A member of Morrison & Foerster’s class action, privacy, and appellate litigation groups, Jacob Harper specializes in defending litigation at the intersection of business, communications, privacy, free speech, and consumer protection law. Representative matters include:
- Defending the leading provider of subscription-based streaming videos against multi-venue discrimination class and individual actions related to Internet-based closed captioning practices (D. Mass., N.D. Cal.).
- Defending pioneering behavioral advertising developers in smartphone “tracking” and “zombie cookie” privacy class actions (C.D. Cal., E.D. Tex., S.D.N.Y.).
- Obtaining injunctive relief to protect the business operations of a national grocery chain in the face of solicitation and petitioning disputes (at all stages of litigation, including temporary restraining order, preliminary injunction, summary judgment, and trial) (Various Cal. Super. Ct. Venues).
- Obtaining summary judgments in trademark infringement and counterfeiting disputes for the owner of a popular trading card game (C.D. Cal.).
- Obtaining summary judgment in nationwide individual and class actions — after the class was certified — for unfair competition and other challenges to a national franchise system and brand (C.D. Cal., L.A. Super. Ct.).
Mr. Harper regularly works on appeals and petitions for extraordinary relief in matters concerning business, free speech and injunctive relief issues. His recent appellate successes include affirmance of summary judgment in a 200-plaintiff fraud and breach of contract action (9th Cir.), the partial reversal of a multi-million dollar attorneys’ fees award arising from the dissolution of a partnership (Cal. Ct. of App.), and affirmance of summary judgment in favor of an insurer on a coverage issue (Cal. Ct. App.).
Mr. Harper was a recipient of the California Bar's Wiley W. Manual Certificate in 2010 and 2011 for his involvement in the firm's pro bono matters. He has helped an elderly client obtain a court order canceling a forged deed that fraudulently conveyed his property to a fictitious corporation, and wrote an amicus brief for a national disability rights group in support of an injunction barring the State of California from eliminating access to Adult Day Health Care for thousands of persons with disabilities (9th Cir.). He is currently on a team seeking federal habeas relief for a client on Mississippi’s death row (N.D. Miss.).
He received his B.A. in English and political science from UCLA, magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, and with Highest Departmental Honors. He received his J.D. from The University of Chicago Law School, where he was an Unterman Scholar and Martini Scholar, and served on the managing board of the Chicago Journal of International Law. He is a member of the Association of Business Trial Lawyers and the Los Angeles County Bar Association, and serves on LACBA’s Appellate Courts Committee.