Current Employment Position(s)

Partner

Lawyer Overview

David Kleinfeld is a partner with Foley & Lardner LLP, where he is a member of the firm's General Commercial Litigation and IP Litigation Practices.

Mr. Kleinfeld has significant experience in representing corporations in litigation involving intellectual property, unfair competition and various business and commercial disputes.

Mr. Kleinfeld was a partner with Heller Ehrman LLP before joining Foley in 2008. His successes while at Heller include a complete defense victory by QUALCOMM on patent infringement claims after a three-week jury trial involving position location technology; a plaintiffs' jury trial victory on behalf of QUALCOMM and against Trimble Navigation regarding defective GPS receivers; and a defense victory on behalf of Ernst & Young regarding accounting malpractice and related claims. He defended QUALCOMM in litigation brought by more than 120 plaintiffs, in eight consolidated cases, seeking in excess of $150 million for claimed damages related to lost stock options. A complete defense victory was achieved in the trial court following the granting of 10 successive summary adjudication motions. Mr. Kleinfeld also defended QUALCOMM in class action litigation brought by former employees seeking damages of over $500 million. He obtained dismissal of claims by 97 percent of the class and the action was subsequently settled with payment made entirely by third parties. In addition, Mr. Kleinfeld represented QUALCOMM in five consolidated cases including patent and license disputes with Motorola, in which claims for injunctive relief and damages were successfully resisted. Most recently he obtained substantial verdict in an ICC arbitration involving disputed patent royalties.

Mr. Kleinfeld's additional previous representations include:

• Represented Washington Mutual and Hewlett Packard in class action litigation.
• Represented the City of San Diego in litigation relating to the multibillion dollar underfunding of the San Diego City Employee Retirement System.
• Represented Jostens, Mail Boxes, Etc. and Kaplan in litigation including unfair competition and theft of trade secret claims where he obtained permanent injunctions and other relief.

He has extensive experience in lender liability defense and served as lead counsel for Mitsui Manufacturers Bank in obtaining the first reported appellate decision to establish that banks are not liable for tort damages of breach of standard commercial loan agreements.

Mr. Kleinfeld was part of the trial team that obtained a defense verdict and award of attorneys and accounting fees in excess of $1 million from the advisory jury in Grivas v. Security Pacific National Bank. He was also part of the trial team that obtained a defense verdict and award of $3.5 million to the bank from the jury in Bianchi v. Bank of America.

Mr. Kleinfeld is listed by San Diego Magazine as one of San Diego's top commercial and intellectual property litigators and by California Law Business as one of California's top rainmakers. He was selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America, 2008 and 2010 editions, in the areas of commercial and intellectual property litigation and was selected for inclusion in the 2007-2009 San Diego Super Lawyers lists for his intellectual property litigation practice.

Mr. Kleinfeld graduated from the New York University School of Law (J.D., 1980) and received his undergraduate degree in government from the Wesleyan University (B.A., cum laude, 1977).

Mr. Kleinfeld is author of "New Local Rules Pave the Way to Speedier Patent Trials," San Diego Daily Transcript , June 12, 2007.

Mr. Kleinfeld is a member of the State Bar of New York; State Bar of California; State Bar Litigation Section Executive Committee; Founding Master J. Clifford Wallace American Inn of Court; and San Diego County Bar Association. He is a member of the Committee of Adoption of Local Patent Rules of the United States District Court Southern District of California; and a member, executive committee and member, and board of directors of the San Diego Opera. He is a former member of the Board of Governors of the San Diego Association of Business Trial Lawyers and American Arbitration Association.

Mr. Kleinfeld is admitted to practice in California and New York. He is admitted to practice before the U.S. District Court for the Central, Northern, Eastern and Southern Districts of California; U.S. District Court for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York; U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit; U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit; U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit; and the Supreme Court of the United States.

Areas of Practice

• General Commercial Litigation
• Intellectual Property Litigation

Bar Admissions

• California, 1983
• New York, 1981
• U.S. District Court Central District of California
• U.S. District Court Eastern District of California
• U.S. District Court Northern District of California
• U.S. District Court Southern District of California
• U.S. District Court Eastern District of New York
• U.S. District Court Southern District of New York
• U.S. Court of Appeals 9th Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals 2nd Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals Federal Circuit
• U.S. Supreme Court

Professional Associations and Memberships

• California State Bar Association (Member)
• New York State Bar Association (Member)
• San Diego County Bar Association (Member)
• American Arbitration Association (Member, Panel of Arbitrators)
• J. Clifford Wallace American Inn of Court (Founding Master)
• San Diego Association of Business Trial Lawyers

Honors and Awards

• San Diego Magazine as One of San Diego's Top Business and Intellectual Property Litigators
• California Law Business as one of California's Top Rainmakers
• Best Lawyers in AmericaAA, 2008 edition
• Superlawyers.com as one of the top San Diego Intellectual Property Lawyers in 2008

Classes and Seminars

• Speaker, Lender Liability, Securities and Insurance Coverage Litigation

Past Employment Positions

• Heller Ehrman LLP, Partner

Education

• New York University School of Law, New York, New York, 1980
  J.D., Doctor of Jurisprudence
• Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, 1977
  B.A., Bachelor of Arts
  Honors: cum laude

Address

11250 El Camino Real
Suite 200
San Diego, CA 92130

Phones

(858) 847-6840

Faxes

(858) 792-6773

Emails

Contact Us

Websites

http://www.foley.com