I am a commercial litigator and intellectual property lawyer at Callahan & Blaine in Orange County. The firm is widely recognized as one of premier litigation firms on the West Coast, and regular takes complex business disputes to trial in state and federal courts. Among its many other accomplishments, the firm is credited with having won highest jury verdict in Orange County history ($934 million). 

My law practice encompasses a broad variety of litigation matters, ranging from complex commercial disputes to white collar criminal defense. I have represented clients in federal and state courts in cases involving copyright and trademark infringement, misappropriation of trade secrets, securities violations, bank fraud, tax fraud, toxic torts, unfair competition, and civil and criminal racketeering. 

While my initial focus was on bank fraud and tax fraud in federal court, over the years that has slowly evolved to a focus on fraud in all its aspects, and led me to trade secret misappropriation and disputes between companies and their former employees regarding copyright and patent ownership. In 2000, I became involved in a series of intellectual property cases involving theft of trade secrets, parody as a defense to copyright infringement, and a novel application of the the unfair competition laws to internet search engine optimization.

In non-IP matters, for the last ten years I have been deeply involved in a toxic tort case which I have tried (and won) twice, and which recently went up on appeal for the second time. Several years ago, I defended a hedge fund and its principal in a self-dealing case brought by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which was dismissed on terms favorable to my clients. My current cases include a series of class action lawsuits involving allegations of false advertising and unfair competition.

When I am not in court, much of my time is dedicated to other intellectual property pursuits, including writing for the popular blog Who Is Your Lawyer? and lecturing on copyright and trademark law in the context of literature, film and art.