Pamela Fulmer
Partner

Pam Fulmer is a partner in the firm’s San Francisco office. She has substantial experience litigating patent, trademark, trade secret and copyright infringement cases, as well as false advertising, unfair competition and trade libel, licensing, and other complex disputes. In addition to her intellectual property practice, Pam has deep experience representing technology and other clients in high-stakes commercial litigation.

Pam is a trial lawyer who has represented clients in courts and arbitral forums around the nation. Her cases have included technologies involving e-commerce and the Internet, cellular communications, streaming media, ad serving, email messaging and security, computer hardware and software, medical devices, pharmaceuticals, water filtration technology, biotechnology, and consumer products. She is adept at developing cost-effective strategies to successfully resolve litigation on behalf of her clients.

In her arbitration practice, Pam has represented companies in breach of contract disputes involving licenses and other complex agreements, in both domestic and international arbitral forums. Her arbitration victories include a $33 million (plus attorneys’ fees) award on behalf of a biomedical research foundation and a $1 million award on behalf of a marketing company. She has also successfully defended arbitrations on behalf of her clients.

A trusted advisor to technology, media, and other companies, Pam works hard to understand her clients’ business in order to deliver the very best legal advice.

Select representative matters include:

• Lead counsel defending major national celebrity and entertainment magazine in a patent infringement case venued in the Southern District of New York involving video streaming technology.

• Lead counsel representing Plaintiff Fortune 500 consumer products company in a trademark infringement and unfair competition case in the Northern District of California. Case is ongoing.

• Represented plaintiff in a patent infringement case against Apple in the Northern District of California. The case involved technology that allows consumers to play back digital media content, including audio and video, at variable speeds.

• Lead counsel defending a patent infringement case in the Eastern District of North Carolina involving sewer hose support technology. Obtained successful settlement.

• Lead counsel on behalf of the Women’s Professional Soccer League in a breach of contract dispute with a former team owner in Florida’s state court.

• Defended well-known video gaming company and other retailer companies in a patent infringement case involving gaming technology in the Eastern District of Texas.

• Represented non-profit research institute in a theft of trade secrets and breach of contract case against a former research director in Nevada’s state court. Successfully obtained a preliminary injunction.

• Represented plaintiff technology and digital entertainment company in lawsuit venued in the Central District of California alleging claims for breach of contract, unjust enrichment, and fraud against a competitor. Case settled favorably for client.

• Lead counsel defending large international consumer products company in a false patent marking case in the Northern District of California. Case settled favorably.

• Represented plaintiff medical device company in a patent infringement medical device case involving brain imaging technology.

• Obtained a successful settlement on behalf of a consumer products company in a patent infringement and trademark case involving key chain locators venued in the Northern District of California.

• Obtained a successful settlement for medium-sized technology company in a patent infringement and breach of contract case involving email firewall technology in the Northern District of California.

• Obtained a successful settlement for several large energy clients in a patent infringement lawsuit in the Northern District of California involving intelligent software relating to the efficiency of coal-fired power plants.

• Represented consumer products company in a design patent infringement, trademark infringement, and unfair competition lawsuit involving ready-to-assemble furniture for use with televisions and stereos. Case, which was venued in the Northern District of California, settled favorably.

• Obtained a successful dismissal on behalf of a well-known Fortune 500 software company in a patent infringement case involving CD-ROM technology venued in the Southern District of New York.

• Represented well-known computer manufacturer in a patent infringement case in the Northern District of California involving Wi-Fi technology.

• Represented plaintiff a major US media and technology company in a AAA arbitration involving the breach of a patent licensing agreement. Case settled favorably prior to hearing.

• Lead counsel for a well-known Silicon Valley-based software company in a case alleging violation of California’s anti-spam law in the Central District of California. Obtained a successful dismissal on behalf of the client.

• Represented plaintiff in a trade secrets case involving airport screening technology in San Francisco Superior Court.

• Represented plaintiff, a software company, in a Lanham Act unfair competition and patent infringement case involving online college admissions applications software.

• Successfully defended a consumer products company in a patent litigation filed in the Northern District of California involving DVD technology.

• Defended well-known Silicon Valley software company in a case alleging breach of contract and defective software filed in the Middle District of Tennessee. Obtained a favorable settlement on the client’s behalf.

• Defended technology company in an action filed in the Central District of California alleging antitrust violations, unfair competition, trade libel, and trademark infringement and dilution. Successful settlement for client.

• Represented defendant, a well-known audio company, in a patent infringement action involving DVD technology venued in the Northern District of California. Obtained a successful settlement on behalf of client.

• Represented technology company in a AAA breach of licensing agreement dispute involving GPS technology. Obtained a successful settlement on behalf of client after multi-day arbitration hearing.

• Defended medical device company in a trade secrets case involving stent technology filed in Arizona’s state court.

• Lead counsel on behalf of claimant marketing company in a breach of contract dispute against a leading golf club manufacturer involving a marketing campaign for golf clubs. Obtained a AAA arbitration award of over $1 million after multi-day hearing.

• Represented claimant non-profit research foundation in a three-week AAA international arbitration hearing, obtaining an award of $33 million plus attorneys’ fees on behalf of the client.

• Pro bono counsel representing the City and County of San Francisco in Re: Marriage Cases, which litigated the rights of same-sex couples to marry in the State of California.

Sherri Haymond is Group Head/Senior Vice President, Digital Channel Engagement at MasterCard, where she is responsible for building and managing the teams focused on framing MasterCard’s operating system for digital commerce.  Sherri joined MasterCard in 2010 as Global Core Products Counsel supporting the Global Debit, Prepaid and ATM Networks teams.  In 2011, she began leading the legal team that supports Emerging Payments & MasterCard Labs, where she played a key role in the development of MasterPass, the MasterCard Digital Enablement Service, industry Tokenization Standards, and Simplify Commerce.  

Before MasterCard, Sherri took some time off from practicing law and worked as an investment banker at Banc of America Securities focusing on mortgages, and at Breeden Capital Management as an equity investment analyst focusing on payments companies.  She started her career as a Corporate Finance lawyer at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom and Wolf, Block, Schorr & Solis-Cohen, where she gained experience working on venture capital transactions, as well as public and private debt and equity offerings. 

Sherri earned her B.A. from Duke University and her J.D. from University of Pennsylvania Law School.  She lives in Darien, Connecticut with her husband Jason, and her two children, Mack and Sienna.

David Graff has 20 years experience in business finance, restructuring, and mergers and acquisitions, with a particular focus on complex corporate reorganizations and investment vehicle/fund formation for emerging growth companies in the education, online media and digital technology industries. He has served as the General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer and Corporate Secretary of a publicly traded company, and the Chief Legal Officer and Privacy Officer of two separate portfolios of digital media and technology companies. A versatile executive, Mr. Graff, during his tenure as CLO for Epic Media Group, Inc., both led the creation and spin-off of a new business, Online Intelligence, LLC (which offered trademark protection and anti-fraud services to media and branded content companies) and served as the company’s Chief Executive Officer.

Among other accomplishments, David managed the IPO for Edison Schools, Inc. (NASDAQ:EDSN), which raised over $750 million in the capital markets.  He led a team of in-house and outside counsel in the acquisition of Connexus Corporation, a leading digital display advertising network, and has orchestrated several other complex acquisitions in the digital media and technology industry.  Mr. Graff has advised on credit facilities and loans, investment opportunities, joint ventures and workouts for a variety of education industry, and digital start-ups.

A frequent speaker on legal, compliance and regulatory issues affecting the digital marketplace, David is also a principal of Trilogy Films, an independent film, television and digital media company he co-founded with his wife, award-winning director Dawn Porter. Trilogy has developed, produced and directed films, television features, and digital content for HBO Films, the Food Network, Chase Bank, and tablet application developers.

David lives in Montclair, N.J., with his wife and two (active) boys, ages 12 and 10.

Law School/Graduate School: Cardozo School of Law

Work History: Jeff Weitzman is a co-founder and CEO of Go Factory, a back-end as a service for Internet of Everything application development. He is twenty-five year veteran of internet technology and online advertising companies, before Go Factory serving as Chief Marketing Officer of Buysight, Inc., an online behavioral advertising technology company acquired by AOL. Earlier positions include CMO of non-profit Common Sense Media and President & COO of Coupons.com, where he helped take the company from startup to industry leader. He led Client Services at Yahoo! and was COO of Counsel Connect, an early online service for lawyers. Weitzman began his career as an attorney at Shearman & Sterling and attended Cardozo Law School and Dartmouth College.

Professional Memberships: Member of Bars of New York and New Jersey

Peter J. Pizzi is the Managing Partner of the firm's New York office and is a business litigator with substantial experience in a broad range of subject areas. His practice focuses on business litigation, class action defense, internet and IP litigation, internal investigations, labor and employment law, and securities litigation.

Decisions:

Practice Areas:

Class Action Defense
Intellectual Property
Commercial Litigation
Labor & Employment Law

Admitted to Practice: 

State of New Jersey
State of New York
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
State of Colorado
United States District Courts for the District of New Jersey
Eastern District of New York
Southern District of New York
District of Colorado
United States Court of Appeals for the Second and Third Circuits

Education:

Fordham University School of Law (J.D., 1978)
Bowdoin College (A.B., Government, magna cum laude, 1975)

Affiliations:

American Bar Association
New York City Bar Association
New York State Bar Association
New Jersey State Bar Association
Essex County Bar Association

Brian Kelly is a partner in the firm’s Los Angeles office.  He has extensive experience counseling clients at all stages of growth in the commercialization of intellectual property. He focuses his practice on structuring, negotiating and documenting technology-based transactions. These transactions, many of them with international dimensions, have involved clients in a variety of industries, including health IT, financial services, retail, distribution and telecommunications.  He also advises clients on open source technologies, data security and privacy issues, and intellectual property aspects of mergers, acquisitions, development and distribution relationships, and strategic alliances.

Daniel Ralls is Executive Legal Counsel of ZipRealty, a Realogy company. ZipRealty provides a mobile-optimized customer relationship management technology platform for the real estate market.

Daniel has spent his in-house career as counsel to technology, content, and hosted solution companies, including as General Counsel of Mblox, General Counsel of Intermedia.Net, Assistant General Counsel of FXall, and Corporate Counsel at Elsevier. He started his career at Winston & Strawn LLP in New York, where he concentrated his practice on technology transactions, mergers & acquisitions, securities, and finance-related matters. He is also pro bono counsel to Samasource, a nonprofit company in San Francisco that is the premier enterprise service provider for data projects that require a human touch.

Daniel studied law at Boston College Law School and philosophy at UC Santa Barbara. He lives in San Francisco with his family.

James Walker concentrates in government investigations and enforcement proceedings, complex commercial litigation, professional liability and legal ethics.  Mr. Walker represents companies and senior executives in investigations of potential violations of the securities laws, and law firms and lawyers in litigations and proceedings involving investigations of criminal, regulatory and/or professional misconduct claims.  Mr. Walker is the Chair of the New York County Lawyer’s Association Professional Ethics Committee.  He has served on the New York City Bar’s Professional Discipline, Professional and Judicial Ethics, Professional Responsibility, and Securities Regulation Committees, and on the New York State Bar Association Committee on Professional Ethics, where he has been a member since 1996.  Mr. Walker frequently lecturers on legal ethics, internal investigations and corporate governance, and has published articles addressing on attorney-client privilege, professional ethics, and issues arising under the securities laws.  Mr. Walker also serves as General Counsel to Richards Kibbe & Orbe LLP.

John G. Heller is a shareholder at Rogers Joseph O'Donnell specializing in complex business litigation and professional liability.

Areas of Practice
Mr. Heller focuses on trials and appeals of commercial litigation, insurance coverage, professional liability, employment, and real estate matters.  He is co-chair of the firm’s Attorney Liability and Conduct Practice Group, and a member of the Complex Commercial Litigation Practice Group.  Mr. Heller is a California Certified Specialist in Legal Malpractice Law.

Professional Qualifications and Activities
Mr. Heller is an experienced trial attorney.  In over 25 years of practice, he has successfully represented businesses and individuals in jury trials and litigation involving claims of breach of contract and warranty, fraud,  professional negligence, insurance bad faith, and civil rights violations.  Mr. Heller has obtained favorable judicial rulings and settlements for professionals sued for malicious prosecution and breach of fiduciary duty, or threatened with judicial sanctions, and has prevailed on numerous anti-SLAPP motions. He has also served as lead counsel representing parties in international arbitration proceedings arising from commercial contract disputes, and claims of accounting fraud.  

Mr. Heller lectures to attorneys and trade organizations on developments in civil procedure, trial practice, anti-SLAPP jurisprudence, and insurance coverage.  Through the ABA Section of Litigation Legal Services Advocacy Training at Stanford Law School, he has instructed public interest attorneys on trial skills.  He serves on the Executive Committee of the San Francisco Bar Association Litigation Section, and has been named a Northern California Super Lawyer each year since 2005. 

Education
J.D., University of California,
Hastings College of the Law, 1987

B.A., University of California at Berkeley, 1982
Magna cum laude in Political Science

Joseph Lewczak is a partner in the Advertising, Marketing & Promotions; Entertainment, Media & Sports and Intellectual Property Practice Groups of Davis & Gilbert, and one of the country’s leading experts in advertising, marketing and promotions laws. He has extensive experience in representing a wide range of advertising and promotions agencies, advertisers and media companies on a broad array of issues relating to advertising, promotions, social media, native advertising and intellectual property. He is the founder and lead guitarist for the firm’s rock band, Generator Honey, two-time winner of the Advertising Week Battle of the Ad Bands. 

Mr. Lewczak has been recognized as a leading lawyer for advertising law by Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business for nine consecutive years (2008-2016).The Legal 500 United States directory has also recognized him for eight consecutive years (2009-2016) in the area of advertising and marketing. In addition, Mr. Lewczak has been recognized by The Best Lawyers in America in advertising law (2011-2017) and in media law (2017) and was named the 2017 Media Law “Lawyer of the Year” in New York City. He was also selected as a Super Lawyer by New York Metro Super Lawyers (2013-2015).

Mr. Lewczak takes a practical approach to advising his clients, always ensuring that deals are completed as quickly and efficiently as possible while limiting accompanying risk exposure. His extremely broad knowledge base and his expertise are invaluable in helping clients navigate the converging landscape of traditional, digital, social and mobile media. His considerable experience includes advising on all aspects of legal compliance on advertising and promotions issues, and he frequently helps his clients create successful and legally compliant complex games of chance and skill. He is an expert in drafting and negotiating a wide array of agreements including talent agreements, all manner of licensing agreements, and media buying and traditional agency services agreements. 

Mr. Lewczak is a frequent public speaker on advertising, marketing, promotions and social media issues, and he has written extensively on these topics.

Mr. Lewczak served as an adjunct professor at New York Law School, where he taught advertising, marketing and promotions law. Prior to joining Davis & Gilbert, he was the director of legal affairs at EMI-Capitol Music Group North America and a corporate attorney at Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP.

Joseph V. DeMarco is a partner at DeVore & DeMarco LLP where he specializes in counseling clients on complex issues involving information privacy and security, theft of intellectual property, computer intrusions, on-line fraud, and the lawful use of new technology. His years of experience in private practice and in government handling the most difficult cybercrime investigations handled by the United States Attorney’s Office have made him one of the nation’s leading experts on Internet crime and the law relating to emerging technologies.

From 1997 to 2007, Mr. DeMarco served an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, where he founded and headed the Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property Program, a group of five prosecutors dedicated to investigating and prosecuting violations of federal cybercrime laws and intellectual property offenses. Under his leadership, cybercrime prosecutions grew from a trickle in 1997 to a top priority of the United States Attorney’s Office, encompassing all forms of criminal activity affecting e-commerce and critical infrastructures including computer hacking crimes; transmission of Internet worms and viruses; electronic theft of trade secrets; illegal use of “spyware”; web-based frauds; unlawful Internet gambling; and criminal copyright and trademark infringement offenses. As a recognized expert in the field, Mr. DeMarco was frequently asked to counsel prosecutors and law enforcement agents regarding novel investigative and surveillance techniques and methodologies, and regularly provided advice to the United States Attorney concerning the Office’s most sensitive computer-related investigations. In 2001, Mr. DeMarco also served as a visiting Trial Attorney at the Department of Justice Computer Crimes and Intellectual Property Section in Washington, D.C., where he focused on Internet privacy, gaming, and theft of intellectual property.

Mr DeMarco is on the panel of approved neutrals of the American Arbitration Association (AAA) where he focuses on resolving disputes between businesses involving data privacy, high-technology and commercial law issues.  He speaks frequently on the benefits of ADR in the area of data security and privacy litigation.

Since 2002, Mr. DeMarco has served as an Adjunct Professor at Columbia Law School, where he teaches the upper-class Internet and Computer Crimes seminar. He has spoken throughout the world on cybercrime, e-commerce, and IP enforcement. He has lectured on the subject of cybercrime at Harvard Law School, the Practicing Law Institute, the National Advocacy Center, and at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia, and has served as an instructor on cybercrime to judges attending the New York State Judicial Institute.

Prior to joining the United States Attorney’s Office, Mr. DeMarco was a litigation associate at Cravath, Swaine & Moore in New York City, where he concentrated on intellectual property, antitrust, and securities law issues for various high-technology clients. Prior to that, Mr. DeMarco served as law clerk to the Honorable J. Daniel Mahoney, United States Circuit Judge for the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.

Mr. DeMarco holds a J.D. magna cum laude from New York University School of Law. At NYU he was a member of the NYU Law Review. He received his B.S.F.S. summa cum laude from the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.  Mr. DeMarco is active in numerous professional associations including the:

• International Bar Association (Technology and Litigation Sections);
• International Association of Korean Lawyers (Regional Governor, New York Region);
• New York State Bar Association, ADR Section;
• New York State Bar Association, Commercial and Federal Litigation Section (Co-chair, Internet and IP Committee, 2009-present);
• Connecticut Bar Association;
• Fairfield County (CT) Bar Association;
• New Haven County (CT) Bar Association;
• New York City Bar Association (Co-Chair, Information Technology Law Committee; Past
• Member, Copyright Committee); and
• The Copyright Society of the U.S.A.

Mr. DeMarco is a Martindale-Hubbell AV-rated lawyer for Computers and Software, Litigation and Internet Law, and is also listed in Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business guide as a leading lawyer nationwide in Privacy and Data Security. He has also been named as a “SuperLawyer” for his expertise and work in the area of Intellectual Property Litigation. He has published numerous articles and appeared on major news programs in his practice areas; is a member of the Professional Editorial Board of the prestigious Computer Law and Security Review (Elsevier); and serves on the Board of Advisors of the Center for Law and Information Policy at Fordham University School of Law.

Mr. DeMarco has received numerous professional awards, including the U.S. Department of Justice Director’s Award for Superior Performance, as well as the Lawyer of Integrity Award from the Institute for Jewish Humanities. In his spare time he enjoys parenting, golf, and listening to classical piano.

Marc Roth advises clients on all things advertising, marketing, promotions and privacy, having practiced in these areas for decades, in various capacities. A former Federal Trade Commission attorney, he understands regulatory priorities and concerns, which enables him to provide informed and practical advice to clients and prepare for the possibility of challenge. Having served as Chief Marketing Counsel for a Time Warner subsidiary, he knows the type of advice his clients need to do their job – prompt and practical answers, not lengthy and indecisive memos. He knows that “no” is not an option for in-house lawyers serving their business teams and works tirelessly with clients to develop viable and effective solutions acceptable to all stakeholders.

Overview

Current

• Sr. Director Legal-IP at LinkedIn
• Adjunct Professor- Intellectual Property Licensing at UC Hastings College of the Law

Past

• Partner-Technology Transactions Group at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati
• Associate at Fried Frank

Education

• Cornell Law School
• University of California, San Diego

Experience

Sr. Director Legal-IP

LinkedIn

Public Company; 1001-5000 employees; LNKD; Internet industry

April 2012 – Present (5 months) Mountain View CA

Adjunct Professor- Intellectual Property Licensing

UC Hastings College of the Law

Educational Institution; 201-500 employees; Higher Education industry

2011 – Present (1 year) San Francisco Bay Area 

Partner-Technology Transactions Group

Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati

Privately Held; 1001-5000 employees; Law Practice industry

1992 – April 2012 (20 years)

Sara Harrington was a partner in the technology transactions practice at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati. She counseled various companies involved in the development, distribution, licensing, disposition, and acquisition of technology and intellectual property rights for various start-ups and established enterprises.

Sara represented clients in a wide range of industries, including those involved in search technology, business application software (both open source and private source), e-commerce (business-to-business and business-to-consumer), Web 2.0, entertainment/media industries, database services, consulting, networking devices, semiconductor, telecom, medical device, consumer goods, and audio services. Sara has constructed and negotiated a variety of international and domestic agreements, covering such areas as strategic alliances, marketing, development, licensing, advertising, distribution, services, outsourcing, open source, and manufacturing. She also advised companies on intellectual property matters in connection with investments, financings, asset purchases and sales, corporate structuring (spin-outs), and mergers and acquisitions.

Before joining the technology transactions practice, Sara practiced in the litigation department of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, where she litigated a variety of intellectual property, antitrust, and securities claims. Prior to joining the firm, Sara was an attorney at Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson in New York City, where she litigated corporate change-of-control and commercial litigation matters for various multinational corporate clients.

Primary Areas of Practice: Labor & Employment/Litigation

Law School/Graduate School: Fordham University School of Law

Work History:

Robert Cohen has over 17 years of legal experience representing employers in all facets of labor and employment law.  He joined Omnicom Group Inc. in August 2005 as Assistant General Counsel, Labor and Employment.  In 2010, Robert also assumed responsibility for general litigation.  Prior to joining Omnicom he was a Partner at Davis & Gilbert and an associate both at Davis & Gilbert and Proskauer Rose.

Currently, Robert’s primary responsibilities include ensuring compliance with the various federal, state and local labor and employment laws for all Omnicom companies.  He also oversees all litigation involving Omnicom companies, including discrimination and wage and hour cases.  While concentrating on the United States, Robert also has responsibility for worldwide labor and employment compliance.  He has a JD from Fordham University School of Law and a Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Labor Relations from Cornell University.

Romeo Gonzalez
Attorney

Summary
Commercial transactions attorney with broad range of experience as adviser, both in-house and as outside counsel, to clients in the software, Internet and high tech industries.

Experience
Legal Counsel at Dropbox
October 2013 - Present (7 months)
Advise in-house clients on various matters related to all aspects of sales and business development. Manage outside counsel for real estate matters. Assist in creating form agreements for enterprise sales and process improvement initiatives.

Lead Commercial Counsel at Facebook
December 2011 - October 2013 (1 year 11 months)
Provided legal advice and counsel to clients in various areas the company, including payment partnerships, social game partnerships, and e-commerce initiatives. Negotiated agreements with varying degrees of complexity related to commercial and business development efforts in such areas.

Legal Counsel at Adobe Systems Incorporated
June 2006 - December 2011 (5 years 7 months)
Managed legal team responsible for providing legal support to outbound ISV/OEM and bundle channel partners for various Adobe technologies, including workflow enterprise software, audio/video streaming and encryption software, and print technology. A large component of my role also involved negotiating complex, multi-national, outbound commercial contracts for my team, and counseling clients on risks associated with different matters arising from such negotiations.

Associate at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati
October 2004 - May 2006 (1 year 8 months)
Associate in the technology transactions group. I counseled clients on intellectual property licensing and other commercial and business transactions involving the use and acquisition of technology and intellectual property rights across a variety of industries, with a particular emphasis in the software, hardware, Internet and content media related industries; and structured various legal documents and commercial contracts related to such transactions, including terms of use, privacy policies, EULAs, as well as development, manufacturing, distribution, OEM and supply agreements.

Engineer at Honeywell International
February 1999 - July 2001 (2 years 6 months)
Helped in the computational fluid dynamic analysis of aircraft engine design for several family of aircraft engines, and as my role as a test engineer, I was responsible for the test life span of four AS900 turbofan aircraft engines (now called the HTF7000), including engine build, instrumentation, management of test schedule, and teardown for each in an effort to obtain Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification for the engine family.

Languages

Spanish

Skills & Expertise

Intellectual Property
Mergers & Acquisitions
Business Development
Management
Negotiation
Enterprise Software
Legal Assistance
Legal Advice
Licensing
Privacy Law
Software Licensing
Trade Secrets
Copyright Law

Education

University of Pennsylvania Law School
J.D., 2001 - 2004
Activities and Societies: Associate and Senior Editor, Journal of Labor and Employment Law (2003-04)

The University of Texas at Austin
BS, Aerospace Engineering, 1994 - 1998
Activities and Societies: Member of Sigma Gamma Tau Aerospace Honor Society, and Recipient of the Texas Achievement Honors Award Scholarship (1994-98)

Thomas Brown is a partner in the Antitrust and Competition and the Global Banking and Payment Systems practices. He is based in the firm’s San Francisco office.

Mr. Brown’s practice focuses on competition law and legal issues affecting the financial services industry. In addition to strategically advising payment systems and financial services clients across a broad spectrum of regulatory issues, he has litigated notable antitrust cases, including class actions, in the financial services industry for more than fifteen years.

Mr. Brown was Vice President, Senior Counsel at Visa U.S.A. Inc. There he was responsible for managing the aftermath of the settlement in In re Visa Check/MasterMoney Antitrust Litigation, including the dozens of consumer class actions that were filed following the settlement. He was also deeply involved in the company’s transformation from a co-op to a shareholder owned company.

Tsan Abrahamson’s practice focuses on strategic counseling in the areas of social media, sweepstakes, intellectual property, advertising, trademark clearance, trademark and copyright prosecution, licensing, and other business transactions.  She also manages the adverse proceedings practice at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Trademark Trial and Appeal Board.  Tsan has an extensive practice in the area of marketing promotions, including social media promotions, gift card and gift certificate marketing, print and online sweepstakes, contests, give-aways, warranties, rebates, and coupon promotions.  Tsan completed her undergraduate work at Dartmouth College, and received both her JD and MBA from the UCLA School of Law and The Anderson Graduate School of Management.

Widely considered one of the country’s top privacy and data security lawyers, Tanya Forsheit has advised on high-profile matters involving confidential data and other sensitive information for over 20 years. Ms. Forsheit is Chair of Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz’s Privacy & Data Security Group and Supervising Partner of the Los Angeles Office. She advises on the protection, processing and monetization of data, including matters related to interest-based advertising, privacy policies, mobile apps, cloud computing, smart devices, and data analytics.

Ms. Forsheit has advised on hundreds of information technology deals and transactions on behalf of both service providers and enterprise purchasers, including multilayered ad tech and cloud computing agreements. She is routinely called upon to help clients respond to time-sensitive security events and has advised on hundreds of such incidents. She is regarded as one of the country’s leading experts on the California Consumer Privacy Act and represents multinational clients and trade associations in preparing for and implementing its requirements and handling the day-to-day business implications. 

The Legal 500 ranks her as a leading lawyer, and she has been individually ranked by Chambers for several years. The Daily Journal named her as one of the top 20 Cyber attorneys in California in its inaugural 2018 list, and has twice included her in its list of "Top Women Lawyers."

Ms. Forsheit lectures widely on technology law topics and has been quoted on privacy and data security in publications such as the Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Forbes, ComputerWorld, Venture Beat, and Law360. She is an Adjunct Professor at Loyola Law School.

The International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP) has certified Ms. Forsheit as both an Information Privacy Professional (CIPP/US) and Privacy Technologist (CIPT). She sits on the Advisory Council of the Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT). Ms. Forsheit is a past President of the Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles.

Marcus Morissette is currently the Director of Privacy for eBay’s Global Marketplaces business. He is responsible for the development and implementation of privacy policies and controls for a global ecommerce business that includes such brands at eBay, StubHub, eBay Classifieds Group, eBay Commerce Network (Shopping.com, epinions.com), and several other marketplaces brands.

He was formerly the co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of Concise Consulting, a boutique information privacy and security consulting firm based in Seattle, WA. He has worked in the data protection field for over 14 years, serving previously in a diverse set of roles at IOActive, KPMG, and several start-up technology and services firms.

He also serves as an attorney in the U.S. Navy (reserve component), and is currently the Staff Judge Advocate at Navy Mine and Anti-Submarine Warfare command in San Diego, California. He provides advice to the commander and his staff on issues of operational law, rules of engagement and Law of War compliance relating to mine and anti-submarine warfare.

He received his undergraduate degree in Economics from the University of Maryland, and his law degree from the University of Idaho, College of Law. He holds certifications as a CIPP, CISSP, CISA, and is licensed to practice law in the State of Washington.

Nubiaa Shabaka is Vice President in the Global Technology, Privacy, Intellectual Property and E-commerce Law Group at Morgan Stanley in New York City, where she serves as chief Privacy and Data Protection Counsel, Cybersecurity Counsel, Telecommunications Counsel and Social Media Counsel for the Americas.  Nubiaa also handles a variety of information technology and Internet-related matters.  Prior to joining Morgan Stanley in January 2008, Nubiaa was an associate in the Technology, Media, Communications and IP Law Group in Proskauer Rose’s New York office.  She earned a B.A., magna cum laude, from New York University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.  

Primary Areas of Practice: IP, Privacy

Law School/ Graduate School: Columbia / Stanford

Work History:

Weil Gotshal & Manges, 2004-2006
Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, 2006-2011
Synopsys Inc., 2011-2012
LinkedIn Corporation, 2012-present

Professional Memberships:

California Bar
New York Bar
International Association of Privacy Professionals - Certified
Information Privacy Professional (CIPP)

Suzanne Bell has more than 20 years of experience representing some of the world’s most prominent technology companies in their most significant technology and intellectual property transactions. Recognized as a leading practitioner in Chambers USA for her "wealth of experience," clients describe her as "service-oriented, delivering high-quality work product in a practical and friendly manner."

Ms. Bell focuses on technology and IP transactions—with an emphasis on complex strategic alliances—for a wide range of software, electronics, AI, IoT, autonomous vehicle, telecommunications, cloud computing, digital media, Internet, fintech, digital health, and clean technology companies. Her practice also includes strategic intellectual property asset purchases and sales; technology mergers, acquisitions, and spin-offs; and intellectual property litigation settlement agreements. In addition to her transactional work, she provides product counseling and advice on structuring business models for emerging technology companies and traditional companies that are embracing technology. Ms. Bell works with both growth and mature companies, and she has advised many of Silicon Valley's most prominent companies from start-up to maturity.