Partner

Adam Alper is a member of Kirkland & Ellis' intellectual property litigation group in the firm's San Francisco office, with a primary focus on patent disputes. In particular, Mr. Alper has significant experience representing clients in high-stakes patent litigation involving major entities in the semiconductor, telecommunications, computer hardware and pharmaceutical industries. He also has significant experience with trade secret disputes in high-tech industries. In particular, Mr. Alper has litigated numerous telecommunications technologies and standards including Internet protocols, wireless protocols (e.g., (802.11 (Wi-Fi), 802.16 (WiMAX), CDMA, Bluetooth), VoIP protocols and data over cable protocols. Mr. Alper has also litigated issues involving the design, manufacture and testing of semiconductor processors, memories and FPGAs (field programmable gate arrays).

Partner

Aaron Alter is a partner at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, where he has practiced corporate and securities law since 1990. He currently serves as a member of the firm's Policy Committee. Mr. Alter's practice experience spans the full range of corporate transactions, including advising start-up companies on venture capital financings, public offerings, and mergers and acquisitions. He has extensive public offering experience, on both the company and the underwriter side. His clients are primarily technology companies, including those in the semiconductor, semiconductor equipment, software, and telecommunication fields, as well as retail companies of all sizes. Having lived in Asia for more than 11 years, Mr. Alter speaks some Mandarin, and counts among his clients a number of Asian companies.

Vice President, Litigation and Disputes

Partner

Jon Avina is a partner at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, where he practices corporate and securities law. He has assisted a variety of private and public companies on general corporate and transactional matters valued in the billions of dollars, including venture capital financings, public offerings, and mergers and acquisitions. Aside from his corporate clients, Jon has represented numerous venture capital and investment banking firms.

Partner

Chris Baker is a partner in the San Francisco office of Nixon Peabody LLP, where he represents employers and employees in all employment-related cases, including cases involving retaliation, discrimination, harassment, wage and hour, lay-offs, employment contracts, non-compete clauses, and trade secret misappropriation. His clients range from multi-national and mid-market companies, to small businesses such as internet start-ups, to senior executives. He has first chair trial and appellate experience and has litigated cases before federal and state courts, the National Labor Relations Board, Cal-OSHA, and other government agencies. His experience includes large-scale litigation management and strategic partnering with corporate clients.

Partner

Paul Barker practices patent prosecution, patent interferences, and strategic counseling, with a particular focus in the fields of biotechnology and pharmaceuticals. In his patent prosecution practice, he prepares patent applications and responses to office actions, represents clients in reexamination and reissue proceedings, and prepares briefs to the appeal board. Mr. Barker has also prepared numerous validity and infringement opinions and represented clients in due diligence investigations in various areas of the biotechnology and pharmaceutical fields. Earlier in his career, Mr. Barker was involved in patent infringement litigation involving recombinantly made protein and nucleic acid diagnostics. He has broad experience in various fields, including antibodies, nucleic acid amplification and detection techniques, protein chemistry, gene therapy, and transgenic plants.

Partner

Head of the Employment team in Paris, Valérie Blandeau specialises in all contentious and non-contentious aspects of employment law. She has extensive experience of the legislation surrounding working time and restructuring, and is an expert in assisting foreign clients in French employment law. Ms. Blandeau provides pragmatic data analysis for her clients, notably to optimise costs and predict budgets – for example, regarding variable remuneration, social security charges, mass redundancies or negotiated departures. Fluent in English, she regularly writes for the legal press and is the author of various publications on working time. She also frequently takes part in various seminars and conferences, and organises specific training sessions for French and foreign clients.

Partner

David Bloch is a partner in the San Francisco office of international law firm Winston & Strawn LLP. He concentrates his practice on complex intellectual property litigation. A frequent lecturer worldwide, he is the co-author of Intellectual Property in Government Contracts (Oxford 2009; second edition in press) and approximately three dozen articles in trade and academic journals, including recent chapters on damages and remedies in Chinese intellectual property litigation.

Partner

In his more than 30 years of experience practicing corporate and securities law, Steve Bochner has served as lead counsel for many of Silicon Valley's most prominent companies, assisting them in venture capital, public offering, and merger transactions valued in the billions of dollars. He recently served as one of two attorneys on the IPO Task Force, which presented a report to the U.S. Department of the Treasury on increasing job creation by improving access to the capital markets for emerging growth companies. He was extensively involved in designing the IPO-related provisions of the JOBS Act of 2012, which drew upon the IPO Task Force's recommendations and was adopted by Congress with broad bipartisan support. From 1996 to 2011, Mr. Bochner served on the NASDAQ Listing and Hearing Review Council, most recently as chair and co-chair. In particular, he was extensively engaged in the development of NASDAQ's rules with respect to corporate governance reform and other listing standards. He also served on the California Department of Corporations' Securities Regulation Advisory Committee.

Associate

Ryan Bricker practices trademark and copyright prosecution, enforcement and litigation. He helps clients develop creative, efficient methods of procuring trademark and copyright protection, and counsels them on developing comprehensive online brand protection plans, monitoring and policing avenues of e-commerce and web-based marketplaces, uncovering and combating piracy problems and securing domain names through a variety of domain name dispute processes. Mr. Bricker has implemented strategies to protect and enforce the intellectual property of leading companies in consumer electronics, technology and software, gaming, entertainment, social media, telecommunications, fashion and luxury goods, wine and spirits, and educational toys.

Partner

As a partner in Wragge & Co’s Intellectual Property team, Alexandra Brodie is proud to support the firm's clients in their bid to protect and drive revenue from innovation. She is particularly experienced in the multi-jurisdictional aspects of patent litigation with cases involving China, the US, France, Finland, Germany, France, Taiwan, Spain and Italy, as well as the UK. Ms. Brodie, together with Richard Goold, heads up Wragge & Co's cross-firm focus on the technology sector, which for Wragge & Co means the whole of the TMT (technology, media and telecommunications) sector. Ms. Brodie has significant experience in the interplay of standards and patents in a number of different fields and the impact on litigation strategy.

Partner

Timothy Cahn focuses his practice on litigation and corporate counseling, with an emphasis on advising companies with significant brands to develop strategies to combat infringement, unauthorized distribution of their branded products, unfair competition, trade secret misappropriation and similar problems. Mr. Cahn is experienced in developing and implementing comprehensive intellectual property enforcement and anti-piracy programs for major consumer brands. Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Cahn was a partner at a California-based litigation boutique. He has authored articles and delivered presentations pertaining to intellectual property topics, including the intersection of Internet law and counterfeiting activities. Mr. Cahn is based in the San Francisco office of Kilpatrick Townsend.

Principal

Steve Carlson is a Principal in Fish & Richardson's Silicon Valley office, and litigates cases across the technology spectrum. Recent successful representations include a bench trial victory on behalf of a pioneering pharmaceutical developer of glaucoma medications, a jury trial victory over intrusion detection software, and successful enforcement of patents to polymerase chain reaction technology. Mr. Carlson is an active speaker and writer on issues of patent law, drawing on his experiences as a law clerk to the Honorable Paul R. Michel of the Federal Circuit, and to the Honorable Roderick R. McKelvie of the District of Delaware. He a co-author of the book "Patents in Germany and Europe: Procurement, Enforcement, and Defense," written in tandem with Fish’s Munich team. He is also a co-author of the "Patent Case Management Judicial Guide," published by the Federal Judicial Center and on the shelves of judges nation-wide.

Legal Director, Anti-Piracy

Partner

Tom Chen is a partner in the Intellectual Property Practice Group in the Orange County office of Haynes and Boone. Mr. Chen’s practice focuses on patent prosecution and counseling in a variety of technologies, including electrical circuits, semiconductor memories/processing, semiconductor equipment , fiber optic and wireless communications, televisions, mechanical devices, Internet related applications, microprocessors and other computer architecture. Mr. Chen also has experience in patent litigation, including matters before the International Trade Commission and district courts. He has been involved in all phases of litigation, including discovery, depositions, expert reports, and briefs. Prior to entering law school, Mr. Chen worked in the Missile Systems Group at Hughes Aircraft.

Partner

Michael W. De Vries is an intellectual property litigation partner in the Los Angeles office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP. He has substantial experience representing clients in complex intellectual property disputes, with particular experience representing technology companies in patent litigation. Mr. De Vries has handled trials and a variety of other litigation-related matters involving patent, trademark and copyright infringement, misappropriation of trade secrets, false advertising and unfair competition. He has served as lead counsel in a variety of patent and other intellectual property-related matters, including serving as lead trial counsel in a five-week federal jury trial involving chemical technology. In addition to his trial-related work, Mr. De Vries also advises clients on intellectual property-related licensing and other strategic issues.

Associate General Counsel, Litigation

Of Counsel

Tom Duley concentrates on technology transactions for life sciences companies. He negotiates, drafts and manages intellectual property and commercial transactions for life sciences companies, including collaboration agreements between biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, licensing agreements with commercial businesses and academic institutions, supply and manufacturing agreements, distribution agreements and asset purchases and sales involving drug products and manufacturing facilities. In the areas of therapeutics, diagnostics and medical devices, Mr. Duley has worked with companies throughout the corporate lifecycle, from startup entities obtaining their first university in-license to large public corporations restructuring their product holdings. Before joining DLA Piper, he was Senior Corporate Counsel and head of the transactional legal group at PDL BioPharma, Inc.

Partner

Kristen Garcia Dumont is a partner in Goodwin Procter's Litigation Department and a member of its Labor & Employment and Technology Company Practices. Ms. Dumont focuses on defense work for technology companies related to a wide range of employment disputes, including employee mobility lawsuits, discrimination, harassment, wrongful termination and whistleblower complaints. Ms. Dumont also works extensively in the area of multi-plaintiff and class actions, including claims for unpaid overtime, unpaid wages, penalties and unfair business practices. She has counseled clients on all facets of employment relationships, including social media policies, privacy issues and protection of trade secrets. In addition to her litigation practice, Ms. Dumont has significant merger and acquisition experience and has worked closely with clients in structuring corporate transactions to minimize employment-related risks and to maximize the value of the transaction from an employment perspective.

Partner

Gary J. Edwards is a partner in Haynes and Boone's Intellectual Property Practice Group in San Jose. He has extensive experience in patent litigation, patent prosecution, and IP licensing. He has represented clients in various matters related to development, enforcement, defense, and monetization matters. Dr. Edwards works with high technology companies to protect their technology, build intellectual property portfolios, assert those portfolios, and defend against the assertions of competitors. He has a strong background in Physics and Materials Science. His analytical abilities and technical skills enable him to assist clients in a wide range of technical areas. Prior to entering law school, Dr. Edwards was a professor in the Physics Departments at West Virginia University and at Oklahoma State University. His research in defect structures of non-linear optical materials and the optical properties associated with those materials led to improvements in those materials.

Principal

Benjamin Elacqua is a Principal in the Houston office of Fish & Richardson. His practice emphasizes patent and intellectual property litigation, including representing clients in litigation involving a wide range of technologies across many industries, particularly in the fields of computer software, computer hardware, medical devices, and consumer products. Mr. Elacqua's primary practice involves managing complex patent litigations and providing strategic analysis to his clients. Mr. Elacqua's experience includes all phases of a complex patent case, including arguing Markman hearings as well as other pre-trial hearings. Mr. Elacqua also has extensive trial and post-trial experience, including the taking of fact and expert witnesses at trial and the drafting of post-trial and appellate briefs. In connection with his patent litigation practice, Mr. Elacqua has advised clients in patent licensing and patent portfolio management and has represented clients in reexamination proceedings before the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Partner

James J. Elacqua is the head of Skadden’s patent litigation practice. He has more than three decades of experience representing technology and life sciences companies in technically complex patent litigation cases, including jury and bench trials before the federal district courts, state courts, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and the International Trade Commission. Mr. Elacqua has represented technology clients such as Intel Corporation, Synopsys, Inc., and Microsoft Corporation in cases involving a broad range of legal issues and technologies. Mr. Elacqua has been involved in numerous matters in worldwide litigations in countries including the United Kingdom, Germany and Taiwan involving semiconductor circuit and process technology.

Partner

Vera Elson is a partner and trial lawyer in Sidley Austin's Silicon Valley office. She focuses her practice on intellectual property trials and strategic counseling for the firm’s high-technology clients. Ms. Elson's cases have been predominantly patent cases in Federal District Courts across the country and proceedings before the International Trade Commission (ITC). She has extensive trial experience in high-stakes cases including both successful jury trials and bench trials. She has also successfully litigated cases relating to trade secret misappropriation, common law and copyright claims. Ms. Elson has argued and won before the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) on appeal, and is registered to practice before the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. She has a Masters degree in Electrical Engineering from UCLA and, prior to entering the practice of law, worked in industry as a high-speed circuit designer for Hughes Aircraft’s Advanced Circuit Technology Labs.

Assistant General Counsel

Nicky Espinosa has been the Assistant General Counsel for Intuitive Surgical, a medical device company in Sunnyvale since 2010, where she is responsible for a variety of litigation, regulatory, privacy and employment matters. She is a registered patent attorney and was a litigation partner in the Intellectual Property practice groups of three law firms: Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison, Dewey Ballantine and Dechert. Ms. Espinosa also served as the Vice President of Intellectual Property for Illumina, Inc., a genetics analysis company in San Diego, for five years.

Partner

Eric B. Evans is a partner in Mayer Brown’s Palo Alto office and a member of the firm’s Electronic Discovery Services Oversight Committee, and a member the firm’s Intellectual Property and Electronic Discovery & Records Management practice groups. He has extensive experience in complex intellectual property and licensing litigation and concentrates his practice on electronic discovery in complex litigation matters. Before he attended law school, Mr. Evans served as Associate Director of Instructional Technology at Denison University, where he acted as Denison’s Digital Millennium Copyright Act agent and enforced and redrafted the university’s Acceptable Use Policy for Network Resources.

AGC Litigation

Partner

Steve Feldstein is a partner in Goodwin Procter's Litigation Department and a member of the Labor & Employment Practice. He focuses his practice on labor and employment law. Mr. Feldstein has represented and counseled companies in diverse areas of labor and employment law. His practice includes advising management in key employee relations, trade secrets protection, avoiding and litigating wrongful termination and employment discrimination claims, employee handbooks and policies, workforce reductions, NLRB proceedings, union avoidance, arbitration and collective bargaining, OSHA compliance and wage and hour disputes. Mr. Feldstein also counsels companies on the employment-related ramifications of corporate mergers and acquisitions. He has lectured on labor and employment law at Stanford University, St. Mary’s College, College of Marin and various seminars for attorneys, human resources professionals and others.

Partner

Joachim Fleury is a partner in the corporate practice and Global Head of Telecoms, Media & Technology practice at Clifford Chance. Mr Fleury specialises in M&A, private equity transactions and joint ventures. Co-founder of the Dutch Association for Information Technology and Law (NVIR), he speaks Dutch, English, Spanish, German and French.

Chief Patent Counsel

Mary Fuller is Chief Patent Counsel at Maxim Integrated Products, Inc., where she is responsible for developing and implementing Maxim’s strategy to protect, enhance, defend and capture the value of its intellectual property. As Maxim’s Chief Patent Counsel, Ms. Fuller’s responsibilities extend to all facets of intellectual property including all patent, copyright and trademark strategy, development, prosecution, disputes, licensing, acquisitions, and policy, as well as standards-related matters. Prior to Maxim, Ms. Fuller worked at Marvell Semiconductor, Inc., where she was Director of Litigation, and before that at Bingham McCutchen LLP, and Pennie and Edmonds, LLP, where she worked on issues ranging from patent prosecution to patent litigation.

Partner

William (Bill) Gaede is a partner in the law firm of McDermott Will & Emery and is based in the firm’s Silicon Valley office. Mr. Gaede co-chairs the Firm’s Life Sciences & Medical Products group and is a member of the firm’s Personalized Medicine Team. He also serves as hiring partner for the Silicon Valley office. Mr. Gaede focuses his practice on intellectual property litigation in the life sciences and medical device industries. His practice further focuses on risk management for companies addressing freedom to operate issues. Mr. Gaede serves as lead counsel for a wide range of companies and research institutes and has experience with genomics, proteomics, small molecule and protein therapeutics, antibodies, diagnostics, formulations and devices. In addition to his jury trial experience, he has also argued before the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals.

Sr. Employment Attorney and Manager of HR Legal Investigations and Strategic Employee Relations

For the past 19 years, Alison Morbey Gardyne has focused her practice on employment counseling and litigation for a wide range of public and private technology companies in Silicon Valley. In her role at Intel Corporation she manages a team of 22 workplace investigators and analysts, who conduct workplace investigations, respond to agency charges, support litigation, conduct employee relations audits, and advise senior leaders on employment law and employee relations risks. Prior to joining Intel, Ms. Gardyne managed the global employment law function for Yahoo! Inc. While in private practice with several San Francisco law firms, she advised technology companies on various issues including wage and hour compliance, employee privacy, data security, harassment and discrimination.

Partner

Stephen Gillespie, a partner in Fenwick & West's San Francisco office, provides strategic and legal advice to software, new media and technology companies. He helps his clients build and protect their value through careful management of the legal and intellectual property aspects of their key transactions. He structures, drafts, and negotiates mission critical agreements, including national and international development and distribution agreements, licenses, strategic alliances, and business process outsourcing transactions. Mr. Gillespie also manages the intellectual property aspects of mergers and acquisitions, including as lead outside IP counsel on acquisitions for Cisco, Symantec, Electronic Arts and other acquirers. In addition, he has significant experience in cloud/SaaS and open source business models and export control regulations.

Senior Director

For almost 20 years, Sandy Godsey has worked in all aspects of intellectual property and in a variety of industries including semiconductor processing, wireless technologies and devices, software, analog and digital electronics, Internet businesses, ecommerce, payments and microprocessors. She worked extensively in technology licensing and portfolio building, including development and launch of the Kindle family of products at Amazon, development and management of the portfolio at Qualcomm, development and licensing of the Metamaterial (MTM) portfolio at Rayspan, and currently as Sr. Director of Patents at eBay. She is particularly interested in the role of Open Source licensing and software business development, advising on open source policy, application and strategy for major corporations, including at eBay.

Partner

A partner in Wragge & Co's Corporate group, Richard Goold specialises in international M&A and private equity transactions, from large buyouts through to growth capital and venture capital financing rounds. He has particular expertise in cross-border corporate advice and regularly works with US corporations and investors. Most of the large and complex private equity deals and international M&A transactions which Mr. Goold’s practice focuses on involve the technology sector. For Wragge & Co, this sector covers the whole of the TMT (technology, media and telecommunications) industry. Mr. Goold is also the co-head of the firm's U.S. desk, a role which involves building relationships with US-based organisations.

Former VP and General Counsel, Novellus Systems, Inc.

Andrew Gottlieb served as Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Compliance Officer at Novellus Systems, Inc. from 2010 until its recent acquisition by Lam Research. In that capacity Mr. Gottlieb managed all global legal affairs for the company, including public company representation, corporate governance, litigation, intellectual property strategies, corporate and securities compliance, regulatory compliance, M&A, financial transactions, complex transactions negotiations and risk management. Previously he served as Vice President, Global Tax at Novellus Systems where he directed all corporate tax matters globally. In addition to earlier in-house positions with Cisco Systems, Sigma Networks and Sun Microsystems, Mr. Gottlieb also served as Senior Trial Attorney in the Office of Chief Counsel at the Internal Revenue Service.

Partner

Paul Gupta, a litigation partner in the New York office, is a member of Orrick's 150-lawyer Intellectual Property Group. Mr. Gupta's practice focuses on representing Fortune 500 and other clients in federal district courts and courts of appeals as well as the ITC. He primarily handles intellectual property, IT, cyber-security and clean tech matters. He also regularly handles arbitrations and mediations. Mr. Gupta is currently or has recently been lead counsel in patent litigation pending in district courts in California, Delaware, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Texas and Virginia. He also counsels clients throughout the United States on a variety of technology law matters. Mr. Gupta regularly lectures at PLI and other CLE programs, and he frequently has been quoted in the media about his cases and about legal developments.

Partner

Jake Handy's practice focuses on technology-based transactions, including intellectual property acquisitions and licensing strategies for life sciences and technology companies. His representative transactions include: development, collaboration, license and material transfer agreements for a broad range of life science technologies including antibody, protein expression/modulation, gene therapy, genomics, proteomics and bioinformatics technologies; software, telecommunications and IT agreements, including technology development, licensing and marketing agreements; clinical trial agreements; and supply, distribution, sales representative and other supply-side agreements for biopharmaceuticals, diagnostic, medical device, telecommunications and software products.

Vice Chairman

Lee Hanson is a vice chairman in the San Francisco and New York City offices of Heidrick & Struggles. She is a senior member of the Global Financial Services Practice and CEO & Board of Directors practice and specializes in the private equity & venture capital, investment banking, asset management, and hedge fund industries. In addition to her executive search practice, Ms. Hanson serves on the firm's Global Consultant Development Committee and was a member of the firm's inaugural Global Nominating Committee as well as the first partner-elected Global Partnership Council.

Partner

Robert C. Holtzapple is chair of Farella Braun + Martel’s Business Litigation practice. Mr. Holtzapple has developed a complex civil litigation practice, with particular focuses on intellectual property litigation, partnership and corporate issues, licensor-licensee disputes and distribution termination litigation. With respect to intellectual property litigation, Mr. Holtzapple has worked extensively in trademark, trade secret and copyright matters. A frequent lecturer on trademark issues, Mr. Holtzapple has successfully defended a small business that was accused of trademark infringement by Hewlett-Packard , represented an international winery against a cigar manufacturer, and obtained a permanent injunction for an internet company against a cybersquatter who had registered a competing ".net" domain name.

Partner

Mary T. Huser is a partner in Bingham’s Intellectual Property Group. She previously served as co-chair of Bingham’s Intellectual Property Group, managing partner of the Silicon Valley office and co-chair of the Securities Litigation Practice Group. In 2008, Ms. Huser joined eBay as VP, deputy general counsel, overseeing global IP and litigation for eBay, PayPal, Skype, StubHub and other eBay subsidiaries. In that role, she oversaw the companies’ litigation ranging from patent, trademark and copyright to securities, antitrust and unfair competition matters globally; and IP involving patent, trademark, copyright and domain name matters globally. She also oversaw the company’s privacy and regulatory practices and managed the companies’ global brand protection and anti-counterfeiting strategy.

Partner

Tony Jeffries' practice focuses on a wide variety of corporate, securities, and related matters for technology companies. He has represented clients ranging from entrepreneurs to Fortune 500 companies on IPOs and other public offerings, mergers and acquisitions, strategic alliances, venture capital financings, the structuring of start-up companies, and other matters. His clients include a variety of companies in the SaaS, software, Internet, semiconductor, semiconductor equipment, telecommunications, and biotechnology industries, as well as prominent venture capital firms and investment banks. Mr. Jeffries has presented on and taught a variety of corporate and securities law topics, including preparing for an initial public offering, the reporting obligations of public companies, corporate governance, executive compensation, current issues in venture capital financings, and employer/employee rights to intellectual property.

Partner

Riaz Karamali is a partner in the Corporate Practice Group in Sheppard Mullin's Palo Alto office. He has extensive experience in corporate law, venture finance, mergers and acquisitions and technology transactions. Mr. Karamali has structured and negotiated numerous complex, long-term technology-based and service-based alliance agreements relating to business process outsourcing, information technology infrastructure outsourcing, manufacturing outsourcing, research and development outsourcing, software application development and management, software OEM transactions, internet search and display advertising alliances, university technology transfer transactions and traditional corporate joint ventures. He has worked with hundreds of start-up and emerging companies, guiding them from pre-founding stages through angel and venture capital financing rounds, significant commercial contracts and strategic alliances to their ultimate exit transactions.

President and CEO

John P. Kelly is the founder of BlackStone Discovery and is responsible for the company’s strategic direction, overall management and growth. Mr. Kelly works closely with BlackStone Discovery partners and customers to streamline the e-discovery and information management process. During his 20-year career working in the legal technology industry, Mr. Kelly created the first nationwide legal document services firm, and originated the first legal scanning and processing business on the West Coast.

Partner

Ms. Kenkel practices out of Fenwick's Mountain View, California office. Her practice focuses on working with information technology and life sciences companies on all forms of commercial transactions involving technology and intellectual property, including structuring and negotiating joint-development agreements, collaborations, strategic alliances, and patent and technology licenses. She also advises clients on the intellectual property aspects of mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, and venture capital and strategic investments. Ms. Kenke has been involved in over 50 acquisitions in the information technology and life sciences industries with a total acquisition value in excess of $50 billion and specializes in the structuring and execution of business spin-out transactions. Prior to joining Fenwick & West, she served as General Counsel of Corel Corporation, a developer of business and graphics software,

Founder

Randall Kiser is the principal analyst at DecisionSet®. His research regarding attorney–client decision making integrates the fields of law, economics, statistics and psychology. Mr. Kiser is the author of Beyond Right and Wrong: The Power of Effective Decision Making for Attorneys and Clients (Springer Science + Business Media LLC New York) and the lead author of the widely read article, "Let's Not Make A Deal: An Empirical Study Of Decision Making In Unsuccessful Settlement Negotiations" (Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, Vol. 5, Issue 3, September 2008). Beyond Right and Wrong evaluates the effectiveness of attorney–litigant decisions, discusses the psychological and institutional factors that may contribute to ineffective decision making, explains the legal malpractice and disciplinary consequences of inadequate settlement counseling and negotiations, and shows how attorneys, clients and law firms can improve the quality of their decision making.

Principal

Thad C. Kodish is Managing Principal of Fish & Richardson's Atlanta office. His practice emphasizes patent litigation and intellectual property litigation, including patent, trademark, copyright and trade secret law. He appears regularly before Georgia, Texas, and California courts and throughout the country, where he has lead numerous litigation teams through patent and trademark disputes from pre-suit due diligence to final and favorable resolution. Mr. Kodish has testified as a patent law expert for one of the country’s largest consumer products companies. Mr. Kodish is also active in PTO practice, including the preparation of Inter Partes Review petitions. Finally, Mr. Kodish also advises clients on whether to license or purchase patents and patent portfolios, and is skilled and experienced in negotiating such licenses and acquisitions.

Partner

Karen Kubin defends employers in class actions and other complex employment litigation alleging wage-and-hour violations, discrimination, harassment, wrongful discharge, trade secret theft, ERISA violations, and retaliation under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and other whistleblower laws. Ms. Kubin has broad jury and bench trial experience in both federal and state courts; she is also experienced in domestic and international arbitrations. Her client list spans an array of industries, including the communications, consumer products, energy, entertainment, financial services, life sciences, publishing, restaurant, retail, technology, transportation, and venture capital sectors. Ms. Kubin is a frequent speaker on employment law topics.

U.S. District Judge Northern District of California

Assistant Professor of Law

Brian Love's research focuses on patent law, intellectual property, and other issues at the intersection of law and technology policy. He is a recognized expert in the area of patent damages, patterns of patent enforcement across industries, and university patent ownership and licensing. His work has been cited by the Federal Trade Commission, Congressional Research Service, and Department of Justice. Brian is also a frequent media commentator on new developments in intellectual property. Prior to joining Santa Clara University School of Law, Professor Love was a Lecturer and Teaching Fellow at Stanford Law School, where he ran the LLM Program in Law, Science & Technology from 2010 to 2012. He previously practiced law as a Special Counsel with Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati and as a litigation associate with Fish & Richardson.

Partner

Christine Lyon’s practice focuses on privacy and employment law. Ms. Lyon assists clients in developing global strategies to comply with laws regulating the collection, use, disclosure, and transfer of personal information about their customers and employees. She also advises clients about privacy issues in cloud computing and outsourcing arrangements, security breach notification requirements, laws regulating the use of personal data for direct marketing purposes, and workplace privacy issues. Ms. Lyon counsels clients regarding all aspects of employment law, including compliance with California and federal employment laws, investigations of workplace complaints, and reductions in force. She regularly assists clients with multinational employment issues related to mergers and acquisitions, outsourcing transactions, and corporate restructuring.

Special Counsel

Susan Lyon is co-chair of Cooley LLP's Privacy practice group. Ms. Lyon counsels clients from small start-ups to major Internet, technology, advertising and telecommunications companies on a wide range of U.S. and international privacy and data security issues. Representative areas of expertise include CAN-SPAM, FTC Act, Children's Online Privacy Protections Act (COPPA), telemarketing laws, data security and data breach notice obligations, behavioral targeting and advertising, online and mobile tracking and monitoring the use of automatic tracking technology, facial recognition and biometrics, cloud computing strategy, and legislative and regulatory policy and outreach. Ms. Lyon formerly served as an in-house privacy counsel with Microsoft Corp., where she was the lead attorney responsible for U.S. and international privacy law compliance for all sales and marketing activities and legislative policy in the area of privacy, data security, and online safety.

EVP, General Counsel and Secretary

Brian M. Martin is Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of KLA-Tencor Corporation. Prior to joining KLA-Tencor, Mr. Martin served in senior legal positions at Sun Microsystems, Inc. for 10 years. Prior to his career at Sun, Mr. Martin was in private practice where he had extensive experience in antitrust and intellectual property litigation. He is an adjunct professor of law at Buffalo Law School where he teaches a class he developed on the ethical issues faced by in-house counsel. Mr. Martin also authors an ethics column for InsideCounsel Magazine. He was recently listed in Ethisphere's 100 Most Influential People in Business Ethics and on its "Attorneys Who Matter" list. He has also been named one of the top 10 innovative general counsels by the LA Daily Journal. Recently, the KLA-Tencor legal group was awarded the prestigious Governance Team of the Year by Corporate Secretary Magazine.

Partner

Stafford Matthews is a technology transactions and venture partner in the Palo Alto offices of SNR Denton. Mr. Matthews represents technology companies worldwide in complex contract negotiations and the resolution of disputes, and in the strategic development and exploitation of intellectual property and products. His practice focuses on the licensing and transfer of IP rights and technologies in domestic and international markets; antitrust and unfair competition matters in the US and the European Union; and the negotiation of cross border alliances and joint development ventures. Mr. Matthews is dual qualified as a UK solicitor and a US lawyer and has extensive experience in European and Asian markets. He recently completed his term as the Chairman of the Board of Legal Specialization for the State Bar of California.

Partner

Shaalu Mehra is a partner in Sheppard Mullin's Corporate practice group in the firm's Palo Alto office, and chairs the firm's Technology Transactions Group. He is also a key member of the firm’s Emerging Growth/VC practice. Mr. Mehra counsels clients on corporate and technology transactions, with particular focus on cross-border technology and sourcing transactions; intellectual property licensing; and venture finance. He speaks regularly at local and international conferences on these topics, and has received numerous public recognitions as a leader in his field.

Partner

Cliff Michel, of counsel in the New York office, is a member of the Intellectual Property Group. Mr. Michel concentrates his practice on intellectual property and commercial litigation and licensing for technology companies. He regularly represents clients in matters concerning patent, trademark, copyright and trade secrets litigation, technology licensing, Internet domain name disputes, securitization of intellectual property, privacy, document retention and information security.

Shareholder

Marlene Muraco is a seasoned employment litigator, with 20 years of experience successfully defending employers against the full panoply of employment law claims including wrongful termination, discrimination, harassment, invasion of privacy, and alleged violations of state and federal employee leave laws. The primary focus of her practice is on class actions, with particular emphasis on wage and hour claims arising under California law and the Fair Labor Standards Act, including claims for overtime, unpaid meal and rest periods, and misclassification of employees and contractors. Ms. Muraco also regularly advises employers on practical and thorough compliance with employment and labor laws with a focus on employers' operational and strategic needs.

Of Counsel

Karl Nobert focuses his practice on the representation and counseling of clients in the food and drug industry including advising clients on matters related to the regulation of human prescription and nonprescription drugs, human and veterinary biological products including regenerative medicine, medical devices, food and dietary supplements. He also assists clients with the preparation of FDA submissions including human and veterinary new drug and generic drug applications; 510(k) premarket notifications, premarket approval applications, recalls and market withdrawals, GRAS self-affirmations and notifications, and product listings. Mr. Nobert represents clients before the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

Group Vice President and Chief Legal Officer

Sarah A. O'Dowd joined Lam Research in September 2008 as Group Vice President and Chief Legal Officer, responsible for general legal matters, intellectual property and ethics and compliance. In addition to her legal function, in April 2009 she was appointed Vice President of Human Resources and served in this dual capacity from April 2009 through May 2012. Prior to joining Lam Research, Ms. O'Dowd was Vice President and General Counsel for FibroGen, Inc. from February 2007 until September 2008. Until February 2007, Ms. O'Dowd was a shareholder in the law firm of Heller Ehrman LLP for more than twenty years, practicing in the areas of corporate securities, governance and M&A for a variety of clients, principally publicly traded high technology companies.

Chief Strategy Officer

Colin O'Malley is Evidon's Chief Strategy Officer, with responsibility for product strategy and regulatory outreach. He co-founded the company and led its initial Design Program, a collaboration with the top seven agency holding companies, leading brands and networks. An expert in privacy matters with deep connections in the policy world, he was the Vice President of Strategic Partnerships & Programs at TRUSTe from 2003 to 2009, where he developed and launched self-regulatory programs for email and software; previously he was Manager of Product Development at NetCreations, a double opt-in email marketing firm that went public in 1999.

Partner

Susan Pangborn litigates employment disputes and counsels clients on a variety of employment-related issues. Ms. Pangborn has represented employers in class actions, as well as multi-plaintiff and single-plaintiff litigation. She has successfully defended discrimination and wage-hour claims under federal and state statutes in more than 90 cases before both administrative agencies and courts across the United States. She has won jury trials and numerous cases brought in federal and state courts on summary judgment. Ms. Pangborn also represents employers in arbitrations brought under both collective bargaining agreements and alternative dispute resolution provisions. In addition, she provides practical guidance to employers on employment-related issues, including wage-hour compliance, discrimination issues arising under federal and state statutes, and strategies for handling employee complaints, performance issues, and terminations.

Partner

Kirk A. Pasich is the leader of Dickstein Shapiro’s Insurance Coverage Group and serves on the firm’s Executive Committee. Mr. Pasich conducts an active trial, arbitration, and appellate practice. He has negotiated large insurance recoveries for his clients, including recoveries of more than several hundred million dollars, and has served as lead trial counsel in many jury trials. In his most recent trials, Mr. Pasich served as lead trial counsel for Pacific Enterprises in a crime insurance coverage lawsuit, obtaining a $24 million judgment, and as lead trial counsel for Sempra Energy in a suit against an insurance broker, obtaining a $48.5 million jury verdict. He has helped clients obtain more than $2 billion in insurance recoveries since January 1, 2007.

Partner

Michael Petty is a partner in the FDA & Life Sciences Group at King & Spalding in the firm’s Washington, D.C. office, bringing 25 years of experience in FDA regulatory matters from multiple sectors. Prior to joining King & Spalding, Mr. Petty served as Vice President of Development and Regulatory Law at biotechnology company Amgen Inc. He was responsible for building its regulatory law department and for legal support and strategy for biotechnology products, pharmaceuticals, and medical devices in the areas of corporate research and development; corporate regulatory affairs and safety; scientific affairs; global health economics; manufacturing and quality; and worldwide compliance and business ethics. Mr. Petty has been a speaker at dozens of professional conferences, such as FDLI, DIA, RAPS, and ABA, and has authored articles on a number of biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and medical device topics.

Partner

Edward Poplawski is a partner in Sidley Austin's Los Angeles office. He is the Head of the firm’s West Coast Intellectual Property and Technology Practice and Global Co-Chair of the firm’s Intellectual Property Litigation Practice. Mr. Poplawski is also a member of the Firm’s Executive Committee. Since he began practicing law, Mr. Poplawski has devoted his practice to intellectual property litigation and predominantly to patent litigation, including jury trials and proceedings before the International Trade Commission (ITC). He has also litigated and tried cases relating to trademark and copyright infringement, trade secret misappropriation and antitrust violations.

Partner

Benjamin Powell is a partner in WilmerHale's Regulatory and Government Affairs Department, and a member of the Defense, National Security and Government Contracts and Public Policy and Strategy Practice Groups. He is also a member of the firm’s Business Trial Group and Government and Regulatory Litigation Practice Group in the Litigation/Controversy Department. Mr. Powell’s practice focuses on government and regulatory litigation, public policy, commercial litigation, Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) issues, and advising on issues related to information technology. Most recently, Mr. Powell was General Counsel of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI). He previously served as Special Assistant to the President and Associate White House Counsel.

Partner

Melinda Riechert is a partner in Morgan Lewis's Labor and Employment Practice. Ms. Riechert specializes in litigation and arbitration of employment disputes for a number of major high-technology and other companies, including defending companies in wrongful termination, discrimination, and sexual harassment disputes. She also counsels employers on how to avoid litigation. Some of her recent litigation experiences includes obtaining summary judgment for a technology industry employer in a case involving a former employee claiming she was terminated because she required an accommodation for a disability and winning an arbitration award for a technology industry employer in an action brought by a former C-level employee who was asserting claims for severance pay while the company claimed he had violated a non-compete agreement.

Partner

Lee Rubin is a civil and criminal litigator with extensive experience in private practice and in the government, where he served as a prosecutor in the Department of Justice and as an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Columbia. Mr. Rubin, who has tried approximately 20 jury trials, has a wide-ranging practice, with a concentration in the defense of corporations and individuals in criminal investigations and prosecutions as well as in civil enforcement actions by government agencies. Mr. Rubin has also served as lead counsel in a number of internal corporate investigations, and has been involved in numerous private securities fraud and antitrust matters. Mr. Rubin has represented companies and individuals in export control investigations, securities fraud and antitrust and tax investigations and prosecutions conducted by the Department of Justice, as well as in civil enforcement investigations and actions by the SEC, Department of State and IRS.

Chief Patent Counsel

David P. Ruschke is Chief Patent Counsel of Medtronic CardioVascular located in Santa Rosa, CA. He manages a team of 15 attorneys, agents, and paralegals, providing services and counseling on all matters related to intellectual property, including patent litigation, product clearances, patent prosecution, due diligence, mergers and acquisitions, licensing, third-party agreements, opinions, copyrights, and trademarks. Prior to his present position, David worked at Medtronic, Inc. at its world headquarters located in Minneapolis, MN, where he supported Medtronic’s Corporate Science and Technology division. Previously, David was employed by the law firm of Covington & Burling in Washington, DC, where he engaged in patent litigation and prosecution, counseling, and opinion work in a variety of technical areas.

Partner

John G. Ryan focuses his practice on tax planning and audit defense, most notably in connection with international transactions and the development and use of intellectual property. Mr. Ryan is a frequent speaker at the Tax Executives Institute and other professional organizations, discussing topics such as research and foreign tax credits, international restructurings, and transfer pricing. He has also taught courses on international and partnership issues for the LL.M. program at Golden Gate University. Mr. Ryan is resident in Bingham's Silicon Valley office.

Partner

Bhanu K. Sadasivan is a partner in the law firm of McDermott Will & Emery LLP and is based in its Silicon Valley office. Dr. Sadasivan's practice focuses on patent and trade secret litigation, with an emphasis in the life sciences area. Prior to joining McDermott, she was an associate at international law firms where she litigated intellectual property matters in federal district courts across the nation and in the International Trade Commission (ITC). Dr. Sadasivan has extensive experience conducting technical analysis regarding the interpretation, validity and infringement of patents. Prior to law school, she was a postdoctoral research fellow at Brigham & Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School and she holds a Ph.D. in immunology.

Partner

Ethan P. Schulman is a partner in Crowell & Moring's San Francisco office and is a member of the firm's Litigation Group. He is an experienced appellate and trial attorney whose practice focuses on appeals, writs, and complex commercial litigation and class actions, including representation of colleges and universities, public entities, law firms and attorneys. Mr. Schulman is certified as an appellate specialist by the Board of Legal Specialization of the State Bar of California and is a member of the California Academy of Appellate Lawyers. He has successfully argued numerous cases before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, the California Supreme Court, and the California Courts of Appeal, and is a member of the Bar of the U.S. Supreme Court.

Partner

Andrew B. Serwin is the founding chair of Foley & Lardner's Privacy, Security & Information Management Practice and is a partner its San Diego/Del Mar and Washington, D.C. offices. Mr. Serwin has handled a number of high-profile privacy and consumer protection matters, including multiple privacy enforcement matters before the Federal Trade Commission and is internationally recognized as one of the leading consumer protection and privacy lawyers. Mr. Serwin advises a number of Fortune 500 and emerging companies regarding global privacy compliance, and technology transactions, with particular emphasis on: international compliance; health care; mobile; behavioral advertising; ECPA and wiretap issues; electronic marketing concerns; security incidents; social media; and compliance with FTC requirements.

Partner

J. Daniel Sharp is a partner in Crowell & Moring's San Francisco office, and a member of the firm's Litigation Group. Mr. Sharp practices in trial and appellate courts and arbitration in several specialized fields, including real estate and mortgage banking, professional liability, corporate control disputes, insurance coverage, and the representation of individual investors, corporate officers, and directors. Prior to joining Crowell & Moring, Mr. Sharp was a partner with the San Francisco firm of Folger Levin & Kahn LLP. He joined that firm after clerkships with Judge John T. Noonan, Jr., of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and Judge Charles A. Legge, of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.

Partner

Gregory Silberman's practice emphasizes the representation of domestic and foreign clients in the legal and business issues related to the development and deployment of information technology business and technology services for Fortune 500 and other companies. His practice also includes patent prosecution, technology licensing, cryptography, privacy-related issues and technologies, and advanced technology transactional work, including outsourcing, disaster recovery/business continuity planning, and strategic intellectual property management. Mr. Silberman's Internet practice includes negotiating and preparing the full range of Internet and E-Commerce agreements, including content and database licensing agreements; website development, hosting and linking agreements; Internet service provider agreements; ASP service level agreements; and advertising, co-branding, affinity marketing and sponsorship agreements.

Partner

Jennifer Stanley's practice concentrates on structuring, drafting and negotiating complex commercial transactions relating to intellectual property, with a particular focus on new media, including video game development agreements (online, offline and mobile), video and user generated content uploading and distribution agreements, copyright counseling, eCommerce counseling, online advertising agreements (advertiser and publisher), social networking, technology development and distribution agreements, inbound and outbound technology license agreements, strategic alliances, and intellectual property issues arising in mergers and acquisitions. Ms. Stanley is a member of the firm's transactional Privacy and Information Security practice, assisting clients to confront and manage the international risks associated with handling consumer and employee information.

John Steele’s practice emphasizes legal ethics, the law of lawyering, and risk management. He offers counseling, opinion letters, and expert witness engagements. Mr. Steele taught approximately 25 semesters as adjunct lecturer in legal ethics at UC-Berkeley School of Law (Boalt Hall), Stanford Law School, and Santa Clara University School of Law. He was a Visiting Professor at Indiana University (Maurer School of Law) in the Spring of 2010. He is a former member, COPRAC (2005-08) (State Bar of California’s Standing Committee on Professional Responsibility and Conduct).

Associate

Jenny Teaford is an associate in Farella Braun + Martel’s Business Litigation practice. In her litigation practice, Ms. Teaford represents businesses and individuals in commercial civil matters, including breach of contract, business torts, legal malpractice, and bankruptcy-related litigation. She is currently defending a private mortgage insurance company against claims of trade secret misappropriation and unfair competition, and she was part of a team that obtained an arbitration award of more than $43 million in a trade secret action on behalf of a computer chip manufacturer in a two-week international arbitration. In her counseling practice, Ms. Teaford has advised on mobile payment regulations and coordinated a renewable energy company’s response to the federal government in connection with numerous Freedom of Information Act requests.

Partner

Elaine Tseng is a partner with King & Spalding’s FDA & Life Sciences Practice Group. After prior practice with the group as an associate and partner-elect, Ms. Tseng rejoined the group following service as Regulatory Counsel at the Food and Drug Administration, where she received the Department of Health and Human Services Secretary’s Award for Distinguished Service and other FDA honors. In her practice, she advises medical device, pharmaceutical, and biotechnology companies on a variety of FDA approval, compliance, and enforcement matters. Ms. Tseng has been invited to speak on topics of FDA regulation for groups including the American Conference Institute (ACI), the Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed), the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), and the Center for Business Intelligence (CBI).

Senior IP Counsel

Greg Warder is the Director of Intellectual Property at Integrated Device Technology, Inc., a mixed-signal semiconductor company headquartered in San Jose, CA. He is responsible for overseeing all IP-related legal matters, including management of patent litigation, technology licensing, negotiation of M&A matters covering IP assets, and development and implementation of policies for the protection of corporate IP. He also supervises the prosecution, maintenance and enforcement of over 1000 issued patents and pending applications, as well as a large portfolio of company trademarks. Prior to joining IDT in 2006, Mr. Warder was in private practice at Manatt, Phelps and Phillips, LLP. He has also served as an examiner at the US Patent and Trademark Office, and worked for several years as an engineer in the electronics and telecommunications industries before becoming an attorney.

VP & General Counsel

Partner

Tom Wilson’s practice involves all aspects of labor and employment law, including litigation before the federal and state courts and administrative agencies. He has represented employers in wage-and-hour class actions and other complex employment matters involving employment discrimination claims, wrongful discharge and retaliation claims, and trade secrets and employee raiding cases. Among the clients for whom Mr. Wilson has tried cases are Lockheed, the Pebble Beach Corporation, General Motors, Xerox, and ActivCard. During his tenure with the firm, Mr. Wilson has authored and co-authored more than a dozen articles in publications such as the Employment Law Journal, the University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform, the Stanford Law Review, the National Law Journal, the ALI-ABA Course Materials Journal, the Practicing Law Institute, and the Stanford Lawyer.

Vice President and General Counsel

Debra Zumwalt is the Vice President and General Counsel for Stanford University and responsible for the legal work for Stanford University, Stanford Hospital & Clinics and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital. Ms. Zumwalt was a partner at Pillsbury Winthrop LLP from 1993-2001. She specialized in complex civil litigation and higher education law. Ms. Zumwalt was the managing partner of the Silicon Valley office and a member of the firm's governing board. Between 1987 and 1993, she was a Senior University Counsel at Stanford. In this role, she was responsible for advising and representing the University in connection with congressional hearings, criminal and civil investigations, negotiations and litigation with the government concerning federal payments for research. Ms. Zumwalt also represented the University in other litigation such as a challenge to the NCAA drug testing program, employee whistleblower litigation and toxic tort cases.