San Francisco

Overview

Arnold & Porter LLP's San Francisco office provides the firm's clients with sophisticated advice and representation, with particular emphasis on complex commercial litigation, securing and enforcing intellectual property rights, environmental compliance and litigation, and antitrust litigation. Our growing team in downtown San Francisco and Silicon Valley works closely with the more than 60 lawyers based in Los Angeles to meet the California needs of a diverse base of local, national and international clients.

In addition, our lawyers regularly collaborate with their colleagues in other offices with experience in more than 30 legal disciplines as well as governmental and regulatory experience. Our client roster includes pharmaceutical and biotech companies, computer, electronics, software, and internet companies, banking, insurance and financial services institutions, FORTUNE 500 industrial, food, cosmetic, and consumer product companies, healthcare providers, hospitality companies, and entertainment and media companies.

Representative areas of the practice in our San Francisco office include:

• Complex Commercial Litigation. Our litigation practice involves unfair competition/unfair business practices, contractual disputes, products liability, securities fraud, and business torts, with a particular emphasis on consumer class actions. We have additionally represented financial institutions, manufacturers, retailers, and service companies in a broad range of complex commercial disputes. Our clients reflect a broad cross-section of the economy, including the pharmaceutical, food, dietary supplement, hospitality, consumer products, insurance, financial services, internet, and music industries, among others.
• Intellectual Property Prosecution and Litigation. Our intellectual property practice involves patent, copyright, trade secret and trademark litigation, patent and trademark prosecution, as well as counseling in relation to IP disputes. Our clients include hardware, software, information technology and biotech companies, as well as companies in more traditional industries for whom IP rights are of paramount importance in their branding and other competitive efforts. We look at securing IP rights and resolving IP disputes as important elements in our clients' overall business objectives.
• Life Sciences. Our life sciences attorneys have a particular focus on patent prosecution, counseling, protection, and enforcement strategies, and IP transactions. We represent both emerging and established biotechnology companies in the US and internationally. We have a track record of assisting clients in the acquisition, licensing, and litigation of biotechnology, medical device, and pharmaceutical patents. Our legal experience in this area is paired with academic training in biology and immunology as well as practical, hands-on experience in addressing the myriad legal issues that impact the biotechnology field.
• Environmental Compliance and Litigation. We maintain a robust environmental practice, with depth of experience in regulatory counseling, enforcement, and litigation matters. We assist clients in compliance with the wide range of California environmental, health, and safety statutes. One area of emphasis is cleanup and redevelopment of Brownfields sites, including at closed military bases. Another area of particular emphasis is litigation and counseling for manufacturers and retailers regarding California's toxics and labeling law, Proposition 65. Our attorneys have also handled cost-recovery actions, coordinated and represented joint defense groups, and addressed legislative and regulatory proceedings in the most heavily regulated industries in California.
• Antitrust Litigation and Counseling. Our attorneys have gained an international reputation in the field of antitrust litigation and counseling. We offer a depth of issue and industry experience from regulatory inquiries and objections in Washington and Brussels to consumer and competitor claims in California that is exceptional among firms in the Bay Area.