme Court, (2006 – 2007)
Law Clerk, Honorable William Martini, United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, (2007 – 2008)