George Laiolo

Overview

George Laiolo scraps at all stages of litigation. He is currently one of the lead attorneys for a certified class of Black kidney patients alleging racial discrimination based on the “race-based coefficient” — an algorithm that artificially inflated the kidney-function scores of only Black patients for more than two decades. He has originated and managed cases against major technology companies and other corporations, including Amazon, Bethesda Softworks, and xAI. His diverse clients include content creators, graphic designers, video-game developers big and small, CEOs, and skateboarders, and he has written and argued dispositive and post-trial motions and examined witnesses of all stripes, from heads of surgery to corporate executives.

From initial development through appeal, George builds the theme, theory, and storytelling behind his cases — an approach that stems from his experience in high school, college, and law school mock trial. He now coaches and judges for the same sport that shaped the lawyer he became.

His recent results reflect that range. Examining the damages expert and a marketing VP in a trial between warring compounding pharmacies, George helped his client earn a $34.9 million verdict for trademark infringement and unfair competition — the second-largest jury verdict in California in 2024 and a top-15 trademark verdict in the country over the previous 25 years. In a race-discrimination class action concerning the national donor-kidney waitlist, he deposed key fact and expert witnesses, including the transplant director of a major hospital, and defeated his adversaries’ motion for summary judgment. In a copyright case against Amazon involving alleged mass counterfeiting of t-shirt designs, he handled all discovery, deposed every witness but one, wrote every motion, and argued every hearing through summary judgment. On behalf of video-game icon Atari Interactive, he took and defended depositions, drafted motions in limine, and conducted cross-examination in a federal jury trial, and — after defeating summary judgment — litigated favorable settlements concerning the sabotaged development of a video game and a hotel chain’s failure to maintain safe premises.

George earned both his bachelor’s degree and his Juris Doctor from the University of California, Berkeley, graduating magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. In law school, he served as a judicial extern for the Honorable Fernando M. Olguin of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, earned the Prosser Prize in Video Game Law, and was a top-ranked competitor for the Berkeley Law Trial Team.

Outside the courtroom, George is an avid tennis player, gamer, and weightlifter who can often be found zipping around town on his Vespa, enjoying the beauty of the Bay Area.