Emily Kearney
Founder and Partner
Emily Kearney is the founder and principal attorney of The Kearney Firm, APC, where she serves as outside general counsel to companies ranging from emerging growth enterprises to closely held businesses generating hundreds of millions to billions in annual revenue.
Her practice is centered on providing ongoing, strategic legal guidance to companies that rely on experienced counsel for both day-to-day operations and high-stakes matters. Emily advises on complex commercial agreements, corporate governance, risk management, regulatory compliance, employment matters, and business succession planning. She is frequently engaged as a long-term legal partner for companies without in-house counsel and works closely with executive leadership and boards on critical legal strategy.
Emily also maintains a sophisticated intellectual property practice. She handles trademark and copyright prosecution, brand protection strategy, licensing and commercialization agreements, and enforcement actions in state and federal courts. She has represented clients in complex business and IP litigation involving infringement claims, unfair competition, fiduciary duty disputes, and multi-party commercial conflicts.
Before founding The Kearney Firm, Emily practiced as a trial attorney in professional liability and public entity litigation, defending engineers, design professionals, construction companies, hospitals, and public agencies in high-exposure matters. Her experience includes catastrophic injury claims, large-scale construction defect litigation, and claims involving public entities and officials.
Earlier in her career, Emily served as in-house counsel for a national title insurance company, where she negotiated contracts with major financial institutions and oversaw compliance with federal and state real estate, finance, and consumer protection laws. She also clerked for the Honorable Justice Richard D. Fybel of the California Court of Appeal.
Emily earned her Juris Doctor from Pepperdine University School of Law, where she competed on the Moot Court and Trial Teams and received multiple advocacy awards. She graduated summa cum laude from Chapman University with a Bachelor of Business Administration.
Outside of her practice, Emily enjoys time with her husband and three kids and is actively involved in her local community in Orange County.
Our Attorneys
Kayla Jimenez
Of-Counsel
Kayla Jimenez focuses on trademark prosecution and litigation, copyright law, right of publicity law, and business transactions. Previously, Kayla worked for several biotech and renewable energy startups in San Diego. She also has extensive experience with art law, fashion law and licensing.
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Kayla has worked on several notable cases in the field of intellectual property law, including Fleischer Studios, Inc. v. A.V.E.L.A., Inc. (involving trademarks and copyrights related to Betty Boop), Fifty-Six Hope Road Music, Ltd. et al v. AVELA, Inc. (involving Bob Marley’s right of publicity, copyrights and trademarks), and Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. v. X One X Productions (involving, amongst other things, public domain issues with the Wizard of Oz). Kayla currently manages a portfolio of over 750 trademarks.
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Kayla graduated cum laude from University of California, San Diego, earning dual bachelor’s degrees in Economics and Political Science. She went on to earn her J.D. from the University of San Diego School of Law with a concentration in Intellectual Property. At the University of San Diego School of Law, Kayla was a member of the San Diego International Law Journal and the Phi Delta Phi honor society. Kayla also received CALI excellence awards in Art Law and Copyright Law.
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Kayla is admitted to practice in the state of California, the District of Columbia, and before the Federal District Courts for the Central, Northern and Southern Districts of California. Kayla also enjoys teaching, and is an adjunct professor at both the University of San Diego School of Law and at California Western School of Law.
In 2019, Kayla took a sabbatical to pursue her dream of attending art school at the Florence Academy of Art. Kayla returned to the practice of law with a deep appreciation for her clients and their creative endeavors. In her free time, Kayla can be found painting, hiking, or admiring other’s artwork around San Diego.
Law is nothing else but the best of wise men applied for ages to the transactions and business of mankind.
( Abraham Lincoln)
