I am a litigator supporting DLA Piper's public company and startup practices. I came to the Silicon Valley 30 years ago with intent and purpose. Growing up on the East Coast, I worked in the then-nascent technology sector. I soon recognized the virtues of the innovative, relatively progressive form of capitalism in the Silicon Valley, and decided to support its interests. I thus came to the San Francisco Bay Area to attend law school at Berkeley, went to a high-tech law firm after graduation, and have not looked back.
I practice law with a distinct philosophy. First, you're more important than me. I am an unapologetic supporter of the legal profession and always wanted to be a lawyer. In the end, though, we're a service business – our clients are the ones who innovate and produce. Second, I am a law nerd who thinks the facts matter. Proceeding on an unsound legal basis is the wrong approach – especially for startups, who have better things to do than incur unnecessary legal fees. Fortunately (or so I maintain), the law is based on precedent and reason. It is the lawyer's job to mine these sources of knowledge. Living in the Silicon Valley, the natural method is to do so in a spirit of innovation and cross-disciplinary thinking. Thus, I study the law and the unique American court system, listen to the client, and collaborate with my colleagues across the USA and around the world. I then provide advice and stand behind it. If there is a valid and material legal or factual argument to be made on your behalf, I will find it and assert it.
My principal focus has been the defense of issuers, officers and directors in securities fraud and corporate governance matters. This includes class action and individual plaintiff cases, shareholder derivative cases, corporate control disputes, government and corporate investigations, and pre-litigation disclosure and stock trading counseling. I have fought in the ideological trenches in this area for over 25 years and publish an Internet site devoted to securities class action litigation, www.10b-5.com (Securities and Exchange Commission Rule 10b-5 is the primary legal basis for federal securities fraud litigation). You can go to that site to see most of the professional articles I've written over the years. I also frequently advise on general business and contractual disputes, using the same philosophy of finding the best legal answer.
I've worked at DLA Piper and its predecessors since 2001. While there are many excellent law firms, I truly can say that DLA Piper makes a difference: whatever legal issue in whatever jurisdiction you may have, most likely we have someone who knows the answer.
A few years ago, I had to give up long-distance running due to a back injury. That led me back to my childhood hobby – biking. I am a bike commuter and weekend warrior whose current bikes are a Pinarello Dogma F10 and a LOW// mk-1.