Vito A. Costanzo

Vito A. Costanzo is an attorney in the Litigation Section of the Los Angeles office of Holland & Knight. He has experience in the litigation of trade secrets issues, breach of contract claims and trust and estate litigation. Mr. Costanzo also has extensive experience representing colleges and universities in litigation and internal investigations. Mr. Costanzo was formerly employed as a trial attorney by the Los Angeles County District Attorneys' office. He has conducted numerous jury and non-jury trials, appeals and arbitrations, and has practiced before federal and state courts in California as well as federal courts in various states.

Representative Experience

Intellectual Property Litigation

Mr. Costanzo has represented several apparel, food and bottling companies in trademark infringement and counterfeiting litigation. Mr. Costanzo has extensive experience in trade secrets litigation in a broad range of areas, including chemical formulations, software, customer lists and manufacturing processes.

Class Action Litigation

Mr. Costanzo has substantial experience representing colleges and universities in class actions filed by students seeking refunds of tuition and fees as a result of the conversion to remote learning in response to government orders issued during the COVID-19 pandemic. He has also litigated challenges to university vaccine requirements. 

Trust and Estate Litigation

Mr. Costanzo has represented numerous national charitable organizations in trust and will contests in various jurisdictions, including matters involving lack of capacity, undue influence and breach of fiduciary duty.

Courtroom Experience

• Defended employer against claims of wrongful termination and interference with prospective employment (ADR Services, San Diego, seven-day arbitration)
• Defended a lawyer against claims of negligence involving representation of clients in a tax court case (Los Angeles Superior Court, five-day jury trial)
• Defended an insurance company against claims of disability and racial discrimination (Los Angeles Superior Court, six-day jury trial)
• Represented a publicly traded beverage company in a claim involving breach of a right of first refusal and valuation of a debt instrument (Los Angeles Superior Court, five-day bench trial)
• Represented real estate purchasers in a claim for specific performance (Los Angeles Superior Court, three-day bench trial)
• Assisted with jury selection in representation of manufacturer of Internet testing equipment against claims for misappropriation of trade secrets (Los Angeles Superior Court, 20-day jury trial)
• Defended a pharmaceutical company against claims that independent contractor drivers were actually employees (San Joaquin Superior Court, five-day bench trial)
• Represented a printer manufacturer in trade secrets action involving chemical formula (Los Angeles Superior Court, jury trial)
• Represented a master plan real estate developer in contract dispute (Placer County Superior Court, jury trial)