Mr. Slavitt practices general civil litigation in state and federal courts. He represents both plaintiffs and defendants in a broad range of cases involving intellectual property, contract disputes, commercial fraud, unfair competition, and other business matters. Intellectual Property Mr. Slavitt represents clients in intellectual property disputes, including patent, trademark, copyright and trade secret claims. He has represented plaintiffs in asserting patent, trademark and unfair competition claims against marketplace competitors in a case involving patented digital imaging technologies, and has prosecuted Internet copyright infringement claims on behalf of the Recording Industry Association of America. Mr. Slavitt has also prosecuted trademark infringement claims on behalf of an online securities brokerage, and has represented two international defendants in claims involving trade secrets and intentional interference with contractual relations. Class Action Litigation Mr. Slavitt defends consumer and investor class action litigation and claims of unfair, unlawful and fraudulent business practices. Representative matters include the defense of cable television industry clients in consumer class actions challenging rates, fees, and billing practices and accounting firms in federal securities class actions. A member of the firm's accountant practice group, Mr. Slavitt has defended Big Five accounting firms in securities and other high-stakes litigation. General Business Mr. Slavitt's practice emphasizes commercial matters, such as partnership and contract disputes, commercial fraud, and environmental and regulatory issues, including representing cable television industry clients in disputes with franchising authorities, and Proposition 65 and California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) litigation. He has successfully represented a California general partnership in obtaining various writs of attachment in connection with notes to one of the former partners; represented Mitsubishi Heavy Industries America, Inc. in an action challenging the award of a $137 million contract for the construction of the San Francisco International Airport light rail system; and successfully defended against a CEQA challenge to a shopping center development. Mr. Slavitt has also handled numerous appeals. Recent representative appeals include defending a personal jurisdiction ruling in a trade secrets action, defending the trial court's approval of a settlement in a consumer class action against a cable television client, challenging the California Insurance Commissioner's denial of a professional malpractice claim, and defending a favorable ruling approving a developer's CEQA plan. Professional Activities - Mr. Slavitt provides pro bono services to low-income individuals in a variety of matters as a volunteer with the Legal Service Clinic of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area and has prosecuted a Ninth Circuit appeal on behalf of an indigent prisoner. He has served as a lecturer at the University of Southern California and Pepperdine Universities and, in 1989 won a student Academy Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as a writer and director of a narrative film. In addition, he was author of the 1995 article, "Selling the Integrity of the System of Precedent: Selective Publication, Depublication, and Vacatur," in the Harvard Civil RightsCivil Liberties Law Review. Mr. Slavitt is also an accomplished nature landscape photographer who designed and maintains his own Web site and has exhibited his work widely. Education - Mr. Slavitt received his undergraduate degree, summa cum laude, in history from the University of California, Berkeley in 1985, and his Master's degree in cinema production from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles in 1989. He earned his law degree, magna cum laude, from Harvard University in 1994. While at Harvard, he was a general editor and executive editor of the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review. |