Robert A. Van Nest
Partner

Tel: 415.391.5400

Education:
Harvard Law School, 1978
Stanford University, 1973

Robert Van Nest joined Keker & Brockett as an associate in 1979, becoming a partner in 1982. He received his undergraduate degree from Stanford University in 1973 and his Juris Doctor degree, magna cum laude, from Harvard Law School in 1978. Bob then served as a law clerk to the United States District Judge William H. Orrick in the Northern District of California from 1978 to 1979.

Bob is a nationally-recognized trial lawyer who frequently handles high-stakes cases for clients such as Intel, Google, Medtronic, Broadcom, and American Honda. He is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and The International Academy of Trial Lawyers, and was recently recognized as among the Top 75 Intellectual Property lawyers in California.

Bob's practice ranges widely over the field of complex business litigation and intellectual property. He has tried cases involving patent infringement, securities fraud, trademarks, commercial contracts, RICO, partnership disputes, real estate, insurance bad faith, mail and wire fraud, and others. He has appeared in state and federal courts in California and across the country. He frequently represents businesses involved in major disputes giving rise to simultaneous litigation involving civil, criminal, and administrative proceedings.

Examples of recent complex business litigation matters in which Bob has served as lead counsel include:

Defense of the world's leading manufacturer of semiconductor products and its largest customers in patent litigation in the Eastern District of Texas involving wireless LAN devices. CSIRO v. Intel;

Defense of a leading foreign automaker in a series of MDL class actions alleging state and federal antitrust violations in the pricing of automobiles sold in the United States. In re New Motor Vehicle Canadian Export Antitrust Litigation;

Defense of a leading internet/media company against a claim for earn-out compensation by the sellers of an emerging advertising technology. In re DMARC v. Google;

Counsel for plaintiffs in a major antitrust action in the District of Delaware involving price fixing in the pharmaceutical industry. Abbott v. Impax;

Counsel for plaintiff in a major patent litigation between the two largest manufacturers of programmable logic devices. Xilinx, Inc. v. Altera Corporation;

Counsel for complainant in an ITC action involving the rights to 3G cellular telephone technology. In the Matter of:  Certain Baseband Processor Chips And Chipsets, Transmitter And Receiver (Radio) Chips, Power Control Chips, And Products Containing Same, Including Cellular Telephone Handsets;

Counsel for several of the founding partners in the Oakland Raiders Football franchise in an action against the general partner, Al Davis, to establish the limited partnership rights of plaintiffs and for breach of fiduciary duty. Reicher v. Davis;

Defense of nationwide class action and related state action, alleging discrimination in automobile financing under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act and California Business and Professions Code §17200. Willis v. American Honda Finance Corporation;

Defense of the leading semiconductor manufacturer in patent claims asserted against its flagship product in the Eastern District of Texas. Mitchell v. Intel Corporation;

Defense of a national title insurance company in a series of actions alleging violations of the California escheat statute, federal banking regulations, and the California Unfair Business Practice Statute, brought by the California Department of Insurance, the City of San Francisco, the Office of the State Controller, and several private class action plaintiffs. In re Old Republic Title Company Consolidated Litigation;

Defense of a national credit card provider in connection with qui tam action alleging violations of the False Claims Act in connection with the receipt of bulk mail discounts from the United States Postal Service;

Defense of a Japanese automaker in class action and multi-district litigation involving more than one hundred large automobile dealerships and a class of more than one thousand dealers, involving claims for RICO, fraud, and commercial bribery. In re American Honda Dealerships Litigation;

Counsel for a major national beverage distributor in an investigation by the California Attorney General into potential state antitrust violations;

Defense counsel for a large national bank in investigations by the San Francisco District Attorney and the office of the Controller of the Currency arising from alleged unfair advertising and business practices in the sale of credit cards and financial services.

Bob is listed in The Best Lawyers in America, is a Member of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA), and is listed by Chambers U.S.A. as a leading intellectual property and commercial trial lawyer. Bob is an active provider of continuing legal education. He has served on the faculties of the Hastings College of Advocacy and the National Institute for Trial Advocacy and has been a Lecturer in Developments in Tort Practice for the California Continuing Education of the Bar since 1985. He recently served as a member of the State Bar Commission on Mandatory Continuing Legal Education.

Bob has been a director of the Association of Business Trial Lawyers (1992-2000) and chairs the Development Committee of Bay Area Legal Aid (formerly San Francisco Neighborhood Legal Assistance Foundation) (1995-present).