Mr. Bennett has over 30 years experience in the trial of complex commercial matters. He has tried to verdict approximately 30 cases involving a broad range of subject matters, including patent infringement, the federal securities laws, trade secrets and other intellectual property matters, insurance coverage and bad faith, inverse condemnation, and employment related issues. He has successfully defended at trial multiple cases in which damages in excess of $100 million were sought. Mr. Bennett also has extensive experience representing plaintiffs in a variety of commercial matters. His trial record includes four plaintiffs’ cases in which he has obtained verdicts and judgments with a collective value in excess of $160 million.

Mr. Bennett is a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and an associate member of The American Board of Trial Advocates.

Mr. Bennett served as firmwide Chair of the Litigation Department from 1999 to 2003. He was listed in San Francisco Magazine as one of Northern California’s top 100 “Super Lawyers” for General Litigation in 2004 and 2007. He was recommended in the 2008 edition of the Chambers USA guide for Litigation: General Commercial in California. Mr. Bennett was also listed in The Best Lawyers in America 2008 Directory as a leader in the field of Commercial Litigation. He was the recipient of a California Lawyer 2008 Attorneys of the Year Award for his successful defense of JDSU Uniphase Corp. and its former executives in a securities class action jury trial. Mr. Bennett was honored, again for his work on the JSDU trial, by The National Law Journal’s 2008 “Winning” feature which recognizes victors of 10 cases from scores of nationwide nominations.

Mr. Bennett has acted as lead trial counsel in the following matters:

• The successful defense of JDS Uniphase and three of its former officers in the trial of a class action securities case in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. In this case, the plaintiffs alleged that the defendants violated Section 10(b) of the 1934 Act by making numerous false statements regarding JDSU business prospects. The plaintiffs also alleged defendant’s financial statements were false and misleading. Finally, the plaintiffs alleged that each of the individual defendants had engaged in illegal insider trading. Plaintiffs sought damages in excess of $20 billion based on these claims. This is one of the largest damages claims ever presented at trial in the United States. After a four-week trial, the jury, after less than two days of deliberation, returned a unanimous verdict on behalf of each of the defendants on every claim advanced by the plaintiffs.
• The successful defense of a major national title company in two back-to-back three-month trials in which compensatory and punitive damages in a total amount exceeding $200 million were sought. The claims included the improper solicitation of over 500 employees and the misappropriation of trade secrets and other torts brought against the company by the third largest title company in the United States.
• The defense in an international arbitration proceeding of breach of license and trade secret misappropriation claims against a major, international wireless provider brought by a semiconductor company seeking damages in excess of $450 million.
• The defense in a major insurance coverage action of 23 carrier defendants in a case involving over $500 million of disputed coverage.
• The defense of Altera Corporation in patent litigation with its major competitor in the programmable logic device industry, Xilinx, Inc. In this federal action, the United States Court for the Northern District of California granted Judgment as a Matter of Law to Altera following a six-week jury trial. In June 2001, the firm represented Altera in a trial at the International Trade Commission on a patent infringement complaint brought by Xilinx. Both cases settled favorably before a decision was rendered by the Judge in the ITC action.
• The representation of Altera Corporation as a plaintiff in a suit brought against Clear Logic for violation of the Federal Semiconductor Chip Protection Act and common law unfair competition. The case, which is the only one ever tried under the Federal Act, resulted in a $35 million judgment and permanent injunction in favor of Altera.
• A liability verdict on behalf over 200 individuals and businesses against numerous state and local government agencies in a case involving damage caused by the March 1995 flooding of the Pajaro River in Monterey, California. Based on these verdicts, settlements at over $50 million were secured by the plaintiffs in this action.
• The representation of Paine Webber Corporation as the plaintiff in an insurance bad faith case resulting in a $43 million judgment (including a $21 million punitive damages award).