Mr John Watkins Keker, Attorney

John Keker earned a B.A., cum laude, from Princeton University in 1965, and a JD from Yale Law School in 1970. He specializes in commercial litigation, white collar criminal defense, and intellectual property.

Following graduation, Keker clerked for the Hon. Earl Warren Retired Chief Justice of the United States from 1970-1971. He has been admitted to the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal, Fifth, Ninth, and Eleventh Circuits, and the U.S. District Courts for the Eastern, Northern, Southern and Central Districts of California, Colorado, and Southern District of Texas.

In 1978 Keker founded Keker, Van Nest & Peters LLP. The firm is located in San Francisco, CA. Since founding the company, Keker has earned a reputation as a top trial lawyer. Keker has been inducted into the California State Bar’s “Litigation Hall of Fame.” He has also been named one of the “Top 100 Most Influential Lawyers in the United States” by the National Law Journal.

In his tenure as a lawyer, Keker has litigated many important cases. In 2015, he helped the San Diego County Water Authority win the year’s largest settlement award. In this case, the Water Authority charged the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) with overcharging water transportation rates and breaching a contract between the two parties. Ultimately, the court found that the MWD’s rates violated California’s statutory and constitutional provisions.

Through the years, Keker’s notable clientele include McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., et al., Lance Armstrong, George Lucas and more. In 2015, Keker, Van Nest & Peters LLP defended McGraw Hill in a case where the government sought a penalty of $5B under the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act. The government accused McGraw Hill of fraud in its residential mortgage-backed securities and debt obligations before the 2008 financial crisis. McGraw settled with the government.

Keker also represented Major League Baseball in San Jose, et. Al. v. Office of the Commissioner of Baseball and Allan Huber “Bud” Selig. The City of San Jose sued MLB, alleging antitrust violations and state law claims related to the possible relocation of the Oakland Athletics to San Jose. The lawsuit also claimed the MLB’s business practices and anticompetitive conduct violated state and federal laws. Keker had the antitrust claims dismissed and convinced the Supreme Court to decline a petition for certiorari.

In 2013, Keker represented Lucasfilm Ltd. in antitrust class action suits launched by former employees. The suits targeted Google, Apple, and Pixar. Plaintiffs alleged unlawful agreements of employee hiring and retention; a preliminary settlement between plaintiffs and Lucasfilm was reached in 2013.

Keker also represented seven-time Tour de France winner, cyclist Lance Armstrong, during an investigation by the US Department of Justice into doping in the sport of professional cycling. The DOJ’s investigation was closed in 2012 and no charges were filed.

In the largest trade secret litigation to date, Keker represented Cadence Design Systems, Inc. against Avant! Corporation. Keker secured an injunction, restitution, and settlement totaling $460M in a trade secret misappropriation suit. The Santa Clara County District Attorney pursued further charges.

School	Degree	Major	Graduation
Yale Law School		Law School	N/A
Princeton Univ; Princeton NJ	Bachelor

State / Court	Date
Colorado	2006
California	1971
Florida

• Fellow, American College of Trial Lawyers
  Fellow, International Academy of Trial Lawyers
  Member, Council on Foreign Relations
  Member, Pacific Council on International Policy
  Presidio Trust Board of Directors, Chair
  American Board of Trial Advocates
  American Bar Foundation

• Litigation Trial Lawyers (2016)
  Top Plaintiff's Verdict by Lawyer (2016)
  Elite Trial Lawyer (2015)
  White Collar Crime Trailblazer (2015)
  Bet-the-Company Litigator of the Year, Best Lawyers in America, 2012-2014
  San Francisco Intellectual Property Lawyer of the Year (2012)
  Lawyer of the Year, White Collar Criminal Defense (2010)

• USDOJ v. McKesson Corp.: Defeated the government’s six-year False Claims Act against McKesson Corporation and one of its subsidiaries. The US government alleged that McKesson submitted “legally false” Medicare insurance reimbursement claims. The court sided with defendants following a three-week bench trial. Oracle Corporation v. Google, Inc.: Keker & Van Nest represented Google in a Silicon Valley patent and copyright infringement case. The firm represented Google against Oracle, which sought to change the way Google used and distributed its Android operating system. In a victory for Google, the judge dismissed a majority of Oracle’s copyright claims. State of New York v. Intel Corporation. Keker & Van Nest was lead counsel for Intel Corporation in an antitrust case. The New York Attorney General claimed that Intel violated antitrust statutes by holding a monopoly in the microprocessor market. Keker won several motions early in the trial that hindered New York’s case. The matter settled with Intel paying a small portion of what New York owed. Securities and Exchange Commission v. Brian Stoker. Keker & Van Nest defended Brian Stoker, a former Citigroup executive. Stoker was charged with securities fraud in 2007, but was found not liable on any of the SEC’s claims. VS Technologies LLC v. Twitter Inc. In this patent infringement case, Keker & Van Nest defended Twitter from a formal lawsuit and claims amounting to $40M. USDOJ v. Major League Baseball Players Association. Represented Major League players in a drug-testing battle against the government. In 2010, the court upheld a previous ruling, reached in 2009, that federal investigators unlawfully took drug test records for over 100 athletes. Apple Inc. v. HTC Corporation. Keker & Van Nest was lead counsel for HTC in a battle with Apple over smartphone technology. Apple first sued HTC in district court and before the USITC, alleging that HTC infringed on 20 patents related to computer technologies such as user interfaces, power management, and operating systems. HTC received a favorable ruling with a settlement to become the first Android handset maker licensed by Apple. Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization v. Semiconductor Company. A semiconductor company, represented by Keker & Van Nest, was accused of having patents that infringed on CSIRO’s patent. The case settled a week into the jury trial. John J. Tennison v. City and County of San Francisco. Represented John Tennison in a wrongful conviction case. A civil rights claim was launched against the City and County of San Francisco, the police department, and the prosecutor involved in the wrongful conviction. The case settled for $4.6M.