Jim is a veteran trial lawyer with tremendous experience and skill in preparing and presenting cases for adjudication – whether by jury, judge, arbitrator, mediator or the parties themselves. He represents various greater Bay Area companies in business litigation and trade secret, copyright and patent issues involving a variety of technologies. Jim also serves both businesses and individuals in employment disputes, civil rights actions, family law matters and the defense of criminal prosecutions.

Full Bio »

Jim is a veteran trial lawyer with tremendous experience and skill in preparing and presenting cases for adjudication – whether by jury, judge, arbitrator, mediator or the parties themselves. He represents various greater Bay Area companies in business litigation and trade secret, copyright and patent issues involving a variety of technologies. Jim also serves both businesses and individuals in employment disputes, civil rights actions, family law matters and the defense of criminal prosecutions.

Highlights

• Named a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, Litigation Counsel of America, American Bar Foundation, and the International Academy of Trial Lawyers (membership limited to top 500 trial lawyers in U. S.).
• Listed in The Best Lawyers in America® for 13 consecutive years, currently in Bet-the-Company Litigation, Commercial Litigation, Criminal Defense: White-Collar, Litigation - First Amendment, Litigation - Intellectual Property and Litigation - Municipal.  He also appears in Who’s Who in America.
• Named one of Top 100 in Northern California Super Lawyers, 2009, 2010, and 2011, and Super Lawyers Corporate Counsel Edition, 2010.
• Appointed as Special Master for the Santa Clara County Superior Court, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, and the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in the Technical Equities cases, described as involving the largest securities fraud in California history.

Representative Matters

• Achieved a six-figure verdict for an African-American investigator with the San Jose City Attorney’s office in a civil rights action arising out of police misconduct against the plaintiff and his family.
• Obtained a verdict in excess of $600,000 in an employment action against the City of San Jose arising out of the wrongful termination of the City’s African-American fire chief.
• Secured an injunction for the Intel Corporation against a competitor in a trade secrets case.
• Defended Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey animal trainer Mark Gebel (son of the legendary Gunter Gebel-Williams) on a charge of elephant abuse, resulting in an acquittal following a trial in which no defense evidence was presented (the Elephant Case).
• Represented a Silicon Valley executive on felony charges of molesting his children following a bitter divorce. The client was acquitted on all counts.
• Successfully defended at trial a will contest involving the estate of a Silicon Valley CEO (the Eight Word Will Case), and subsequently represented the plaintiff on appeal in a related case involving precedent–setting anti-SLAPP suit litigation.
• Defended a client in an action for breach of a real estate contract and obtained an $18 million verdict on her cross-complaint for fraud.
• Obtained an arbitration award of more than $15 million to recover debt owed clients in a real estate partnership, followed by series of orders that allowed the clients to buy out their partners on favorable terms.
• Obtained judgment against the City of San Jose in representing former Mayor Al Ruffo and class of concerned citizens requiring the City to repay Redevelopment Agency $50 million for funds wrongfully spent to build a new City Hall.
• Obtained an $86 million judgment for Fortune 500 technology company in bitterly contested commercial litigation.

Reported Cases

• County of Santa Clara et al., v. The Superior Court of Santa Clara County; Janice Naymark et al., Real Parties in Interest (2011) 171 Cal.App.4th 119.
• Sutter's Place v. Superior Court (2008) 161 Cal.App.4th 1370. 
• Jasmine Networks, Inc. v. Marvell Semiconductor, Inc. (2008) 76 Cal.Rptr.3d 172
• State Board v. Superior Court (2006) 138 Cal.App.4th 951.
• Jasmine Networks v. Marvell (2004) 117 Cal.App.4th 794.
• Zhao v. Wong (1996) 48 Cal.App.4th 1114.
• Fenwick & West v. Superior Court of Santa Clara County (1996) 43 Cal.App.4th 1272.
• Estate of Wong (1995) 40 Cal.App.4th 1198.
• Stalberg v. Western Title Insurance Company (1994) 27 Cal.App.4th 925.
• Portman v. County of Santa Clara (9th Cir.1993) 995 F.2d 898.
• Wright v. City of Santa Clara (1989) 213 Cal.App.3d 1503.
•  Lazzaro v. Larson; In re Romo (1987) 190 Cal.App.3d 279.
• People v. Pringle (1984) 151 Cal.App.3d 854.
• People v. Conner (1983) 34 Cal.3d 141. 
• Filmamatic Corporation v. General Electric Company (1980) 1980 – 1982 Trade Cas. (CCH) P63, 417

Professional and Community Contributions

Jim was a trustee of the Santa Clara County Bar Association and served on the Judiciary, ADR Steering and Bench-Bar-Media-Police Committees. He is a member of the American Association for Justice (AAJ), formerly the Association of Trial Lawyers of America (ATLA), the Santa Clara County Trial Lawyers Association, and the San Francisco Bay Area Intellectual Property American Inn of Court. For more than 20 years, Jim was a director of the Law Foundation of Silicon Valley, and he is a past President of the organization. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Boalt Hall Alumni Association (Berkeley Law), which he previously served as President.

Jim serves on the Executive Committee of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers as Secretary of International Relations. He is also the Chair of its renowned China Program. He previously served as Special Master for the Technical Equities Coordinated Litigation. He was a Certified Specialist in Criminal Law, State Bar of California, Board of Legal Specialization.

A frequent lecturer, Jim has served on the faculty of the Intensive Advocacy Program, University of San Francisco Law School, and Advocacy Skills Workshop, Stanford University Law School. He also has taught at Boalt Hall, University of California (Berkeley Law). He has lectured at the California Center for Judicial Education and Research (CJER). Jim has served as a Judge Pro Tem for the Santa Clara County Superior Court and was previously a Special Examiner for the State Bar of California.

Jim has been honored for his philanthropy and public service. He and his spouse, Sara, received the Trustees Citation from the University of California, Berkeley Foundation (“outstanding achievement in a major fundraising program”). Jim also was honored with the Philip J. Berelson Award for Generous Philanthropy. Jim was named to the President’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Diversity, Santa Clara County Bar Association, and also accepted on behalf of McManis Faulkner the Unsung Heroes Award for promoting diversity in the legal profession.

Admissions

State Bar of California
U.S. District Court, Northern, Central, Southern, and Eastern Districts of California
U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit, and D.C. Circuit
U.S. Supreme Court

Education

J.D., University of California, Berkeley School of Law, 1967
B.A. in History, with Distinction, Phi Beta Kappa, Stanford University, 1964

Languages

German