Keynote
Patricia Gillette, Founder of the Opt-in Project and Partner at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe (bio)
Individual Challenges Panel
Moderated by: Eleanor Swift, Professor, UC Berkeley School of Law (bio)
Judge Marsha S. Berzon, United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Judge Marsha S. Berzon is a graduate of Radcliffe College and the law school at the University of California at Berkeley (Boalt Hall), where she was Articles Editor of the California Law Review. She served as a law clerk to Justice William J. Brennan, Jr., of the United States Supreme Court and for Judge James R. Browning of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Before joining the United States Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Judge Berzon worked as an appellate and Supreme Court advocate at Altshuler, Berzon, Nussbaum, Rubin & Demain, a San Francisco law firm. She presented cases in most of the federal circuit courts and the appellate courts of California and several other states. She filed briefs in dozens of cases in the United States Supreme Court, appearing four times as an oral advocate before the Court. Among the cases in which she participated were many setting important precedents in the fields of labor and employment law, environmental, women’s rights, and free speech. While in practice, Judge Berzon served as Associate General Counsel of the AFL-CIO; as a member of the Executive Committee of the Bar Association of San Francisco’s Labor and Employment Law Section; as co-chair of the Appellate Courts Committee of the Bar Association of San Francisco; as Treasurer of the Labor and Employment Law Section of the State Bar of California; as a member of the Board of Directors of the AFL-CIO Lawyers Coordinating Committee; as a member of the Board of Directors of the Legal Aid Society of San Francisco; as Vice President and a member of the Board of Directors of the ACLU of Northern California; and as a member of the California Commission on the Future of the Legal Profession and the State Bar.
In the Fall of 1994, Judge Berzon was practitioner in residence at Cornell Law School, where she taught Supreme Court litigation; in the Fall of 1998, she was a practitioner in residence at Indiana University Law School; in the Fall of 2003, she was the Alvin B. and Janice Rubin Lecturer at the Paul F. Hebert Law Center of Louisiana State University. She has received the Faye Stender Award from the California Women Lawyers’ Association for her contribution to establishing the legal rights of women; the Alumna of the Year award from the California Law Review; the American Jewish Committee’s Learned Hand Award; and the American Bar Association’s Margaret Brent Award. Judge Berzon gave the Madison Lecture at New York University Law School in 2008. Judge Berzon was confirmed as a judge of the Ninth Circuit on March 9, 2000. Judge Berzon is currently a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation, a member of the American Law Institute, and an Advisor to the American Law Institute Restatement of Employment Law.
Judge Marsha S. Berzon is a graduate of Radcliffe College and the law school at the University of California at Berkeley (Boalt Hall), where she was Articles Editor of the California Law Review. She served as a law clerk to Justice William J. Brennan, Jr., of the United States Supreme Court and for Judge James R. Browning of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Before joining the United States Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Judge Berzon worked as an appellate and Supreme Court advocate at Altshuler, Berzon, Nussbaum, Rubin & Demain, a San Francisco law firm. She presented cases in most of the federal circuit courts and the appellate courts of California and several other states. She filed briefs in dozens of cases in the United States Supreme Court, appearing four times as an oral advocate before the Court. Among the cases in which she participated were many setting important precedents in the fields of labor and employment law, environmental, women’s rights, and free speech. While in practice, Judge Berzon served as Associate General Counsel of the AFL-CIO; as a member of the Executive Committee of the Bar Association of San Francisco’s Labor and Employment Law Section; as co-chair of the Appellate Courts Committee of the Bar Association of San Francisco; as Treasurer of the Labor and Employment Law Section of the State Bar of California; as a member of the Board of Directors of the AFL-CIO Lawyers Coordinating Committee; as a member of the Board of Directors of the Legal Aid Society of San Francisco; as Vice President and a member of the Board of Directors of the ACLU of Northern California; and as a member of the California Commission on the Future of the Legal Profession and the State Bar.
In the Fall of 1994, Judge Berzon was practitioner in residence at Cornell Law School, where she taught Supreme Court litigation; in the Fall of 1998, she was a practitioner in residence at Indiana University Law School; in the Fall of 2003, she was the Alvin B. and Janice Rubin Lecturer at the Paul F. Hebert Law Center of Louisiana State University. She has received the Faye Stender Award from the California Women Lawyers’ Association for her contribution to establishing the legal rights of women; the Alumna of the Year award from the California Law Review; the American Jewish Committee’s Learned Hand Award; and the American Bar Association’s Margaret Brent Award. Judge Berzon gave the Madison Lecture at New York University Law School in 2008. Judge Berzon was confirmed as a judge of the Ninth Circuit on March 9, 2000. Judge Berzon is currently a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation, a member of the American Law Institute, and an Advisor to the American Law Institute Restatement of Employment Law.
Cindy Cohn, Legal Director, Electronic Frontier Foundation
Cindy Cohn is the Legal Director for the Electronic Frontier Foundation as well as its General Counsel. She is responsible for overseeing the EFF's overall legal strategy and supervising EFF's fourteen staff attorneys. Ms. Cohn first became involved with the EFF in 1993, when the EFF asked her to serve as the outside lead attorney in Bernstein v. Dept. of Justice, the successful First Amendment challenge to the U.S. export restrictions on cryptography. Outside the Courts, Ms. Cohn has testified before Congress, been featured in the New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle and elsewhere for her work on digital rights and has traveled onto the Internet with Stephen Colbert.
The National Law Journal named Ms. Cohn one of 100 most influential lawyers in America in2013, noting: "[I]f Big Brother is watching, he better look out for Cindy Cohn." She was also named in 2006 for "rushing to the barricades wherever freedom and civil liberties are at stake online." In 2007 the National Law Journal named her one of the 50 most influential women lawyers in America. In 2010 Intellectual Property Section of the State Bar of California awarded her its Intellectual Property Vanguard Award and in 2012 the Northern California Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists awarded her the James Madison Freedom of Information Award.
Issues that Ms. Cohn Currently Handles
NSA Spying: Ms Cohn serves as counsel in Jewel v. NSA, and First Unitarian Church v. NSA, each seeking to stop the ongoing dragnet warrantless surveillance of millions of ordinary Americans. Ms. Cohn also served as coordinating counsel for over forty national class action lawsuits against the telecommunications carriers and the government seeking to stop the warrantless surveillance. EFF filed the first such case, Hepting v. AT&T, in 2006 against telecom giant AT&T for violating its customers' privacy.
In re National Security Letter: EFF represents service providers who have brought challenges the National Security Letter statute, which was dramatically expanded as part of the USA Patriot Act, including placing broad and permanent gag orders on providers. EFF previously represented the Internet Archive in a similar challenge in 2007, which was ended after the government withdrew the request and lifted the gag order.
CFAA Reform: Ms. Cohn works to reform the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act in light of the tragic death of Internet activist Aaron Swartz.
Surveillance technologies internationally: Ms. Cohn has worked to free up communications and other human-rights supportive technologies from U.S. government export control and to draw attention to the problems caused by the sale of U.S. surveillance technologies to repressive regimes around the world.
Background
Ms. Cohn is a graduate of the University of Michigan Law School. She did her undergraduate studies at the University of Iowa and the London School of Economics. For 10 years prior to joining the EFF, she was a civil litigator in private practice handling technology- related cases. Before starting private practice, she worked for a year at the United Nations Centre for Human Rights in Geneva, Switzerland. Ms. Cohn also served as counsel to the plaintiffs in Bowoto v. Chevron, two lawsuits in San Francisco arising from Chevron's involvement in human rights abuses against environmental protesters in Nigeria. She also serves on the Board of Directors of the nonprofit the VerifiedVoting.org and the Verified Voting Foundation.
More information on Ms. Cohn is available here.
Cindy Cohn is the Legal Director for the Electronic Frontier Foundation as well as its General Counsel. She is responsible for overseeing the EFF's overall legal strategy and supervising EFF's fourteen staff attorneys. Ms. Cohn first became involved with the EFF in 1993, when the EFF asked her to serve as the outside lead attorney in Bernstein v. Dept. of Justice, the successful First Amendment challenge to the U.S. export restrictions on cryptography. Outside the Courts, Ms. Cohn has testified before Congress, been featured in the New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle and elsewhere for her work on digital rights and has traveled onto the Internet with Stephen Colbert.
The National Law Journal named Ms. Cohn one of 100 most influential lawyers in America in2013, noting: "[I]f Big Brother is watching, he better look out for Cindy Cohn." She was also named in 2006 for "rushing to the barricades wherever freedom and civil liberties are at stake online." In 2007 the National Law Journal named her one of the 50 most influential women lawyers in America. In 2010 Intellectual Property Section of the State Bar of California awarded her its Intellectual Property Vanguard Award and in 2012 the Northern California Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists awarded her the James Madison Freedom of Information Award.
Issues that Ms. Cohn Currently Handles
NSA Spying: Ms Cohn serves as counsel in Jewel v. NSA, and First Unitarian Church v. NSA, each seeking to stop the ongoing dragnet warrantless surveillance of millions of ordinary Americans. Ms. Cohn also served as coordinating counsel for over forty national class action lawsuits against the telecommunications carriers and the government seeking to stop the warrantless surveillance. EFF filed the first such case, Hepting v. AT&T, in 2006 against telecom giant AT&T for violating its customers' privacy.
In re National Security Letter: EFF represents service providers who have brought challenges the National Security Letter statute, which was dramatically expanded as part of the USA Patriot Act, including placing broad and permanent gag orders on providers. EFF previously represented the Internet Archive in a similar challenge in 2007, which was ended after the government withdrew the request and lifted the gag order.
CFAA Reform: Ms. Cohn works to reform the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act in light of the tragic death of Internet activist Aaron Swartz.
Surveillance technologies internationally: Ms. Cohn has worked to free up communications and other human-rights supportive technologies from U.S. government export control and to draw attention to the problems caused by the sale of U.S. surveillance technologies to repressive regimes around the world.
Background
Ms. Cohn is a graduate of the University of Michigan Law School. She did her undergraduate studies at the University of Iowa and the London School of Economics. For 10 years prior to joining the EFF, she was a civil litigator in private practice handling technology- related cases. Before starting private practice, she worked for a year at the United Nations Centre for Human Rights in Geneva, Switzerland. Ms. Cohn also served as counsel to the plaintiffs in Bowoto v. Chevron, two lawsuits in San Francisco arising from Chevron's involvement in human rights abuses against environmental protesters in Nigeria. She also serves on the Board of Directors of the nonprofit the VerifiedVoting.org and the Verified Voting Foundation.
More information on Ms. Cohn is available here.
Dorian Daley, Senior Vice President, General Counsel, and Secretary, Oracle Corporation
Dorian Daley serves as Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of Oracle Corporation. She began her career at Oracle in 1992 after spending five years with the commercial litigation group of Landels, Ripley & Diamond in San Francisco. She is a 1986 graduate of the Santa Clara University School of Law and a 1981 graduate of Stanford University. Prior to her appointment as General Counsel, Ms. Daley served as Vice President and Associate General Counsel, Legal, with management responsibility for the Oracle Litigation Group. In leading and working within the Litigation group, Ms. Daley participated in and oversaw all business and IP related disputes, litigation and investigations worldwide, including matters relating to Oracle's Compliance and Ethics program and its merger and acquisition legal strategy, and she was active in commercial process and policy review. As General Counsel, Ms. Daley has remained an active participant in litigation, dispute resolution, investigations, and commercial policy and practice reviews, as well as working closely with management and the Board of directors to provide legal counsel on myriad tactical and strategic issues affecting Oracle's growing business and the governance issues it faces. Ms. Daley has been the recipient of various awards and recognitions, including the 2010 Diversity Gala Award from Santa Clara University School of Law for being a role model for women and minorities in the legal field, and the 2011 Best General Counsel Award (Large Public Company), by the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal and San Francisco Business Times. In 2011 and 2012 Ethisphere Institute recognized Ms. Daley as one of the Attorneys who Matter in the Top General Counsel category, in 2012 the San Francisco Business Times named her as one of the Bay Area's Most Influential Women, and in 2012 Corporate Counsel Magazine identified her as one of the Top Legal Officers. Dorian was also featured by Profile Magazine in its coverage of General Counsel of Fortune 100 Companies, and is the recipient of the 2013 Santa Clara Law Alumni Special Achievement Award, Honoring Lawyers Who Lead. Dorian also serves on the Board of Directors for the Commonwealth Club, and BSA | The Software Alliance, which is the leading advocate for the software industry before governments and in the international marketplace.
Dorian Daley serves as Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of Oracle Corporation. She began her career at Oracle in 1992 after spending five years with the commercial litigation group of Landels, Ripley & Diamond in San Francisco. She is a 1986 graduate of the Santa Clara University School of Law and a 1981 graduate of Stanford University. Prior to her appointment as General Counsel, Ms. Daley served as Vice President and Associate General Counsel, Legal, with management responsibility for the Oracle Litigation Group. In leading and working within the Litigation group, Ms. Daley participated in and oversaw all business and IP related disputes, litigation and investigations worldwide, including matters relating to Oracle's Compliance and Ethics program and its merger and acquisition legal strategy, and she was active in commercial process and policy review. As General Counsel, Ms. Daley has remained an active participant in litigation, dispute resolution, investigations, and commercial policy and practice reviews, as well as working closely with management and the Board of directors to provide legal counsel on myriad tactical and strategic issues affecting Oracle's growing business and the governance issues it faces. Ms. Daley has been the recipient of various awards and recognitions, including the 2010 Diversity Gala Award from Santa Clara University School of Law for being a role model for women and minorities in the legal field, and the 2011 Best General Counsel Award (Large Public Company), by the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal and San Francisco Business Times. In 2011 and 2012 Ethisphere Institute recognized Ms. Daley as one of the Attorneys who Matter in the Top General Counsel category, in 2012 the San Francisco Business Times named her as one of the Bay Area's Most Influential Women, and in 2012 Corporate Counsel Magazine identified her as one of the Top Legal Officers. Dorian was also featured by Profile Magazine in its coverage of General Counsel of Fortune 100 Companies, and is the recipient of the 2013 Santa Clara Law Alumni Special Achievement Award, Honoring Lawyers Who Lead. Dorian also serves on the Board of Directors for the Commonwealth Club, and BSA | The Software Alliance, which is the leading advocate for the software industry before governments and in the international marketplace.
Amy Levine, Founder, The Essential Steps
Dr. Amy Levine is a certified leadership coach, educator and consultant who has worked for over 30 years with individuals and groups to assist them in reaching their goals. She helps her individual coaching clients develop and internalize the ability to maximize professional and personal potential. Her unique directive style creates an enjoyable experience that leads to measurable outcomes and sustainable impact. For groups, Dr. Levine offers numerous interactive workshops on leadership and career advancement. She also provides expert project management consultation and conference planning. Her clients include higher education departments, associations, individual professionals, private businesses and businesswomen. In addition to her private practice, she is currently an instructor at UC Berkeley Extension where she has developed a highly popular series of courses leading to a certificate in Women and Leadership.
Levine served as Executive Director of the UC San Francisco Center for Gender Equity (UCSF CGE), which provided advocacy, education and services for women on leadership and diversity; health and wellness; and intimate partner violence prevention. She is an expert on a range of topics concerning women in society and is dedicated to addressing issues of ethnic diversity, sexual orientation, age and ability. She earned a doctorate in education from UC Berkeley, and holds a master’s degree in counseling psychology.
Levine conceived Women’s Health Today, a series of contemporary talks in women’s health, broadcast through a live, interactive webcast, archived for access as podcasts. In partnership with the UCSF Center for Excellence in Women’s Health, she produced this series of expert presentations for lay audiences. Women’s Health Today has reached an audience of over 1 million since 2004. Under Levine’s leadership, UCSF CGE produced the Women’s Leadership Symposium, a consistently sold-out conference held biannually from 1998 to 2008, that was the only leadership conference serving all women staff in the UC system.
During her tenure as UCSF CGE Executive Director, Levine also helped to found and manage UCSF’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Resource Center, and initially housed that program at UCSF CGE. Prior to her appointment as UCSF CGE Executive Director, Levine created the UCSF Women’s Resource Center and as its Director, conceived and implemented an impressive variety of innovative programs, services and training. She also served as the first Coordinator of UCSF’s Rape Prevention Education Program, providing anti-violence education and advocacy services to victim/survivors of sexual violence.
Levine has served as a member of the Women‘s Leadership Board at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government and is a current board member of the American Council on Education, Office of Women in Higher Education, Northern California. She has also received numerous awards, including Women Who Make a Difference from the San Francisco chapter of the Commission on the Status of Women for her service in the areas of employment and academic, economic and social advancement of women. For her work promoting gender equity on campus and in the community, she was the first-ever staff member to be awarded the UCSF Chancellor’s Award for the Advancement of Women.
As a UC Presidential Staff Fellow, Levine co-led a UC-wide project to collect data on workplace practices regarding the professional advancement of UC’s women and developed recommendations to the President, including the establishment of the Systemwide Advisory Committee on the Status of Women.
Dr. Amy Levine is a certified leadership coach, educator and consultant who has worked for over 30 years with individuals and groups to assist them in reaching their goals. She helps her individual coaching clients develop and internalize the ability to maximize professional and personal potential. Her unique directive style creates an enjoyable experience that leads to measurable outcomes and sustainable impact. For groups, Dr. Levine offers numerous interactive workshops on leadership and career advancement. She also provides expert project management consultation and conference planning. Her clients include higher education departments, associations, individual professionals, private businesses and businesswomen. In addition to her private practice, she is currently an instructor at UC Berkeley Extension where she has developed a highly popular series of courses leading to a certificate in Women and Leadership.
Levine served as Executive Director of the UC San Francisco Center for Gender Equity (UCSF CGE), which provided advocacy, education and services for women on leadership and diversity; health and wellness; and intimate partner violence prevention. She is an expert on a range of topics concerning women in society and is dedicated to addressing issues of ethnic diversity, sexual orientation, age and ability. She earned a doctorate in education from UC Berkeley, and holds a master’s degree in counseling psychology.
Levine conceived Women’s Health Today, a series of contemporary talks in women’s health, broadcast through a live, interactive webcast, archived for access as podcasts. In partnership with the UCSF Center for Excellence in Women’s Health, she produced this series of expert presentations for lay audiences. Women’s Health Today has reached an audience of over 1 million since 2004. Under Levine’s leadership, UCSF CGE produced the Women’s Leadership Symposium, a consistently sold-out conference held biannually from 1998 to 2008, that was the only leadership conference serving all women staff in the UC system.
During her tenure as UCSF CGE Executive Director, Levine also helped to found and manage UCSF’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Resource Center, and initially housed that program at UCSF CGE. Prior to her appointment as UCSF CGE Executive Director, Levine created the UCSF Women’s Resource Center and as its Director, conceived and implemented an impressive variety of innovative programs, services and training. She also served as the first Coordinator of UCSF’s Rape Prevention Education Program, providing anti-violence education and advocacy services to victim/survivors of sexual violence.
Levine has served as a member of the Women‘s Leadership Board at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government and is a current board member of the American Council on Education, Office of Women in Higher Education, Northern California. She has also received numerous awards, including Women Who Make a Difference from the San Francisco chapter of the Commission on the Status of Women for her service in the areas of employment and academic, economic and social advancement of women. For her work promoting gender equity on campus and in the community, she was the first-ever staff member to be awarded the UCSF Chancellor’s Award for the Advancement of Women.
As a UC Presidential Staff Fellow, Levine co-led a UC-wide project to collect data on workplace practices regarding the professional advancement of UC’s women and developed recommendations to the President, including the establishment of the Systemwide Advisory Committee on the Status of Women.
Krystal Bowen, Partner, Sheppard, Mullin, Richter, & Hampton (bio)
Structural Challenges Panel
Moderated by: Beatriz Mejia, Partner, Cooley (bio)
Delida Costin, Senior Vice President, General Counsel, and Secretary, Pandora
Delida Costin gets jazzed by products that rip through culture, changing consumer expectations and behavior. For almost two decades, her legal practice has existed in the charged space and time after consumers adopt a new product, but before the cases are heard and the statutes are enacted. She joined Pandora Media in 2010 and serves as senior vice president, general counsel and secretary. She was the first lawyer that Pandora hired and took the company public in 2011. She is responsible for litigation, securities, compliance, corporate governance, IP, consumer protection, government affairs, and music copyright. Previously, she was vice president and assistant general counsel at CNET Networks. Her personal motto: your starting point does not determine where you will end; grab goodness.
Before Pandora, Delida maintained a private legal practice and served as a member of the attorney bench at Axiom Legal. Prior to that, she was vice president and assistant general counsel at CNET Networks. She has also practiced with the law firms of Goodwin, Procter LLP in Boston, Massachusetts and Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP in Palo Alto, California. Delida received her bachelor's degree from Northwestern University and her law degree from Boston University School of Law, and is admitted to practice in California, Massachusetts and New York. She sits on the boards of the Oakland East Bay Symphony and Techbridge, an Oakland-based organization dedicated to encouraging girls to explore technology, science and engineering.
Delida Costin gets jazzed by products that rip through culture, changing consumer expectations and behavior. For almost two decades, her legal practice has existed in the charged space and time after consumers adopt a new product, but before the cases are heard and the statutes are enacted. She joined Pandora Media in 2010 and serves as senior vice president, general counsel and secretary. She was the first lawyer that Pandora hired and took the company public in 2011. She is responsible for litigation, securities, compliance, corporate governance, IP, consumer protection, government affairs, and music copyright. Previously, she was vice president and assistant general counsel at CNET Networks. Her personal motto: your starting point does not determine where you will end; grab goodness.
Before Pandora, Delida maintained a private legal practice and served as a member of the attorney bench at Axiom Legal. Prior to that, she was vice president and assistant general counsel at CNET Networks. She has also practiced with the law firms of Goodwin, Procter LLP in Boston, Massachusetts and Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP in Palo Alto, California. Delida received her bachelor's degree from Northwestern University and her law degree from Boston University School of Law, and is admitted to practice in California, Massachusetts and New York. She sits on the boards of the Oakland East Bay Symphony and Techbridge, an Oakland-based organization dedicated to encouraging girls to explore technology, science and engineering.
Kate Fritz, Managing Partner, Fenwick & West
Kathryn J. Fritz is a partner in the Litigation, Intellectual Property and Privacy Groups and serves as Managing Partner of Fenwick & West, a law firm specializing in technology and life sciences matters.
Ms. Fritz’s practice concentrates on business and intellectual property litigation, with an emphasis on trademark, right of publicity and copyright, especially as applied to new technology areas. She has litigated cases in federal and state courts throughout the country and through alternative dispute mechanisms. She has represented and advised software publishers, computer hardware manufacturers, gaming and digital media companies, entertainment companies, traditional media publishers and consumer products companies on a wide variety of commercial and intellectual property issues, including copyright, defamation, trademark, trade dress, advertising, right of publicity, trade secret and unfair competition matters.
Ms. Fritz received her B.A., magna cum laude, in 1981 from the University of California at Santa Barbara, where she was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and a University of California Regents’ Scholar. She received her J.D., cum laude, in 1985 from Georgetown University Law Center, where she was Research Editor of the American Criminal Law Review.
Professional Activities and Recognition
Ms. Fritz is a member of the Litigation and Intellectual Property Sections of the California Bar Association and the American Bar Association, and the Association of the Bar of the City of New York. She has been a member of the Board of Trustees of the Santa Clara County Bar Association and the Board of Directors of the Bar Association of San Francisco. She is an active speaker on issues relating to law firm management and change, and is active in diversity initiatives in the profession, including serving as Chair of the Santa Clara County Bar Association’s Diversity Committee and speaking on diversity issues before numerous organizations and groups including the Minority Corporate Counsel Association, the Project for Attorney Retention, and the Hastings Women’s Leadership Academy.
She writes and speaks regularly on intellectual property issues to groups that include the Federal Judicial Center and Practicing Law Institute, and since 1999 has taught an advanced trademark law seminar at UC Berkeley School of Law, Boalt Hall. She has been named to The Recorder’s list of Top 50 Women Leaders in Tech Law,. has been repeatedly selected as a “Northern California Super Lawyer” in the area of Intellectual Property Litigation, and is AV Peer Review Rated as "Preeminent" by LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell.
Pro Bono Involvement
Ms. Fritz has been actively involved in work on behalf of pro bono clients. She has represented documentary filmmakers on intellectual property issues, including David Weissman in connection with his films We Were Here, which was short-listed for an Academy Award, and The Cockettes. For many years she was on the capital defense team for a client on California’s death row, ultimately achieving a reversal of his death sentence, and has assisted clients in obtaining political asylum.
In addition to her pro bono client representation, Ms. Fritz has been active in the greater pro bono community. She has co-chaired the Bar Association of San Francisco’s Pro Bono Committee, is a member of the Pro Bono Institute’s Law Firm Advisory Board, and was a member of the Legal Service Corporation’s Pro Bono Task Force and co-chair of the Subcommittee on Technology Best Practices in Pro Bono.
More information on Ms. Fritz's Representative Engagements and Litigation, Publications, and Presentations is available here.
Kathryn J. Fritz is a partner in the Litigation, Intellectual Property and Privacy Groups and serves as Managing Partner of Fenwick & West, a law firm specializing in technology and life sciences matters.
Ms. Fritz’s practice concentrates on business and intellectual property litigation, with an emphasis on trademark, right of publicity and copyright, especially as applied to new technology areas. She has litigated cases in federal and state courts throughout the country and through alternative dispute mechanisms. She has represented and advised software publishers, computer hardware manufacturers, gaming and digital media companies, entertainment companies, traditional media publishers and consumer products companies on a wide variety of commercial and intellectual property issues, including copyright, defamation, trademark, trade dress, advertising, right of publicity, trade secret and unfair competition matters.
Ms. Fritz received her B.A., magna cum laude, in 1981 from the University of California at Santa Barbara, where she was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and a University of California Regents’ Scholar. She received her J.D., cum laude, in 1985 from Georgetown University Law Center, where she was Research Editor of the American Criminal Law Review.
Professional Activities and Recognition
Ms. Fritz is a member of the Litigation and Intellectual Property Sections of the California Bar Association and the American Bar Association, and the Association of the Bar of the City of New York. She has been a member of the Board of Trustees of the Santa Clara County Bar Association and the Board of Directors of the Bar Association of San Francisco. She is an active speaker on issues relating to law firm management and change, and is active in diversity initiatives in the profession, including serving as Chair of the Santa Clara County Bar Association’s Diversity Committee and speaking on diversity issues before numerous organizations and groups including the Minority Corporate Counsel Association, the Project for Attorney Retention, and the Hastings Women’s Leadership Academy.
She writes and speaks regularly on intellectual property issues to groups that include the Federal Judicial Center and Practicing Law Institute, and since 1999 has taught an advanced trademark law seminar at UC Berkeley School of Law, Boalt Hall. She has been named to The Recorder’s list of Top 50 Women Leaders in Tech Law,. has been repeatedly selected as a “Northern California Super Lawyer” in the area of Intellectual Property Litigation, and is AV Peer Review Rated as "Preeminent" by LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell.
Pro Bono Involvement
Ms. Fritz has been actively involved in work on behalf of pro bono clients. She has represented documentary filmmakers on intellectual property issues, including David Weissman in connection with his films We Were Here, which was short-listed for an Academy Award, and The Cockettes. For many years she was on the capital defense team for a client on California’s death row, ultimately achieving a reversal of his death sentence, and has assisted clients in obtaining political asylum.
In addition to her pro bono client representation, Ms. Fritz has been active in the greater pro bono community. She has co-chaired the Bar Association of San Francisco’s Pro Bono Committee, is a member of the Pro Bono Institute’s Law Firm Advisory Board, and was a member of the Legal Service Corporation’s Pro Bono Task Force and co-chair of the Subcommittee on Technology Best Practices in Pro Bono.
More information on Ms. Fritz's Representative Engagements and Litigation, Publications, and Presentations is available here.
Mary Huser, Vice President and Deputy General Counsel, BlackBerry
Mary Huser currently serves as Vice President, Deputy General Counsel at BlackBerry overseeing global litigation, patent litigation, regulatory, non-patent IP enforcement/brand enforcement and privacy. She previously served as Vice President, Deputy General Counsel at eBay overseeing these same areas plus patent prosecution and licensing. Prior to that, Mary was a partner at Bingham McCutchen for 20 years in the litigation area and previously served as the Managing Partner of the Silicon Valley office and Chair of the IP and Securities practice groups.
Mary Huser currently serves as Vice President, Deputy General Counsel at BlackBerry overseeing global litigation, patent litigation, regulatory, non-patent IP enforcement/brand enforcement and privacy. She previously served as Vice President, Deputy General Counsel at eBay overseeing these same areas plus patent prosecution and licensing. Prior to that, Mary was a partner at Bingham McCutchen for 20 years in the litigation area and previously served as the Managing Partner of the Silicon Valley office and Chair of the IP and Securities practice groups.
Professor Mary Ann Mason, Professor and Co-Director of the Center, Economics and Family Security, UC Berkeley School of Law
Mary Ann Mason is currently professor and faculty co-director of the Earl Warren Center for Law and Social Policy at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law. From 2000 to 2007, she served as the first woman dean of the Graduate Division at UC Berkeley, with responsibility for nearly 10,000 students in more than 100 graduate programs. During her tenure, she championed diversity in the graduate student population, promoted equity for student parents, and pioneered measures to enhance the career-life balance for all faculty. Her research findings and advocacy have been central to ground-breaking policy initiatives, including the ten-campus "UC Faculty Family Friendly Edge" and the nationwide "Nine Presidents" summit on gender equity at major research universities. Her recent research has focused on the leaky pipeline for women in science “Staying Competitive: Patching America’s Leaky Pipeline in the Sciences,” Her article, “Title IX and Pregnancy Discrimination in Higher Ed” will appear in the NYU Journal of Law and Social Change in April.
Mason’s most recent book, (Rutgers 2013) with Nick Wolfinger and Marc Goulden, Do Babies Matter, Gender and Family in the Ivory Tower, has garnered national attention. Previous books include: Mothers on the Fast Track: How a New Generation Can Balance Family and Careers, co-authored with her daughter Eve Mason Ekman (Oxford, 2007).
Mary Ann Mason is currently professor and faculty co-director of the Earl Warren Center for Law and Social Policy at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law. From 2000 to 2007, she served as the first woman dean of the Graduate Division at UC Berkeley, with responsibility for nearly 10,000 students in more than 100 graduate programs. During her tenure, she championed diversity in the graduate student population, promoted equity for student parents, and pioneered measures to enhance the career-life balance for all faculty. Her research findings and advocacy have been central to ground-breaking policy initiatives, including the ten-campus "UC Faculty Family Friendly Edge" and the nationwide "Nine Presidents" summit on gender equity at major research universities. Her recent research has focused on the leaky pipeline for women in science “Staying Competitive: Patching America’s Leaky Pipeline in the Sciences,” Her article, “Title IX and Pregnancy Discrimination in Higher Ed” will appear in the NYU Journal of Law and Social Change in April.
Mason’s most recent book, (Rutgers 2013) with Nick Wolfinger and Marc Goulden, Do Babies Matter, Gender and Family in the Ivory Tower, has garnered national attention. Previous books include: Mothers on the Fast Track: How a New Generation Can Balance Family and Careers, co-authored with her daughter Eve Mason Ekman (Oxford, 2007).
Judge Brad Seligman, Superior Court of Alameda County
Work Experience
Alameda Superior Court: December 31, 2012 to present. Current assignment: Department 504 (Family Law).
Legal Experience: As a lawyer, he successfully litigated over 60 civil rights class actions and countless individual employment cases including wrongful termination actions including: the third largest sex discrimination class action recovery in history ($107.25 million) (Stender v. Lucky Stores, 803 F.Supp.259 (N.D.Cal.1992) and the first major challenge to the use of psychological testing by a private employer (Soroka v. Dayton Hudson Corp dba Target Stores (Alameda Superior Court)). He was co-lead counsel in the then largest Americans with Disabilities Act access settlement, Arnold v. United Artists Theatre Circuit 158 F.R.D. 439(N.D.Cal.1994). He settled the largest disability employment class action ever (Glover v. Potter, (EEOC 2007)($61 million for class of 7500)). He was lead counsel in Dukes v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 222 F.R.D. 137 (N.D. Cal. 2004), 659 F.3d 801 (9th Cir 2011)(en banc), reversed sub nom, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes, __U.S.__, 131 S.Ct. 2541 (2011).
Before the California Supreme Court, he has argued, among other cases, Munson v. Del Taco, 46 Cal.4th 661(2009), which held that proof of intentional discrimination is not required to obtain damages for ADA violations under the Unruh Civil Rights Act, Frye v. Tenderloin Housing Clinic, 38 Cal.4th 23 (2006), which upheld the right of non-profit legal advocacy groups to practice law, Sav-On Drug Stores, Inc. v, Superior Court, 34 Cal.4th 319 (2004), which established class certification standards in overtime class actions, and City of Moorpark v. Superior Court, 18 Cal.4th 1143(1998), a case which established that disability discrimination claims under the Fair Employment and Housing Act are not preempted by the Workers’ Compensation Act.
Impact Fund: From 1992-2010 he was the founding executive director of a public foundation, the Impact Fund, which provides financial and technical assistance and representation for complex public interest litigation. From 2010 until July 1, 2012, he was Senior Counsel to the Impact Fund.
Lewis Feinberg: From January 1, 2012 until December 31, 2013 he was of counsel to the Oakland employment and civil rights firm of Lewis, Feinberg, Lee, Renaker & Jackson, P.C.
Saperstein, Seligman: From 1981-1991, he was an associate, partner and then the managing partner of the Oakland firm of Saperstein, Seligman, Mayeda and Larkin. From September 1991 until June 1994, he was of counsel to the firm's successor, Saperstein, Mayeda and Goldstein.
Judicial Law Clerk: He was a senior Law Clerk to Judge Lawrence K. Karlton of the Eastern District of California, and an extern to Justice Matthew O. Tobriner of the California Supreme Court.
Service and Teaching
He has served on the Board of Directors of Equal Rights Advocates and California Rural Legal Assistance, and was chair of the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund Development Partnership. He was the co-founder of the San Francisco Bay Area Plaintiffs’ Employment Lawyers Association. He has spoken and written widely on topics of class actions, employment and public interest law, and attorneys’ fee litigation.
He taught employment discrimination law at Hastings College of the Law and Golden Gate University Law School, and a seminar on class action litigation at Hastings. He was a Teaching Fellow at Stanford Law School. He was a Regent’s Lecturer at UCLA School of Law in March 2006.
He has served as the chair of the Northern District Magistrate Judge Merit Selection Panel, and as a Northern District delegate to the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference.
Education
Hastings College of Law (J.D. 1978).
Sonoma State University (B.A. 1975).
Work Experience
Alameda Superior Court: December 31, 2012 to present. Current assignment: Department 504 (Family Law).
Legal Experience: As a lawyer, he successfully litigated over 60 civil rights class actions and countless individual employment cases including wrongful termination actions including: the third largest sex discrimination class action recovery in history ($107.25 million) (Stender v. Lucky Stores, 803 F.Supp.259 (N.D.Cal.1992) and the first major challenge to the use of psychological testing by a private employer (Soroka v. Dayton Hudson Corp dba Target Stores (Alameda Superior Court)). He was co-lead counsel in the then largest Americans with Disabilities Act access settlement, Arnold v. United Artists Theatre Circuit 158 F.R.D. 439(N.D.Cal.1994). He settled the largest disability employment class action ever (Glover v. Potter, (EEOC 2007)($61 million for class of 7500)). He was lead counsel in Dukes v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 222 F.R.D. 137 (N.D. Cal. 2004), 659 F.3d 801 (9th Cir 2011)(en banc), reversed sub nom, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes, __U.S.__, 131 S.Ct. 2541 (2011).
Before the California Supreme Court, he has argued, among other cases, Munson v. Del Taco, 46 Cal.4th 661(2009), which held that proof of intentional discrimination is not required to obtain damages for ADA violations under the Unruh Civil Rights Act, Frye v. Tenderloin Housing Clinic, 38 Cal.4th 23 (2006), which upheld the right of non-profit legal advocacy groups to practice law, Sav-On Drug Stores, Inc. v, Superior Court, 34 Cal.4th 319 (2004), which established class certification standards in overtime class actions, and City of Moorpark v. Superior Court, 18 Cal.4th 1143(1998), a case which established that disability discrimination claims under the Fair Employment and Housing Act are not preempted by the Workers’ Compensation Act.
Impact Fund: From 1992-2010 he was the founding executive director of a public foundation, the Impact Fund, which provides financial and technical assistance and representation for complex public interest litigation. From 2010 until July 1, 2012, he was Senior Counsel to the Impact Fund.
Lewis Feinberg: From January 1, 2012 until December 31, 2013 he was of counsel to the Oakland employment and civil rights firm of Lewis, Feinberg, Lee, Renaker & Jackson, P.C.
Saperstein, Seligman: From 1981-1991, he was an associate, partner and then the managing partner of the Oakland firm of Saperstein, Seligman, Mayeda and Larkin. From September 1991 until June 1994, he was of counsel to the firm's successor, Saperstein, Mayeda and Goldstein.
Judicial Law Clerk: He was a senior Law Clerk to Judge Lawrence K. Karlton of the Eastern District of California, and an extern to Justice Matthew O. Tobriner of the California Supreme Court.
Service and Teaching
He has served on the Board of Directors of Equal Rights Advocates and California Rural Legal Assistance, and was chair of the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund Development Partnership. He was the co-founder of the San Francisco Bay Area Plaintiffs’ Employment Lawyers Association. He has spoken and written widely on topics of class actions, employment and public interest law, and attorneys’ fee litigation.
He taught employment discrimination law at Hastings College of the Law and Golden Gate University Law School, and a seminar on class action litigation at Hastings. He was a Teaching Fellow at Stanford Law School. He was a Regent’s Lecturer at UCLA School of Law in March 2006.
He has served as the chair of the Northern District Magistrate Judge Merit Selection Panel, and as a Northern District delegate to the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference.
Education
Hastings College of Law (J.D. 1978).
Sonoma State University (B.A. 1975).