Morrison Foerster — United States

Aaron Rubin

Aaron Rubin | Morrison Foerster Aaron is the chair of the firm’s Technology Transactions Group and co-chair of the Interactive + Digital Media Group. He advises clients on a wide range of complex transactions involving intellectual property and technology, including structuring and negotiating strategic licensing, development, collaboration, procurement, and distribution deals. Aaron’s practice focuses on advising both established and emerging companies in a variety of data- and technology-intensive sectors, including software, SaaS, cloud-based technology, digital media (social media, AR/VR, gaming, streaming media, AdTech), AI, healthcare, consumer electronics, e-commerce, other online business models, and mobile applications. He also maintains an active practice counseling companies on branding and marketing, trademark licensing, and content-related transactions, as well as the intellectual property aspects of mergers, acquisitions, asset spin-offs, and private equity investments. He has represented clients such as Autodesk, Meta, OpenAI, Splunk, Konami, Kaiser Permanente, SoftBank, Visa, and Yahoo, among others. · Technology Transactions

Adam Hunt

Adam J. Hunt | Morrison Foerster Adam J. Hunt is a partner in the Litigation Department of Morrison Foerster’s New York office. His practice focuses on complex litigation, with an emphasis on class action and commercial litigation. Mr. Hunt has extensive experience representing consumer products companies, financial institutions, and technology firms in class action cases and complex commercial disputes before state and federal trial courts, as well as in arbitrations. Clients seek Mr. Hunt’s counsel for his creative, strategic thinking in high-stakes, high-profile matters. He has represented clients facing claims under false advertising, antitrust, and privacy laws throughout the country, securing wins at the pleading stage, summary judgment, and trial, in addition to negotiating favorable settlements, often early in the case. Representative experience includes successfully securing rulings dismissing two putative false advertising class action cases against one of the best-known consumer electronics companies in the world; obtaining a complete win on summary judgment for a major shipping and logistics company in a multimillion-dollar commercial dispute; appearing as counsel at trial for a leading financial institution in a $100 million commercial dispute, winning a bench trial verdict; and prevailing on motions to dismiss false advertising class actions against a leading Greek yogurt company. Mr. Hunt is also an editor of the firm’s Class Dismissed blog, which provides insights, recommendations, and timely reports on the latest defense news, developments, and trends in the most current class action lawsuits that affect consumer-facing companies. Mr. Hunt maintains an active pro bono practice and is the recipient of the New York State Bar Association’s 2017 President’s Pro Bono Service Award for the First Judicial Department, the 2018 Public Service Award from New York University School of Law, and Morrison Foerster’s Kathi Pugh Award for Pro Bono Services. Mr. Hunt received his B.A. with honors from Swarthmore College and his J.D. cum laude from New York University. · Complex Litigation

Aileen McGrath

Aileen M. McGrath | Morrison Foerster Aileen McGrath, a partner in Morrison Foerster’s Appellate and Supreme Court practice, leads high stakes appeals in the U.S. Supreme Court and appellate courts across the country, with a particular focus on courts in California. Aileen’s clients describe her as “one of the best writers I have ever seen,” uniquely skilled at developing “the most effective strategy” in bet-the-company cases, and “extraordinarily knowledgeable.” (Chambers USA) A broad range of sophisticated clients turn to Aileen to lead their appeals. Aileen has a robust track record, including arguing in the U.S. Supreme Court and leading many other Supreme Court matters at the merits and certiorari stages. She has also argued multiple appeals in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and California Courts of Appeal, and she has led representations at the California Supreme Court. Aileen is recognized as a rising star in appellate litigation in California. She is ranked in the "Up and Coming" category for Litigation: Appellate in California by Chambers USA. Additionally, The Legal 500 has named her a "Next Generation Partner" in the Appellate: Supreme Courts (States and Federal) practice area. Aileen possesses deep expertise in multiple areas of law, including class actions, consumer protection cases, constitutional and civil rights issues, labor and employment matters, state and local government litigation, and state and federal administrative proceedings. Beyond her appellate engagements, she is actively involved at the trial court level, collaborating with clients as a creative problem-solver and trusted strategic advisor. Before joining Morrison Foerster, Aileen was the Co-Chief of Appellate Litigation at the San Francisco City Attorney’s Office. Previously, she served as Deputy City Attorney on the Complex and Affirmative Litigation team. Throughout her service in the Office, she acted as lead counsel for San Francisco in numerous significant matters at all levels of the California state and federal courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court and California Supreme Court. Aileen is an active member of the Bar Association of San Francisco and the Association of Business Trial Lawyers Northern California chapter. Aileen maintains a robust pro bono practice, and she has been recognized by the International Municipal Lawyers Association and the California County Counsel’s Association for her dedication to local-government public interest work. She regularly guest lectures about oral advocacy and effective appellate writing at law schools across the country, including Yale Law School, UC Berkeley School of Law, UC Law San Francisco, and American University Washington College of Law. Aileen also frequently speaks publicly about the U.S. Supreme Court and the California Supreme Court. Aileen served as a law clerk to Justice Stephen Breyer of the U.S. Supreme Court and then-Chief Judge Michael Boudin of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. She also served as a chambers attorney at the California Supreme Court for Justice Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar. Aileen earned her J.D., magna cum laude, from Harvard Law School, where she was awarded the prestigious Sears Prize, recognizing the top two students in her class. She also served as president of the Harvard Law Review. She received her B.A., magna cum laude, from Columbia University. Representative Experience Sheetz v. County of El Dorado (audio recording). Argued on behalf of California local government in a U.S. Supreme Court property-rights case with significant national implications for land-use planning. Successfully opposed a U.S. Supreme Court petition for certiorari in a Fourth Amendment case involving a circuit conflict. Armstrong v. Michaels Stores, Inc. (audio recording). Argued and won a Ninth Circuit appeal in a case seeking to upend the standard for analyzing waiver of the right to move to compel arbitration. Successfully defeated class certification on behalf of a leading telecommunications company, and successfully led appellate representation to defeat plaintiffs’ Rule 23(f) petition for Ninth Circuit interlocutory review. Successfully represented American Indian tribe before the Second Circuit in a significant Indian law case challenging New York State officials’ operation of state highway across tribe’s reservation. City & County of San Francisco v. Barr (audio recording). Successfully challenged federal government’s denial of Byrne JAG funding for sanctuary cities, including briefing and arguing appeal before Ninth Circuit and opposing petition for certiorari. Successfully briefed and argued appeal in landmark California water rights case challenging the operation of the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir. Rivera v. Garland (audio recording). Argued and won a Ninth Circuit immigration victory in a case seeking asylum for a mother and her young daughter who fled gang violence in El Salvador. Defeated petition for en banc review in D.C. Circuit appeal challenging Department of Interior’s tribal land trust decision. Successfully defended local government retail ordinance against a dormant Commerce Clause challenge. Served as key drafter of the U.S. Supreme Court merits briefing in Hollingsworth v. Perry, which secured marriage equality in California. Defeated election challenge to a San Francisco ballot initiative. · Appellate

Alexander Okuliar

Click here for attorney bio. Alex Okuliar is Co-Chair of Morrison Foerster’s Global Antitrust Law Practice Group. He was the Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Civil Antitrust Enforcement at the U.S. Department of Justice during the first Trump Administration and, earlier in his career, an advisor at the Federal Trade Commission. His practice includes litigation, merger reviews, and government investigations. “The ‘excellent’ Alex Okuliar has a broad practice taking in merger clearance, conduct investigations and antitrust litigation. He is particularly noted for his work on behalf of media and technology companies.” – Chambers USA, DC Antitrust Alex represents clients in lawsuits in federal and state courts around the United States. He has helped clients succeed in a wide range of cases, including class actions and private party disputes alleging price fixing, monopolization, group boycotts, market allocation, and tying. He also regularly represents clients in merger and conduct investigations by the U.S. Department of Justice, the Federal Trade Commission, state Attorneys General, and foreign agencies, including the European Commission and the UK Competition and Markets Authority. He has guided clients through the complex global merger clearance process and litigated agency merger challenges through trial. Alex has a history of notable agency leadership experience. He was appointed the Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Civil Enforcement in the DOJ Antitrust Division during the first Trump Administration and in that role oversaw more than 150 career staff, dozens of complex merger investigations, and an industry-wide review of online platforms. He was also one of the principal architects and leaders of the agency’s landmark search monopolization case against Google (U.S. v. Google). Earlier in his career, Alex served as an attorney advisor to former FTC Commissioner Ohlhausen and a trial attorney in the DOJ Antitrust Division. Prior to his service as Deputy AAG, Alex was a partner at another international law firm. Alex is a thought leader and a frequent writer and speaker. He currently serves as the co-chair of the ABA Antitrust Law Section’s Joint Conduct Committee, and is the former chair of the Section’s Intellectual Property Committee and co-chair of the 2023 Antitrust Fall Forum on Artificial Intelligence. He is also a member of the Corporations, Securities & Antitrust Executive Committee of The Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies. Alex serves on Morrison Foerster’s AI Steering Committee and Life Sciences Steering Committee. Alex has also edited or contributed to leading antitrust treatises and handbooks, including Antitrust Law Developments (7th edition), the Premerger Notification Practice Manual (3rd and 4th editions), and the Intellectual Property and Antitrust Handbook (2nd edition). Before law school, Alex co-founded and sold an online technology company. Representative Experience Merger Review and Litigation Alex has worked on nearly a thousand deals across many industry sectors over his roughly 25-year career. He has handled dozens of second requests and litigated merger cases through trial. Clients appreciate the range and depth of experience he can offer them. As one client noted in The Legal 500 U.S. Antitrust: Merger Control guide, “Alex Okuliar brings a deep knowledge of the law and economics of antitrust, and the ability to frame that knowledge within the unique circumstances of the digital economy.” His notable public representations include: Microsoft in many deals, including its $7.5 billion acquisition of GitHub, an AI-powered developer platform. Unity Software Inc. in multiple transactions, including its all-stock $4.4 billion acquisition of ironSource and the concurrent $1 billion PIPE investment in the company by Silver Lake and Sequoia, and in response to the related $13.6 billion unsolicited acquisition proposal from AppLovin Corporation. Hispanic Broadcasting Company in its $3 billion sale to Univision, which closed with a settlement after a year-long DOJ Second Request investigation. AVG Technologies in its $1.3 billion sale to Avast Software, maker of antivirus and security software. ShowingTime, a leading proptech company, in its $500 million sale to Zillow, which cleared successfully without conditions after a Second Request investigation by the FTC. Propel Media in federal court to defend against the FTC’s challenge to its proposed acquisition by IQVIA. Enterprise Products Partners in multiple deals, including its $13 billion acquisition of GulfTerra, which closed with limited divestitures after an FTC Second Request investigation. Nova Chemicals in its joint venture to build a $1.7 billion ethylene cracker and a polyethylene plant in Texas with Borealis and Total. Meade Pipeline Co. in the $1.37 billion sale of its natural gas pipeline system to NextEra Energy Partners. Sugar Foods Corporation in its sale to Pritzker Private Capital. Infineon Technologies AG in the sale of its HiRel DC-DC converter business to Micross Components, Inc. Cisco in multiple matters, including its $600 million acquisition of SD-WAN provider, Viptela. Kindred Biosciences in its approximately $450 million sale to Elanco Animal Health. Otsuka Pharmaceuticals in its roughly $250 million acquisition of ADHD-drug developer, Neurovance. While serving at the DOJ and FTC, Alex investigated or oversaw the review of hundreds of transactions, including the $180 billion merger of United Technologies and Raytheon, NASDAQ’s proposed $11 billion acquisition of NYSE Euronext, Deutsche Boerse’s proposed $10 billion acquisition of NYSE Euronext, Waste Management’s $4.6 billion acquisition of Advanced Disposal Services, Liberty Latin America’s $1.95 billion purchase of AT&T Puerto Rico, Google’s $2 billion acquisition of Fitbit, Google’s $700 million acquisition of ITA Software, Reading Health System’s proposed acquisition of Surgical Institute of Reading, and Universal Health Service’s acquisition of Ascend Health Corporation, among many others. Antitrust Conduct Litigation Alex has represented clients in some of the most significant antitrust cases of the last twenty years, including government enforcement, class actions and private party disputes, and has represented both plaintiffs and defendants. As The Legal 500 U.S. Antitrust: Civil Litigation/Class Actions Defense guide noted, “Alex Okuliar litigates cutting-edge antitrust topics such as platform competition and data collection as well as media cases.” His thought leadership on class action issues has also been cited by courts (See In re GPU Antitrust Litigation, 253 F.R.D. 478, 492–3 (2008)). His current representations include: Avadel, a leading biopharmaceutical company, in Jazz Pharmaceuticals v. Avadel CNS Pharmaceuticals (D. Del.), an antitrust counterclaim alleging monopolization and other unlawful conduct by Jazz Pharmaceuticals. Avadel alleges that Jazz improperly listed a distribution system patent in the FDA’s Orange Book to extend its monopoly power over certain narcolepsy drugs. The New York Times coverage of the case can be found on the The New York Times website. The FTC also filed an amicus brief explaining to the Court the harm to competition from such listings. Icon, a real estate development company, in Icon v. Southwest Regional Council of Carpenters, et al. (C.D. Cal.), a federal antitrust lawsuit against two unions and other co-conspirators. Icon alleges the unions are attempting to monopolize certain labor markets, among other unlawful conduct, by submitting sham environmental petitions to slow or block new real estate developments and then offering to abandon those petitions in exchange for hiring of union labor. See the press coverage in Bloomberg. Provi, an e-commerce platform, in Tiz (d/b/a Provi) v. Southern Glazer’s and Republic National Distribution Co. (N.D. Ill.), an antitrust claim alleging monopolization, tying, and group boycott, among other conduct, by the nation’s largest alcohol distributors to eliminate new and innovative online marketplace competition from Provi. See coverage of the case by Politico. A large national consumer products company (E.D. Pa) in its defense against a monopolization case alleging deceptive conduct before a standard-setting organization and patent holdup related to an alleged standard essential technology patent. A national financial institution in its defense against state law claims of unfair competition in connection with a business transaction. Some of his other clients include: Asiana Airlines in In re Korean Air Lines Co. Antitrust Litigation (C.D. Cal.) against an MDL class action alleging price-fixing of passenger air fares. He prevailed on motion to dismiss claims of indirect purchasers of passenger air fares, which was upheld in relevant part on appeal, and the remainder of the case settled. See In re Korean Air Lines Co. Antitrust Litigation, 567 F. Supp. 2d 1213 (C.D. Cal. 2008), aff’d in part, vacated in part, 642 F.3d 685 (9th Cir. 2011). Asiana Airlines in In re Air Cargo Shipping Services Antitrust Litigation (E.D.N.Y), an MDL class action alleging price-fixing of cargo shipping fees. The case was ultimately settled. Capital One in In re Payment Card Interchange Fee and Merchant Discount Litigation (E.D.N.Y.), where he defended the client against alleged price-fixing claims related to credit card interchange fees. This matter ultimately settled. Capital One in American Express v. Visa, et al. (S.D.N.Y.), where he defended the client against group boycott claims alleging that certain exclusive bylaws for the Visa and Mastercard credit card networks represented an agreement to boycott American Express. The case settled after years of litigation. Honeywell in Wright v. Honeywell (Vt.), McKinnon v. Honeywell (Me.), Fagan v. Honeywell (Mass.), and Roos v. Honeywell (Cal.), where he defended the client against class actions in several state courts alleging monopolization of certain home thermostats. Certain cases were dismissed after briefing and oral argument and others were ultimately settled. The United States in United States v. Google (search) (D.D.C.), in its landmark monopolization case against a leading online search engine. He served as the senior Antitrust Division official overseeing the DOJ staff team to develop and prosecute the lawsuit. A leading online professional networking site in its defense against unfair competition claims based on allegations that the site had blocked a competing site from scraping its data to develop another service. A leading medical imaging technology company in an antitrust counterclaim related to a patent infringement action. An online media streaming company in an antitrust counterclaim against the major national television broadcasters related to a copyright infringement lawsuit. Government Investigations & Policy Advocacy Alex also handles investigations, compliance counseling, and policy advocacy for governmental entities. As one client noted in The Legal 500 U.S. Antitrust: Cartels guide, “Alex Okuliar brings a calm and thoughtful approach to the matters he advises on. He has good judgment and delivers advice in a user-friendly format. He stays current on emerging issues in antitrust law and provides a helpful perspective on areas of risk and how to best address those areas.” Some of his matters include representing: An AI company in an FTC investigation of a technology platform. A technology company in its defense against an FTC investigation into an alleged order violation. A major chemical company as a leniency applicant in a DOJ criminal price-fixing investigation. An airline in various DOJ criminal cargo and passenger airfare antitrust investigations. A technology company in a DOJ investigation of an alleged no-poach agreement relating to employee hiring. A major energy company as a third-party complainant and witness in an FTC investigation leading to litigation against the merging companies. An energy company in an internal investigation of trading activity related to allegations of price fixing. A major hospital system in a state AG price-fixing and market allocation investigation. A ticket reseller in a state AG consumer protection investigation. Clients advocating to government agencies on issues relating to technology platforms, mergers, and issues involving antitrust and intellectual property. · Litigation

Alfredo Silva

Alfredo B. D. Silva | Morrison Foerster Alfredo Silva is a partner in the Transactions Department, co-chair of the firm's Social Enterprise and Impact Investing Group, and a member of the ESG Strategy Committee. Alfredo represents companies and investors in a broad range of corporate and securities law matters, with a focus on businesses in the life sciences, agtech and fintech sectors. Alfredo’s practice includes capital markets transactions, venture capital, growth equity and corporate venture financings, tender offers and other secondary offerings, digital token matters, and mergers and acquisitions. Alfredo also helps clients leverage environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors to evaluate risk and opportunities and to invest responsibly in businesses seeking sustainable growth and impact. In his private company practice, Alfredo has served as company or investor counsel in early- and late-stage financings, minority strategic investments and impact investments in dozens of private companies, including representation of SoftBank and SoftBank Vision Fund in financings with a combined value of over $2 billion, Temasek in its $800 million minority investment in Verily Life Sciences, an Alphabet company, and Visa Ventures in strategic fintech investments around the world. · Corporate Law

Alice Connaughton

Alice L. Connaughton | Morrison Foerster Alice Connaughton is co-chair of the firm’s REIT practice and a partner in Morrison Foerster’s Capital Markets practice group. Ali’s practice focuses on representing public and private companies, including real estate investment trusts (REITs) and other direct participation programs, in a variety of corporate and securities matters, including, among other things, public and private securities offerings and tender offers. Ali regularly advises boards of directors, audit committees, and management with respect to strategic matters and corporate governance issues. Ali also routinely counsels public company clients with respect to complex regulatory matters, compliance with federal and state securities laws, corporate governance and general corporate matters. · Capital Markets

Alyssa Monsen

Alyssa B. Monsen | Morrison Foerster Alyssa Monsen is a seasoned lawyer specializing in life sciences patent litigation. Her legal practice is concentrated in U.S. federal district and appellate courts, as well as inter partes review proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. Alyssa has a robust track record of representing innovator pharmaceutical companies in high-stakes litigation, with a focus on therapies related to oncology, ophthalmology, and infectious diseases. Her experience spans all phases of patent litigation, encompassing pre-litigation strategic planning, trial, and appeals to the Federal Circuit. Additionally, Alyssa is skilled in advising clients on patent portfolio assessment, due diligence, and strategies for international patent enforcement. · Patent Litigation

Andrew Campbell

Andrew P. Campbell | Morrison Foerster Andy’s practice focuses on representing issuers and underwriters in capital markets transactions and advising public and private companies on a variety of other corporate and securities matters, including strategic transactions, corporate governance matters, and compliance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the listing standards of securities exchanges. Andy has extensive experience advising both issuers and underwriters in initial public offerings and other registered and unregistered offerings of common and preferred equity, debt, and equity-linked securities. He also serves as primary outside counsel to a number of public and private companies and regularly advises members of management and boards of directors regarding corporate and securities matters. · Capital Markets

Andrew Turnbull

Andrew R. Turnbull | Morrison Foerster Andrew Turnbull co-chairs the firm’s Global Employment + Labor Group and DEI Strategy + Defense Task Force. He has extensive experience advising, defending, and investigating high stakes and class discrimination, harassment, and whistleblower claims, including enforcement actions by EEOC, DOL, DOJ Civil Rights, ICE, and similar state agencies. He is also well versed in defending and pursuing employee mobility and trade secret misappropriation claims, including breach of non-competes, non-solicits, and non-disclosures claims as well as and duty of loyalty and trade secrets claims. Andrew also routinely defends and advises companies, board of directors, and executives on the significant reputational, business, and compensation issues arising from executive disputes. · Labor And Employment

Anita Choi

Anita Choi | Morrison Foerster Anita Choi has decades of experience providing strategic advice to companies and investors in the Life Sciences and Food + Agriculture industries. She has helped start-up companies build IP portfolios around their core technologies, and counseled them on issues related to patents versus trade secrets. She has worked with larger, more established companies to manage global patent portfolios in a way that integrates IP with their business models. Combining her legal and business expertise enables her to navigate complex challenges that require complex solutions hence why she is so often called upon by clients to help with assessing, building and strengthening patent portfolios. She has also counseled investors in IP due diligence, identifying critical issues that may affect valuation and risk assessment in deals. Anita is part of the Life Sciences + Healthcare Leadership Team, as well as the Food + Agriculture Leadership Team within the firm. She co-leads the firm’s Chemistry Subgroup within the patent practice, which covers both the Pharmaceuticals and Materials sector within the chemistry space. She also co-leads the firm’s Food + Agriculture patent practice. Anita’s clients praise her ability to quickly gain a deep understanding of their technology and business, which allows her to think critically, creatively and practically in patent portfolio management. · Patent Prosecution

Anna Erickson White

Anna Erickson White | Morrison Foerster Anna has almost 30 years of experience in securities and other complex, high-stakes civil litigation. She has represented companies, as well as their officers and directors, in securities class actions, derivative suits, merger and acquisition litigation, and general commercial disputes. She also regularly advises boards and management on disclosure and high-profile governance issues. Her clients span a range of industries including technology, life sciences, renewable energy, gaming, and financial services. In recognition of her ability to add real value to clients’ businesses, Anna was named a Client Choice Award winner. She is also recommended by Chambers USA and Legal500 US for securities litigation defense and most recently was honored with Euromoney LMG’s “Outstanding Achievement” award, which is given to a lawyer with an illustrious career and considerable achievements who has earned unanimous market recognition and praise. She was also recently named a “Top Woman Lawyer” in California by Daily Journal and was previously named a “Woman Worth Watching” by Profiles in Diversity Journal in 2014. Anna is also a frequent speaker on securities litigation and corporate governance topics and is regularly quoted in publications such as the Daily Journal, The Recorder, and Law360. Some recent engagements include: Stanford Directors' College Practising Law Institute Benchmark Women in Litigation Women in Securities (WISe) Directors Roundtable · Securities Litigation

Anthony Carbone

Anthony J. Carbone | Morrison Foerster Anthony J. Carbone is a partner in our New York Office and the former chair of the Tax practice. His practice focuses on tax planning strategies and the tax consequences of a wide range of business, investment and capital markets transactions in the U.S. and internationally. He advises clients on all forms of mergers and acquisitions, reorganizations, fund formation and leveraged buyouts representing private equity funds, deal sponsors, investment banks, commercial banks and hedge funds, as well as venture capital, real estate and other funds (foreign and U.S.), acquiring target companies, and management groups. · Tax

Anthony Fiotto

Anthony Fiotto | Morrison Foerster Tony Fiotto is a first-chair trial and arbitration lawyer with more than 35 years of experience representing clients in general commercial and securities litigation, as well as merger and acquisition (M&A) disputes. Over the span of his career, Tony has represented clients in a wide range of litigation matters, including those pertaining to private equity, venture capital, real estate investment, hospitality, and healthcare and life sciences. He is also highly regarded for his work in alternative dispute resolution and has represented clients from diverse industries in mediations and arbitrations. Tony has successfully obtained numerous dismissals before trial for a broad range of clients facing shareholder class actions and derivative lawsuits challenging mergers. He has also represented clients in dissenting shareholder appraisal proceedings in Delaware and other states on behalf of subject corporations and dissenting institutional shareholders. Before joining MoFo, Tony was a partner at a leading global law firm, where he previously served as chair of the Securities Litigation, White Collar Defense, and Business Litigation practice groups. Tony received his J.D. from the Boston University School of Law, where he served as the articles editor for the Boston University Law Review. After law school, Tony served as a law clerk for the Honorable Raymond Pettine for the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island. · Commercial Litigation

Anthony Ramirez

Anthony Ramirez | Morrison Foerster Anthony Ramirez is a partner in the Technology Transactions Group in the New York office of Morrison Foerster. Anthony advises clients on general commercial and transactional matters. He regularly advises companies on the IP aspects of their M&A transactions. His clients include technology, digital media and content for television and music, financial services, and communications companies with diverse intellectual property assets and issues. His practice focuses on the legal aspects of developing, licensing, and commercializing technology and intellectual property, as well as negotiating general commercial contracts, including outsourcing transactions, as well as content and data licenses. He regularly assists clients with legal issues relating to licensing and commercialization of digital media and content, digital content that is distributed over the Internet or streamed, mobile applications and social media, as well as the licensing of recorded music for distribution via digital platforms. Anthony is also experienced with issues relating to open-source software, software development, artificial intelligence and machine learning, cloud-based technology, and protection of proprietary information. · Technology Transactions

Arturo González

Arturo González | Morrison Foerster Arturo is one of the nation’s top trial lawyers. One federal judge said his “trial advocacy skills were superior,” while a federal magistrate described his trial skills as “phenomenal.” He is sought after by America’s largest companies, in part because of his ability to communicate with increasingly diverse juries. Arturo has had great success representing both plaintiffs and defendants. He may be the only lawyer in the country to obtain defense victories for clients in multiple billion dollar matters and also four jury verdicts in excess of $10 million, including verdicts of $39.3 and $13.8 million in trade secrets cases. Arturo is a Fellow with the American College of Trial Lawyers and the International Academy of Trial Lawyers and an associate with the American Board of Trial Advocates. · Litigation

Benjamin Fox

Benjamin Fox | Morrison Foerster Ben’s extensive trial practice focuses on high-stakes intellectual property disputes and constitutional issues, among other areas. A former co–chair of the firm’s Global Litigation Department, he also counsels clients on risk assessment and strategies for complex legal problems that cross jurisdictions and practice areas. His industry experience includes representing clients in the electronic entertainment, software and animation, jewelry and consumer goods, and sports and gaming industries, as well as litigation involving medical devices and healthcare technology, financial services, transportation, and commercial real estate projects. He is regularly involved in “bet the company” cases for plaintiffs and defendants in trade secrets, copyright, trademark, and patent litigation, and other commercial disputes. · Intellectual Property Litigation

Bernie Pistillo

Bernie J. Pistillo | Morrison Foerster Bernie Pistillo is a partner in the San Francisco office of the firm’s Federal Tax Group. He regularly advises on the U.S. federal income tax aspects of international and domestic mergers and acquisitions, corporate restructurings and spin-offs, and tax controversy matters in the international area, particularly transfer pricing, the development and exploitation of technology and intellectual property and the structuring of international operations for both start-up entities and existing corporate groups. His practice involves the coordination of tax laws in multiple jurisdictions to develop and implement cross-jurisdictional tax planning, overall operational synergies and worldwide tax minimization strategies. He also is regularly involved in the negotiation of strategic joint ventures and partnerships and the structuring of private equity funds and their investments. Bernie also advises on financial product development and the tax aspects of financial institution and insurance company operations. · Tax

Bindu Donovan

Bindu Donovan | Morrison Foerster Bindu Donovan has been litigating high-stakes intellectual property disputes in the life sciences field for over 25 years. Bindu, a seasoned partner in Morrison Foerster’s Intellectual Property Litigation group specializes in patent litigation in U.S. federal district courts. She has a broad range of experience in life sciences, representing clients in matters related to biologic and small-molecule drugs, medical devices, recombinant proteins, and vaccines. Her extensive portfolio extends to representing innovator companies in Hatch-Waxman cases covering treatments for ADHD, diabetes, influenza, hypertension, and metastatic prostate cancer, including blockbuster drugs. Bindu excels in leading large litigation teams in all aspects of complex patent infringement disputes, including pre-suit investigations, pre-trial and expert discovery, trial preparation, and trial. She is adept at coordinating global strategies for her clients’ most important products. Additionally, her experience includes breach of contract and trade secret disputes, mediation, and arbitration. · Intellectual Property Litigation

Bita Rahebi

Bita Rahebi | Morrison Foerster Bita Rahebi serves as co-chair of Morrison Foerster’s global IP Litigation Group and cross-disciplinary Intellectual Property Group and is a co-leader of its Semiconductor Industry Group. The world’s largest and most innovative technology companies turn to Bita for her trial skills and her strategic direction leading complex, high-stakes litigation matters. She litigates before state and federal trial courts, the Federal Circuit, and the International Trade Commission on a wide range of matters involving semiconductors, software, consumer electronics, medical devices, and standard essential patents (SEPs). As a trial lawyer, Bita is known for zealously representing her clients’ interests. She brings an ability to explain complicated issues to juries and judges, a skill honed through years of experience working with cutting-edge technologies. She has obtained a complete defense victory as lead trial lawyer, invalidated numerous patents, and also obtained winning results for plaintiffs. · Intellectual Property Litigation

Bonnie Lau

Click here for attorney bio. · Investigations

Boris Segalis

Boris Segalis | Morrison Foerster Boris Segalis is a partner in Morrison Foerster’s Privacy + Data Security Group. For over a dozen years, he has counseled clients on privacy and cybersecurity issues in the context of strategic product advice, corporate transactions, and regulatory investigations. Boris regularly advises clients on the development and implementation of data-driven products and services, on global privacy and cybersecurity compliance, and on handling cyber incidents affecting companies and users globally. Boris also regularly defends companies in U.S. federal, state, and global privacy and cybersecurity investigations, including representing clients in front of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the New York and California attorneys general, and foreign regulators. Boris’s practice focuses on advising clients on the requirements of a variety of U.S. privacy and cybersecurity laws, including the California Privacy Rights Act (CCPA/CPRA) and other U.S. state privacy laws; state cybersecurity requirements such as the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS)’s Cybersecurity Regulation; the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA); the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA); CAN-SPAM; NIST’s Cybersecurity Framework (CFS); the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA); and the Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA). Boris regularly advises financial institutions and Fintech companies on the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA), the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), and the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS). Boris also has experience advising companies on privacy concerns stemming from the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) and other biometric data requirements. Boris has a strong command of global privacy and cybersecurity laws and advises companies on regulations such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework, and the EU’s ePrivacy Directive. · Cyber Law

Bradley Lui

Bradley S. Lui | Morrison Foerster Bradley Lui is a partner in Morrison Foerster’s Global Antitrust Litigation Group, where his practice includes the representation of clients in criminal and civil litigation and before federal antitrust enforcement agencies. He has extensive civil and criminal antitrust litigation experience and regularly represents clients before the Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in connection with mergers and acquisitions and cartel matters. He also represents clients in connection with cartel work and other matters before antitrust authorities in jurisdictions abroad, including the EU, Korea, and Japan. Brad has successfully defended clients in government investigations and antitrust litigation involving the rubber chemicals, consumer electronics, telecommunications, and transportation industries. In addition, he has successfully represented plaintiffs in a number of antitrust matters. Brad also provides antitrust counseling to companies in the consumer products, financial, technology, food, and pharmaceutical industries. Brad has served as lead trial counsel in overcharge claims involving over a billion dollars before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the state regulatory commissions. He also has a depth of understanding of leading appellate cases before the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Brad was named one of Lawdragon’s 2022 500 Leading Litigators in America. Prior to joining MoFo, Brad was a trial attorney with the DOJ’s Antitrust Division, where he litigated a price-fixing suit against the major U.S. domestic airlines and was involved in investigations of Microsoft, major airline mergers, and grand jury investigations. He also served as a special assistant U.S. attorney in the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, where he tried criminal cases and handled criminal appeals. Brad has also clerked for Judge Dickran Tevrizian of the United States District Court for the Central District of California. Brad is a resident of our Washington, D.C., office and a member of our San Francisco office. · Antitrust

Brandon Parris

Brandon C. Parris | Morrison Foerster Brandon Parris is a corporate partner and serves as co-chair of the firm's Global Transactions Department. Described as “an exceptional attorney with significant experience and knowledge” by a client in IFLR1000, Brandon Parris maintains an active corporate practice focused on strategic transactions, including complex public and private mergers, tender offers, acquisitions, divestitures, joint ventures and strategic investments. He represents U.S. and global clients, boards of directors, special committees, management teams and companies in a variety of industries, including technology, gaming, energy, media, consumer goods and services, and financial services. Brandon also maintains a public company practice. He advises members of executive management, boards of directors, and special committees on strategic and corporate governance issues, and counsels numerous public companies on all aspects of public company issues. · Mergers and Acquisitions

Brandon Van Grack

Brandon Van Grack - National Security Lawyer | Morrison Foerster Brandon L. Van Grack co-chairs Morrison Foerster’s National Security and Crisis Management groups. His practice focuses on investigations, criminal defense, and compliance matters involving export controls and sanctions, foreign investment, and cyber incidents. Brandon’s arrival to the firm follows more than a decade of service at the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), where he held multiple senior positions. In those positions, he helped manage the U.S. government’s tools to address perceived national security threats in China and Russia, oversaw every criminal investigation involving sanctions and export controls, and was Chief of DOJ’s Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) Unit. Brandon’s leadership and breadth of national security experience offers clients in the financial services, technology, artificial intelligence, defense, media, and communications sectors unmatched insider enforcement perspective across the entire national security landscape, including sanctions, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), export control, cybersecurity matters, and FARA. · CFIUS

Brian Matsui

Brian R. Matsui | Morrison Foerster Brian Matsui co-chairs Morrison Foerster’s Appellate and Supreme Court practice. Brian is a go-to appellate advocate for sophisticated clients in complex appeals. Brian has a nationwide appellate practice. He has argued many cases in federal and state appellate courts throughout the country, winning appeals involving federal preemption, securities litigation and enforcement, consumer class actions, and intellectual property. He has led appeals in the D.C., Second, Fourth, Fifth, Ninth, Eleventh, and Federal Circuits. His arguments include significant victories in class action appeals and in appeals for leading financial services companies, with multiple victories in the Ninth Circuit, where he clerked. Brian recently has gone five for six when representing appellants, including a precedential victory in the Ninth Circuit in a licensing dispute concerning alleged patent misuse. He also argued and won a D.C. Circuit appeal against the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) about the retroactivity of part of the Dodd-Frank Act. As a result of Brian’s win, the SEC had to change its enforcement practices against certain securities industry professionals. Clients frequently turn to Brian for his substantial experience with appeals in the Federal Circuit, praising him as “an invaluable advocate in patent matters” (Chambers USA). Brian has won 13 of his last 15 appeals in that Court. His arguments before the Federal Circuit include winning appeals from district courts, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, and the International Trade Commission. He has handled appeals in a myriad of industries, including mobile devices, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, semiconductors, and software. Brian also plays a key role on trial teams, advising clients on both critical legal issues and appellate preservation. He recently argued and prevailed against a summary judgment invalidity motion in a case involving Chugai Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.’s revolutionary antibody recycling technology, which ultimately led to a $775 million settlement on the eve of trial for Chugai. A former law clerk for the United States Supreme Court, Brian has authored many briefs in that Court, including on important constitutional and statutory interpretation issues. He often represents clients’ interests in amicus briefs in significant Supreme Court cases affecting the business community. Leading publications have recognized Brian for his appellate skills. The Legal 500 US recommends him for appellate litigation, and the National Law Journal named Brian a “Minority 40 Under 40.” Brian also dedicates significant time to pro bono matters. He argued and won two significant appeals—in the Second and Ninth Circuits—obtaining reversals of judgments that had denied private rights of action under the Child Welfare Act in precedential decisions. Brian also led the Morrison Foerster team who co-counseled a successful Eighth Amendment challenge to Florida’s imposition of a “life without the possibility of parole” sentence to a juvenile offender convicted of a non-homicide crime. For years, Brian chaired the ABA’s seven-person Standing Committee for Amicus Curiae Briefs. He served on the American Intellectual Property Law Association’s amicus committee and co-chaired the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association’s amicus committee. Brian served as an appellate lawyer representative for the Ninth Circuit. Brian also serves on the board of directors for the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. Before entering private practice, Brian clerked on the United States Supreme Court for Justice Anthony M. Kennedy. He also clerked for Judge Pamela Ann Rymer in the Ninth Circuit and Judge David F. Levi in the Eastern District of California. While in law school, Brian served as managing editor of Volume 51 of the Stanford Law Review and was elected to the Order of the Coif. · Appellate

Brian Nash

Brian C. Nash | Morrison Foerster Brian Nash co-chair's Morrison Foerster’s global IP Litigation Group and cross-disciplinary Intellectual Property Group. He is also the Managing Partner of the firm's Austin office. An established intellectual property trial attorney and a leader in the Western District of Texas, Brian has managed more than 250 cases involving intellectual property and technology in district courts across the nation, before the PTAB, at the ITC, and on appeal in the Federal Circuit, including matters involving patents, trademarks, trade secrets, and copyrights. Clients also turn to Brian for his ability to analyze and simplify highly technical issues through a legal lens. He combines his experience as a registered patent lawyer and his engineering degree to counsel clients in a wide range of technologies, including semiconductors, programmable logic devices, software, blockchain, e-commerce, digital media, video games, virtual reality, wireless standards, aluminum alloy composition, container fabrication, hydrocarbon exploration, search marketing, geolocation, encryption, image processing, and liquid crystal displays. · Intellectual Property Litigation

Brian Radigan

Brian Christopher Radigan | Morrison Foerster Brian Radigan is a partner in the Federal Tax Group at Morrison Foerster. He has a broad tax practice advising U.S. and non-U.S. clients on complex tax structuring and the tax aspects of corporate transactions. Brian advises private equity funds, startup entities, REITs, and established multinational corporations on the tax aspects of mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, cross-border corporate restructurings, and capital markets transactions. He has a particular focus on international tax, helping clients on cross-border structure formation and tax-driven internal reorganization, navigating tax laws across multiple jurisdictions to maximize global tax efficiency. · Tax

Brigid Bondoc

Brigid DeCoursey Bondoc | Morrison Foerster Brigid is a food, drug, and medical device lawyer who counsels life sciences companies on a wide range of U.S. Food & Drug Administration pre- and post-market regulatory issues. As the lead of our FDA + Healthcare Regulatory and Compliance Group, Brigid practices across the spectrum of FDA-regulated products, including medical devices, drugs, biologics, cell and gene therapies, food, cosmetics, dietary supplements, tobacco, laboratory-developed tests, in vitro diagnostics, radiation-emitting electronic products, combination products, and products that may not fit neatly into any of these categories. Accordingly, she counsels established and start-up companies in life sciences, healthcare, and consumer products on a wide range of FDA pre- and post-market regulatory issues. Brigid also frequently advises innovative product developers on threshold FDA jurisdictional questions and develops strategies for approval and marketing, while identifying and mitigating regulatory risks. · FDA Regulatory

Bryan Wilson

Bryan Wilson | Morrison Foerster Bryan Wilson is a partner in the firm’s Intellectual Property Group. He is a first-chair trial lawyer with an expansive range of experience handling intellectual property matters in a variety of venues. His successful track record in recent years includes trade secrets and patent cases in both state and federal courts as well as in arbitration proceedings. He is co-chair of the firm's Trade Secrets Working Group and former chair of the Litigation Department in the firm's Palo Alto office. Bryan teaches a seminar in trade secret law as a Lecturer in Law at Stanford Law School and is a contributing editor to Trade Secrets (Law and Business 2016). · Intellectual Property

Caitlin Crujido

Caitlin A. Crujido | Morrison Foerster Caitlin Crujido is an associate in the Government Contracts practice in Morrison Foerster’s Washington, D.C. office. Caitlin represents government contractors in a full range of contract matters, including bid protests, contract claims and disputes, mergers and acquisitions, and internal and external investigations. In her litigation practice, Caitlin is often involved with the full life cycle of claims, from preparing requests for equitable adjustment to litigating claims disputes at the Boards of Contract Appeals and the U.S. Court of Federal Claims (COFC). She also regularly represents clients in pre- and post-award bid protests before procuring agencies, the U.S. Government Accountability Office, and COFC. In addition, Caitlin has worked on a number of False Claims Act (FCA) investigations and qui tam actions. In her transactional practice, Caitlin’s experience includes advising on mergers and acquisitions involving both the purchase and sale of government contracting concerns or related assets. Beyond performing due diligence, negotiating purchase agreements, and assisting with post-transaction related filings, Caitlin takes a holistic view to these transactions, working with clients to navigate various strategic and legal considerations. Her practice also includes counseling clients on various compliance and regulatory issues, particularly in the areas of contract and subcontract management. · Government Contracts

Catherine Polizzi

Catherine M. Polizzi Ph.D. | Morrison Foerster Intellectual versatility combined with incisive, pragmatic counseling and business acumen is the hallmark of Catherine’s practice. Catherine helps emerging and established companies through the challenging process of obtaining patents, and provides strategic, effective portfolio counseling and management, as well as strategic advice surrounding freedom of operation and other forms of IP assessment. She develops valuable, strategic portfolios around breakthrough therapies in a variety of areas including cancer, cancer immunotherapy, autoimmune diseases, inflammatory diseases, infectious diseases, cardiovascular diseases, metabolic disorders, and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease. She also has significant experience in a wide spectrum of technology areas, including biologics (such as antibodies, antibody-drug conjugates (ADC), and polypeptides), nucleic acids, precision medicine, diagnostics, cell therapy including T cell technologies, such as chimeric antigen receptors, drug formulation technologies, drug delivery technologies, such as nanotechnologies, microfluidics, drug screening systems, AI solutions for life sciences including discovery platforms, amplification technologies, genetic screening, sequencing technologies including next generation sequencing, regenerative medicine, nutraceuticals, spectroscopy, and organic chemistry, including small molecule drugs. Catherine’s unique background, ability to integrate IP with a given business model to translate into meaningful valuation, risk assessment and advice, and highly effective communication skills in critical settings such as R&D, all phases of product development, and investment contexts, enable her to provide effective, creative solutions to the significant challenges often faced by clients. Catherine is an acquisition and value enhancement driver as well, a critical conduit for companies as they grow from startup through IPO, exit, and beyond. · Healthcare

Charles Capito

Charles L. Capito | Morrison Foerster Charles Capito is a partner in both Morrison Foerster’s National Security and Government Contracts + Public Procurement practices. In the National Security space, he has significant experience counseling clients on the complex and evolving considerations related to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). Charles frequently helps investors and U.S. businesses through every aspect of the CFIUS process, from understanding and allocating CFIUS risk on the front end, to presenting cases before the Committee, to negotiating appropriate mitigation measures, and ultimately to implementing and complying with mitigation agreements after the fact. Charles’ experience includes securing clearances for some of the largest and most sensitive cases reviewed by CFIUS, as well as dozens of more discreet transactions and investments. · National Security

Christin Hill

Christin Hill | Morrison Foerster Christin Hill is a partner in Morrison Foerster’s San Francisco office and a member of the firm's Securities Litigation group. Christin has extensive experience representing clients in securities class actions, derivative actions and other complex civil litigation in both federal and state courts, as well as in government and internal investigations. With over a decade of experience in private practice, Christin has successfully represented public companies and their boards of directors and officers in securities fraud actions, derivative actions, SEC enforcement actions, internal investigations, and general corporate counseling. She also has experience working with pre-IPO companies in complex civil litigation in both federal and state court, internal investigations, responding to government inquiries, and advising on general compliance matters. Before joining Morrison & Foerster, Christin served as senior counsel at Uber Technologies, Inc., where she managed complex civil litigation including consumer class actions, intellectual property matters, and government investigations. She was also a lead member of Uber’s global compliance team, through which she created and implemented new compliance policies and training programs and advised company management in responding to government inquiries. Christin also served as an assistant district attorney in the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office, where she successfully prosecuted three misdemeanor criminal jury trials. Early in her career, she served as a judicial clerk for the Honorable John A. Houston in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California. · Securities Litigation

Christine Wong

Christine Y. Wong | Morrison Foerster Christine Wong focuses her practice on investigations, white collar criminal defense, and cross-border compliance matters. Christine draws on her unique background as an internal advisor and as a federal prosecutor in advising companies, boards and executives in a variety of matters that present significant legal and reputational risk – including white collar criminal and regulatory enforcement, internal investigations and related civil litigation. She also provides ongoing compliance advice to corporate clients. Christine has an active trial practice as first chair in both criminal and civil cases. Christine is a former co-chair of MoFo’s Global Litigation Department and the firm’s Securities Litigation, Enforcement, and White Collar Defense practice group. She also served as an Adjunct Professor at UC Berkeley School of Law, where she taught Civil Trial Practice. Christine served as a federal prosecutor for the Southern District of New York and the Northern District of California, where she investigated a wide range of matters including public corruption, fraud, and organized crime, and served as lead counsel in over a dozen jury trials. She briefed criminal appeals before the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Before joining MoFo, Christine led the development and implementation of the global compliance program for a Fortune 500 multinational corporation, where she served as vice president, head of international compliance. In that capacity, she conducted risk assessments for dozens of entities, which resulted in enacting necessary amendments to business workflows and policies. She was responsible for managing investigations and related litigation, reviewing policies and procedures, developing and delivering training modules, and ultimately reporting to the board of directors. Christine speaks conversational Mandarin and Cantonese. · Investigations

Chrys Carey

Chrys Carey | Morrison Foerster Chrys Carey is an of counsel in the Washington, D.C., office of Morrison Foerster, where he represents clients in a wide variety of derivatives transactions and advises them on derivatives regulatory and compliance issues. Mr. Carey’s clients include investment companies, hedge funds, foreign and domestic banks, central banks, multilateral development banks and corporate end-users. He negotiates ISDA Master Agreements and other trading documents, including prime brokerage documents, clearing and execution agreements and related collateral arrangements. He also advises his clients on a broad array of derivatives regulatory issues arising under the Commodity Exchange Act and the rules and regulations of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Mr. Carey also represents commercial banks, investment banks, investment companies, broker-dealers, hedge funds and asset managers in secondary market loan transactions, including transfers of claims and proceeds resulting from bankruptcies and other restructuring transactions. · Derivatives

Chuck Cotter

Chuck Cotter | Morrison Foerster Chuck Cotter is a partner in the firm’s Emerging Company + Venture Capital practice group in Denver. Chuck advises venture and growth stage companies, helping them to successfully raise capital, negotiate key agreements, manage investor and board dynamics, and through exit. Chuck also regularly advises investment funds in placing capital into consumer products, agtech, and food tech companies. He excels as a practical, business-minded advisor. With sophisticated experience in the consumer products space, including food, beverage, personal care, beauty, and fashion, Chuck has represented such companies and funds in over 200 financing and M&A transactions. · Emerging Company

Claudi Vetesi

Claudia Vetesi | Morrison Foerster Claudia focuses her practice on the defense of consumer class actions and on complex commercial litigation, including unfair business competition, false advertising, product liability, and privacy matters. She is currently representing numerous consumer goods manufacturers and retailers in false advertising and mislabeling class action lawsuits. Claudia also regularly counsels clients in the food, cosmetics, retail, and technology industries. She represents companies in false advertising disputes before the National Advertising Division (NAD) of the Council of Better Business Bureaus, Inc. More about Claudia Claudia is active in MoFo’s pro bono efforts, and recently traveled to El Paso, Texas, to work with families separated and detained at the border. She is also supervising a pro bono collaboration with Equal Rights Advocates, a nonprofit fighting for gender justice in work places and schools across the country. The initiative will help students who have been victims of sexual assault, attempted assault, or harassment find support and seek justice. Claudia is also a board member of Bay Area Legal Aid and a former board member of Equal Rights Advocates. Claudia is an editor and frequent contributor to MoFo’s Class Dismissed blog, which provides reports about the latest defense news, developments, and trends in class action lawsuits and product liability issues that affect consumer-facing companies. Her perspectives are also respected in the larger legal community: Claudia has published articles about class action and false advertising issues, and is a co-author of Chapter 7 — “Unfair Competition in California Business Litigation 2016” — of The Recorder. She also regularly speaks at conferences on class action and advertising trends. Claudia is currently serving as a Lawyer Representative for the Northern District of California. She received her J.D. degree in 2004 from Berkeley Law (Boalt Hall School of Law), where she was an associate editor of the Berkeley Technology Law Journal. · Consumer Class Actions

Cooper Spinelli

Cooper J. Spinelli | Morrison Foerster Cooper Spinelli is a member of the Litigation Department and part of the firm’s Employment & Labor Group. His practice focuses on trade secrets and restrictive covenants, employee mobility and executive disputes, whistleblower claims, and general business litigation. Cooper has represented clients in both affirmative and defensive trade secret misappropriation and employee mobility cases, including cases involving related IP issues. Cooper has, for example, represented a Fortune 50 company in prosecuting an employee-raiding and computer-fraud case against former high-level executives and managers, resulting in a favorable settlement. Cooper also defended a North American provider of IT solutions and services in a series of putative trade secret and employee mobility cases, helping oversee defensive and affirmative litigation across multiple state and federal jurisdictions. And on behalf of a leading multi-cloud security and application management company, Cooper is defending and has helped secure an initial dismissal of a 12-defendant, 26-cause-of-action case in federal court concerning claims of copyright infringement, fraud, and tortious interference based on alleged conduct in Russia and California. · Trade Secrets

Craig Martin

Craig D. Martin | Morrison Foerster Craig Martin serves as co-chair of Morrison Foerster’s Investigations + White Collar Defense and ESG + Sustainability practice groups. Craig has led dozens of internal investigations, often on behalf of audit and special committees. Though Craig most frequently assists with matters involving complex financial accounting and reporting issues, his investigations have covered a broad range of subjects, including corporate disclosures, commercial practices, scientific misconduct, commercial and foreign bribery, and misuse of company assets, among many others. In addition, Craig represents issuers involved in U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) enforcement and U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) investigations. Craig’s clients span various industries, including technology, healthcare and life sciences, financial services, manufacturing, real estate, and agriculture. Craig has obtained excellent results for clients, often in the wake of a serious financial accounting misstatements or disclosure failures. Craig also serves as personal counsel to executives and directors in government and internal investigations. Attuned to the scrutiny that corporate executives can face in the wake of a business setback, Craig has helped CEOs, CFOs, and general counsel successfully navigate parallel SEC, DOJ, and internal investigations. Clients have consistently praised Craig for his sound judgment, investigative experience, pragmatism, and credibility. Craig is regularly recognized by leading industry publications such as Legal 500 US in its Corporate Investigations and White Collar Defense category and Chambers USA’s (California) Litigation: White Collar Crime & Government Investigations category, where a client described Craig as “experienced, poised and patient.” He has also been named to Securities Docket’s “Enforcement Elite,” which recognizes the best securities enforcement defense lawyers in the business. In addition to representing clients, Craig served for a decade as a Firmwide Managing Partner at Morrison Foerster (2012-2022). Craig was an enforcement attorney in the SEC’s San Francisco office from 1999 to 2002. During his tenure at the SEC, he worked closely with attorneys and investigators from DOJ on both financial accounting fraud and insider trading matters. Of particular note, Craig led one of the largest insider trading cases in SEC history, in which 15 individuals were charged with illegal trading. Craig is a leading commentator on internal investigation procedures, securities litigation and enforcement, corporate governance, and compliance, and has been quoted in publications such as the Daily Journal, The Recorder, and GC Magazine. He has also been invited to speak on those topics by prominent industry organizations including the Securities Enforcement Forum, the Practising Law Institute, the Institute for Corporate Counsel, the Institute of Internal Auditors, the National Society of Compliance Professionals, and the Association of Corporate Counsel, among others. Craig earned his B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley. He received his J.D. from Stanford Law School, where he was an associate editor of The Stanford Law Review. · Dispute Resolution

Damien Specht

Damien Specht | Morrison Foerster Damien is a partner in the firm’s Government Contracts & Public Procurement practice. Damien represents clients in all facets of government contracts transactions, as well as regulatory counseling, subcontract and teaming agreement negotiations, contract disputes, size protests, and protests. Damien has been recognized as a leading Government Contracts lawyer by various publications. Chambers USA explains that he “is a strong choice for advising government contractors on M&A transactions,” with sources saying that he has “excellent knowledge of government contracts M&A” and that “his biggest strength is that he is very commercial, thinking about both the legal and business side of things.” National Law Journal named him a Trailblazer and found that federal lawmakers turn to him when they “need expert advice about small-business policy.” Damien has played a significant role in more than 200 government contracts transactions, representing industry leaders, private-equity firms and entrepreneurs. He also regularly serves as lead counsel in high-stakes litigation, including pre- and post-award protests at the GAO, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, and state tribunals, as well as in size protests and appeals · Government Contracts

Daniel Muino

Daniel Muino | Morrison Foerster Dan is an intellectual property litigator and trial lawyer with more than two decades of experience litigating patent, trade secret, and copyright matters in federal courts around the country and at the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC). He is co-lead of the firm’s ITC Working Group and an editor of the MoFo@ITC guide to Section 337 investigations. Dan has led litigation and trial teams in complex IP cases. Most recently, he led the trial team in a confidential arbitration involving complex semiconductor fabrication technology. He was first-chair trial counsel at an ITC trial defending chipmaker Renesas against Broadcom’s patent infringement allegations, which resulted in a complete victory for Renesas before the judge, the Commission, and the Federal Circuit. In the closely-watched Waymo v. Uber autonomous vehicle trade secret litigation, Dan helped lead the technology team defending Uber against Waymo’s claims. He also served as trial counsel at a patent jury trial that resulted in a verdict in favor of client Microscan against competitor Cognex. He managed the trial team for Oracle in its IP lawsuit against Google over the Android operating system, and managed the trial team for Novell in a jury trial that resulted in a complete win against SCO’s claims concerning the ownership of the UNIX copyrights. · Intellectual Property

Daralyn Durie

Daralyn Durie | Trials + Intellectual Property | Morrison Foerster Daralyn Durie is among the top trial lawyers in the country, acting as go-to trial counsel for both plaintiffs and defendants. Daralyn’s exceptional track record has earned her consistent recognition from leading national publications. Chambers has listed her among the top 10 intellectual property lawyers in the U.S. and Law360 has recognized her as an “Icon of IP” and an MVP. Benchmark Litigation reported that “going against her was like going against a boxer in which you know you’re going to get hurt.” She’s a fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers, a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates, and an inductee into the California Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame. Daralyn’s legal career began at Berkeley Law, followed by a clerkship for the Honorable Douglas Ginsburg on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. She became a partner at a litigation boutique in 1999 and, in 2009, co-founded Durie Tangri, a premier litigation boutique that later combined with Morrison Foerster in 2023. In addition to her courtroom successes, Daralyn is actively involved in the legal community. She is a board member of the National Women’s Law Center, a past president of the Northern California Association of Business Trial Lawyers, and served as an adjunct professor at Berkeley Law, where she taught civil trial advocacy. · Intellectual Property

Dario Avram

Dario Avram | Morrison Foerster Darío Avram is co-chair of Morrison Foerster’s Finance Group and a member of the Private Equity Buyouts & Investment Group. His transactional practice is focused on financings and private equity matters, with additional experience in restructurings. Darío regularly represents private equity sponsors and their portfolio companies in a variety of complex U.S. and cross-border financing transactions, including leveraged buyouts, refinancings, and restructurings. He has led transactions covering a range of industries, including technology, financial services, healthcare and life sciences, industrials, professional services, and consumer products, among others. · Finance

David Churchill

Partner and Co-Chair, Government Contracts and Public Procurement practice · Government Contracts

David Cross

Click here for attorney bio. · Antitrust Litigation

David Ephraim

David A. Ephraim | Morrison Foerster David Ephraim serves as co-chair of Morrison Foerster’s Transactions Department and managing partner of the Boston office. He represents banks, other institutional lenders, debt and equity funds, commercial finance companies, mezzanine funds, second lien funds, and various other non–bank lenders. David represents clients on all aspects of secured lending, including asset–based financing, fund finance, venture debt, second lien financing, mezzanine financing, receivables financing, acquisition financing, syndications, loan restructurings, and workouts. A substantial part of his practice involves cross–border financing transactions. · Secured Lending

David Givner

David Givner | Morrison Foerster David represents banks and other institutional lenders, venture debt funds, and other mezzanine funds in single-lender and multi-lender financing arrangements with global companies in the areas of hardware, software, technology, fintech, life sciences, entertainment, cleantech, ESG, and renewable energy. The financing arrangements David has advised on include all aspects of secured and unsecured lending, including asset–based financing, SaaS financing, fintech, second lien financing, mezzanine financing, participation arrangements, syndications intercreditor agreements, subordination agreements, receivables purchase facilities, acquisition financing, loan restructurings, and workouts. · Asset-Based Financing

David Kaufman

David Kaufman | Morrison Foerster David concentrates on structured transactions involving commodities and derivatives. He also has extensive experience with mergers, acquisitions, and corporate reorganizations. David works closely with the firm’s financial institution and end-user clients in the commodity, equity, fixed income, and credit derivative markets, often assisting clients in developing and structuring products and transactions and evaluating such products and transactions under applicable securities and commodities law. In his regulatory work, David focuses on the Commodity Exchange Act and the CFTC’s regulations, including the statutory and regulatory regime resulting from Title VII of the Dodd-Frank Act. David represents major commodities dealers, trading firms, and investments funds, as well as commercial end-users, in commodity-based transactions involving energy, precious and base metals, currencies, and agricultural products. His work in these areas has involved structuring and documenting trading, hedging, financing, supply and offtake, storage, processing, and tolling transactions, together with associated margin and other collateral arrangements. He also represents funds and individuals in negotiating and documenting equity derivative transactions designed to hedge and/or monetize large or illiquid share positions. · Commodities

David Shaw

Click here for attorney bio. · Litigation

David Sturgeon

Dave B. Sturgeon | Morrison Foerster David Sturgeon is a partner in Morrison Foerster’s Federal Tax practice. Dave advises clients on a broad range of complex business transactions, including domestic and cross-border mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, spin-offs and other divestitures, as well as financings, refinancings, restructurings and other business transactions. · Federal Tax

David Wiener

David J. Wiener | Morrison Foerster David is a partner in Morrison Foerster's San Francisco office and a member of the firm’s Securities Litigation group. His practice focuses on the representation of public companies and their officers and directors in securities fraud class actions, shareholder derivative lawsuits, and other high-stakes litigation. He also regularly advises boards and management on shareholder demands, disclosure issues, and governance matters. David has represented clients across a range of industries including technology, social media, manufacturing, financial services, and healthcare, and has litigated at the civil trial and appellate court levels in federal and state courts throughout California and the Delaware Court of Chancery. David’s experience includes defending claims arising under: The Securities Act of 1933 The Securities Exchange Act of 1934 The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act The Securities Litigation Uniform Standards Act The California Corporations Code The Delaware General Corporation Law David received his J.D. from the UC Davis School of Law, where he was elected to the Order of the Coif and was an articles editor of the UC Davis Law Review. He received the UC Davis Law School Medal for the highest academic achievement in his graduating class, as well as seven Witkin awards for the highest academic achievement in specific subjects. David received his B.A. in political science with honors from UC Santa Barbara. · Securities Litigation

Deanne Maynard

Deanne Maynard | Appellate + Supreme Court Lawyer | Morrison Foerster Deanne Maynard, co-chair of Morrison Foerster’s Appellate and Supreme Court practice, is widely recognized as one of the nation’s leading appellate advocates. She has argued 14 cases before the United States Supreme Court and 75 times in appellate courts across the country. In ranking Deanne in Band 1, Chambers USA reports that she is described as a “magnificent and top-notch lawyer” who is “wicked smart.” She is “extremely thoughtful, even-keeled and has a wonderful presence in the courtroom." Legal 500 calls Deanne “one of the finest advocates in the Supreme Court bar,” remarking that “if she is on your team, great. If she’s on the other side, be ready.” Deanne’s winning Supreme Court arguments involve a wide range of issues and industries, including life sciences (Sandoz v. Amgen), intellectual property (MedImmune v. Genentech), antitrust (Pacific Bell v. linkLine), financial services (Ransom v. FIA Card Services), and bankruptcy (RadLAX v. Amalgamated Bank). In Sandoz v. Amgen, the Supreme Court ruled for her client in a closely watched case involving the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act, which provides an approval path for biosimilars. Law360 named Deanne to its exclusive list of Appellate MVPs for this “big victory,” dubbing her a “Legal Lion” three separate times for her work on appeals in this case. LMG Life Sciences also named Deanne Appellate Litigator of the Year. Deanne argues complex, high stakes cases in courts of appeals nationwide. Clients turn to Deanne for crisp, clear briefs and exceptional oral advocacy. Her appellate wins run a gamut of issues from arbitration to antitrust, class actions to contracts, copyright to Commerce Clause, infringement to invalidity, and securities law to statutory interpretation. Clients praise her as “an incredible oral advocate, very prepared and formidable” (Chambers USA), and “a tireless advocate with sterling client skills” (Legal 500). Deanne has particular experience in the Federal and Ninth Circuits. She has argued more than 40 appeals in the Federal Circuit, including wins for both patentees and defendants on a wide range of technologies. Chambers USA ranked Deanne in Band 1 for Intellectual Property Appeals, describing her as “renowned for her track record in bet-the-company disputes.” She also serves as Chair of the Federal Circuit’s Advisory Council, which is a conduit between the Court and the public. In the Ninth Circuit, her many wins include a decision from the en banc Court holding large parts of a California statute unconstitutional as well as a panel decision vacating a $60 million jury verdict. Deanne is annually recommended as a leading lawyer by Chambers USA, Chambers Global, Legal 500 US, and Best Lawyers in America. She is President of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers, an invitation-only organization recognizing distinguished appellate lawyers. Deanne is also a Master in, and Past President of, the Coke Appellate Inn of Court. Deanne is a leader within Morrison Foerster as well, chairing its partner compensation committee and serving on the firm’s leadership team. Before joining the firm, Deanne served as an Assistant to the Solicitor General at the U.S. Department of Justice for five years. She previously was a partner at another major law firm. After law school, Deanne clerked two terms on the United States Supreme Court, one for Justice Stephen Breyer and another for Justice Lewis Powell (Ret.) and Justice John Paul Stevens. Before that, Deanne clerked two years for Judge Stanley Harris on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Deanne graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School, where she was an editor of the Harvard Law Review. She earned a B.A. in English, with distinction, from the University of Virginia. · Appellate Practice

Domnick Bozzetti

Domnick Bozzetti | Morrison Foerster Domnick advises the firm’s clients on all matters relating to executive compensation, with a focus on compensation and benefits aspects of corporate transactions, including mergers, spin-offs and initial public offerings. Domnick also advises a broad range of clients on design and implementation of equity and cash-based incentive arrangements (including compensatory partnership interests), severance, change in control and executive employment agreements, non-qualified deferred compensation plans and related issues concerning tax (including sections 280G and 409A) and securities law issues. His clients range from Fortune 500 companies to emerging growth companies. Domnick also works regularly with public companies in preparing executive compensation disclosures for annual proxy statements and merger proxies, as well as advising on section 16 and other securities law and stock exchange issues relating to equity-based compensation. · Executive Compensation

Doug Mannal

Doug Mannal | Morrison Foerster Doug is a partner in the Business Restructuring + Insolvency Group, based in the New York office. Doug’s practice focuses on representing clients in chapter 11 bankruptcy cases, out-of-court restructurings, and other distressed situations. His clients include official creditors’ committees, ad hoc creditor groups, and individual asset managers, as well as corporate borrowers. On behalf of creditors, Doug implements strategies focused on maximizing creditor recoveries and he has significant experience proposing and confirming plans of reorganization; investigating and prosecuting various estate causes of action; negotiating intercreditor disputes; crafting cash collateral orders, debtor-in-possession/exit financing packages, and creditor-sponsored equity rights offerings; challenging confirmation of nonconsensual chapter 11 plans; terminating exclusivity; participating in 363 sales; and implementing and defending against coercive liability management transactions. On the company side, Doug counsels borrowers navigating the complex legal, financial, and operational issues that arise in distressed situations, implementing both in- and out-of-court restructurings aimed at preserving value. · Bankruptcy

Douglas Mannal

Douglas Mannal advises and represents a diverse range of clients, including ad hoc creditor groups, creditors’ committees, and major secured and unsecured creditors, as well as debtors, bank agents, financial institutions and other parties, in complex Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases, out-of-court restructurings and other distressed situations. · Bankruptcy

Eliot Adelson

Click here for attorney bio. Eliot Adelson is a partner in Morrison Foerster’s Global Antitrust Litigation practice where he handles complex legal issues facing clients in jurisdictions around the world. He provides clients with creative strategies for resolving a broad range of disputes, including civil and criminal antitrust litigation and internal and government investigations. Eliot represents clients across a spectrum of industries, including auto parts, major media companies and TV station operators, banking and finance, communications, and software and technology, among others. Eliot has experience providing unique and complex advice across a range of matters, including internal investigations, civil and criminal cartel investigations, and litigation. Before joining Morrison Foerster, Eliot cultivated an international client base across industries and geographies over his 15-year tenure at another global law firm. Japanese companies look to him for his deep knowledge of antitrust matters. Eliot previously served as a Deputy District Attorney for Alameda County in California. He is on the board of the Contra Costa Senior Legal Services and is a member of the Executive Committee for the Antitrust & UCL Section of the California Lawyers Association. Representative Experience Murata Manufacturing. Represented Murata, a Japanese electric components manufacturer, in a putative class action alleging that certain electronics manufacturers conspired to fix the prices of inductors. Nexstar Media Group. Representing Nexstar in a putative class action alleging that certain television station owners conspired to fix the prices of local television advertising. Represented a major publicly traded REIT in a putative class action filed by renters alleging that multifamily property owners engaged in anticompetitive conduct to increase the price of leases across the United States. Represented a Japanese manufacturer in connection with the TFT-LCD and CRT price fixing cases. Arm Limited. Represented SoftBank Group and Arm Limited on complex antitrust and national security issues arising from NVIDIA’s proposed acquisition of Arm from SoftBank for $65 billion. TIBC. Represented Japanese company TIBC in response to an investigation of the semiconductor packaging industry. Former CEO of G4S Belgium. Representing the former CEO of G4S who has been indicted by the DOJ’s Antitrust Division related to allegations of a conspiracy to fix prices, rig bids, and allocate customers for certain contracts. Conducted an internal investigation for Kobe Steel related to alleged data falsification. Represented a group of defendant landowners in a price-fixing case alleging that the defendants fixed prices for land in Solano County. Represented a global pharmaceutical company in a price fixing and market allocation investigation. Tenneco. Represented Tenneco, a Fortune 500 automotive components manufacturer, in connection with DOJ and other enforcement agencies’ auto parts investigations. Represented several individual executives in the DOJ Antitrust Division’s auto parts investigation. Represented several individual executives in the DOJ Antitrust Division’s capacitor investigation. Toyota Industries Corp. Represented Japanese company Toyota Industries Corporation (TICO) in connection with the DOJ’s second request concerning TICO’s acquisition of Cascade Corporation. Bain Capital. Represented Bain Capital, a leading multi-asset alternative investment firm, in connection with the DOJ’s second request concerning Big Tex Trailer’s acquisition of American Trailer Works · Antitrust

Emily Beers

Emily K. Beers | Morrison Foerster Emily Beers is of counsel in Morrison Foerster’s Capital Markets and Public Company Advisory & Governance practices. Her practice focuses on representing publicly and privately held companies in a variety of corporate and securities law matters. Emily represents both issuers and investment banks in initial public offerings, follow-on offerings, and private placements, including offerings of common and preferred equity, investment-grade debt, convertible debt, and high-yield debt. Emily also regularly advises clients with respect to liability management transactions, including tender offers, as well as M&A transactions. In addition, Emily regularly counsels companies with respect to corporate governance issues, compliance with the U.S. federal securities laws, and the requirements of the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ, as well as general corporate matters. · Capital Markets

Eric Akira Tate

Eric Akira Tate | Morrison Foerster Eric Akira Tate co-chairs the firm’s Global Employment and Labor Group. He represents technology and other companies in bet-the-company trade secrets and employee mobility cases. Eric also represents boards of directors and companies in #MeToo and other sensitive internal investigations and disputes with executives, whistleblower, wrongful termination, discrimination and harassment, and other employment litigation. Eric also advises companies in employment law compliance and transactional matters, including restrictive covenants and other personnel policies and procedures, and employment aspects of mergers and acquisitions throughout the United States and globally. · Employment Law

Eric Lawson

Eric D. Lawson | Morrison Foerster Eric Lawson is a partner in Morrison Foerster’s Litigation Department and a member of the firm’s Securities Litigation and Commercial Litigation groups. Eric regularly defends clients in securities and shareholder litigation, complex commercial litigation, and other high-stakes litigation matters. He has experience representing clients in state and federal trial and appellate courts throughout the country. Prior to joining MoFo, Eric worked at another AmLaw 50 law firm and completed a secondment as an assistant district attorney for New York’s Kings County District Attorney’s Office. He also previously served as a law clerk to Chief Judge Carl E. Stewart of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Eric earned his B.A. in economics from Tufts University and his J.D. from the New York University School of Law. While in law school, he was the senior executive editor of the Journal of Law and Liberty. · Securities Litigation

Eric McCrath

Eric T. McCrath | Morrison Foerster Eric T. McCrath is the Chair of Morrison Foerster. Eric has been a trusted advisor on hundreds of public and private M&A, private equity, and financing transactions over the course of his career. As part of his market-leading M&A practice, he counsels strategic acquirers and targets in a variety of industries, including technology (semiconductors, software, AR/VR, FinTech, AI), healthcare, consumer products, financial institutions, media, gaming, and transportation. He represents leading U.S. and global companies and regularly advises on complex cross–border transactions. · Mergers and Acquisitions