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Ben Berkowitz is a trial lawyer and experienced litigator who specializes in high-stakes business and intellectual property litigation and government investigations. He regularly handles matters of national importance and “bet-the-company” litigation, representing clients in state and federal courts and in arbitration throughout the United States.  

Ben’s practice focuses on complex civil and criminal litigation matters, and he regularly serves as lead counsel for major technology companies, startups, founders, investors, and senior executives. He has helped numerous companies litigate and win their most challenging business and intellectual property disputes, including shareholder and partnership disputes, antitrust, cybersecurity, licensing, business fraud, professional liability, unfair competition, breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract, patent, trade secret, copyright, trademark, and class action suits. He has also defended clients successfully in criminal and other government investigations involving such allegations as price fixing, computer fraud, securities fraud, government contracting fraud, and money laundering. Ben is also an experienced appellate advocate who has represented clients before the California courts of appeal, the federal appellate courts, and the U.S. Supreme Court. 

He has an active pro bono practice and dedicates time to several community and nonprofit organizations. His pro bono work on behalf of journalists, media, and privacy organizations has been featured in national media, including The New York Times and the Washington Post.  He presently serves as President of the Board of Directors of Legal Aid of Marin. He has served as an instructor for the non-profit National Institute for Trial Advocacy. He previously served on the Board of the American Constitution Society’s Bay Area Chapter and as Chair of the Advancement Committee for Asylum Access, a San Francisco nonprofit advocating for the human rights of refugees in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.  

Before entering private practice, Ben served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Marjorie O. Rendell of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. He graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School, where he was an Executive Editor of the Harvard Civil Rights - Civil Liberties Law Review.  He received his undergraduate degree summa cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania.

Ben Berkowitz is a trial lawyer and experienced litigator who specializes in high-stakes business and intellectual property litigation and government investigations. He regularly handles matters of national importance and “bet-the-company” litigation, representing clients in state and federal courts and in arbitration throughout the United States.  

Ben’s practice focuses on complex civil and criminal litigation matters, and he regularly serves as lead counsel for major technology companies, startups, founders, investors, and senior executives. He has helped numerous companies litigate and win their most challenging business and intellectual property disputes, including shareholder and partnership disputes, antitrust, cybersecurity, licensing, business fraud, professional liability, unfair competition, breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract, patent, trade secret, copyright, trademark, and class action suits. He has also defended clients successfully in criminal and other government investigations involving such allegations as price fixing, computer fraud, securities fraud, government contracting fraud, and money laundering. Ben is also an experienced appellate advocate who has represented clients before the California courts of appeal, the federal appellate courts, and the U.S. Supreme Court. 

He has an active pro bono practice and dedicates time to several community and nonprofit organizations. His pro bono work on behalf of journalists, media, and privacy organizations has been featured in national media, including The New York Times and the Washington Post.  He presently serves as President of the Board of Directors of Legal Aid of Marin. He has served as an instructor for the non-profit National Institute for Trial Advocacy. He previously served on the Board of the American Constitution Society’s Bay Area Chapter and as Chair of the Advancement Committee for Asylum Access, a San Francisco nonprofit advocating for the human rights of refugees in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.  

Before entering private practice, Ben served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Marjorie O. Rendell of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. He graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School, where he was an Executive Editor of the Harvard Civil Rights - Civil Liberties Law Review.  He received his undergraduate degree summa cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania.

Cybersecurity & Privacy Group Of The Year: Keker, Van Nest & Peters

02/06/2025

Keker, Van Nest & Peters partners Ben Berkowitz and Erin Meyer discussed the firm’s achievements and the cases that solidified Keker’s place among Law360’s 2024 Cybersecurity & Privacy Groups of the Year. Read more

KVP Partners Recognized in 2025 Lawdragon 500 Leading Litigators in America

09/06/2024

The 2025 edition of Lawdragon’s 500 Leading Litigators in America featured 13 KVP partners. Read more

Keker, Van Nest & Peters CLE Workshop 2022

January 21, 2022

This 2-day program, 1/24/22 and 1/25/22, qualifies for 6 hours of general CLE credit, 1 hour of ethics credit, and 1 hour of elimination of bias credit. Read more

Keker, Van Nest & Peters Secures First Amendment Reforms to the San Francisco Police Department’s Warrant Process on Behalf of Journalist Bryan Carmody

May 26, 2020

Keker, Van Nest & Peters’ Ben Berkowitz and Nic Marais have obtained an important settlement on behalf of Bryan Carmody, a journalist whose reporting materials were seized in an illegal raid on his home by the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) last May. Read more

Keker's $127 Million Win for Google Among the Top Verdicts of 2019

February 19, 2020

In a major arbitration over self-driving vehicle technology, plaintiff Google LLC sought to hold former employees Anthony Levandowski and Lior Ron accountable for alleged breaches of contract and unfair competition. Read more

Coinbase Slips Most Claims In Suit Over Bitcoin Cash Rollout

August 07, 2019

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase Inc. has escaped the majority of the claims brought by a proposed class of investors accusing it of artificially inflating bitcoin cash prices in a botched launch, after a California federal judge gutted the suit. Read more

Adachi leak: Judge had evidence subject of police raid was journalist, records show

August 06, 2019

Unsealed warrant applications make clear that the SFPD knew Bryan Carmody was a journalist when they sought illegal warrants. Read more

First Amendment Fray in San Francisco

June 17, 2019

Two SF attorneys champion a freelance journalist whose home was raided after he refused to name a confidential source Read more

SF police got warrant to monitor journalist’s phone months before controversial raid

June 03, 2019

San Francisco police obtained a warrant to search a freelance journalist’s phone records and were authorized to “conduct remote monitoring” on the phone more than two months before a controversial raid on his home. Read more

San Francisco Police Chief Apologizes for Raid of Journalist’s Home

May 25, 2019

Police Chief William Scott of San Francisco called the raid of a journalist’s home illegal and apologized for it. Read more

Q&A: Why Keker’s Ben Berkowitz is Representing Journalist Bryan Carmody Pro Bono

May 24, 2019

Keker, Van Nest & Peters partner Ben Berkowitz says it’s a really alarming time for journalists in this country, which is why he’s defending journalist Bryan Carmody, whose home office was the subject of a police raid earlier this month. Read more

Keker, Van Nest & Peters Defends Journalist Bryan Carmody Against the San Francisco Police Department’s Assault on the First Amendment

May 24, 2019

Following the San Francisco Police Department’s raid of Bryan Carmody’s home, Keker, Van Nest & Peters has agreed to represent the journalist on a pro bono basis. Read more

Judge refuses to dismiss lawsuit on California executions

August 17, 2018

A federal judge has refused to dismiss a lawsuit by news organizations seeking to let media and public witnesses view more of the process of executions in California, which could resume soon. Read more

Federal judge rules suit to force California to make all portions of executions public may proceed

August 17, 2018

A federal judge on Friday rejected an attempt by the state of California to dismiss much of a lawsuit that seeks to make public all portions of executions. Read more

Supreme Court Requires Warrant to Search Cellphone Location Records

June 26, 2018

The U.S. Supreme Court has held the FBI violated a cellphone user's constitutional rights when it obtained four months' worth of location information from his cellular providers via a subpoena rather than a warrant supported by probable cause. Read more

LA Times, other CA news media sue state to make entire execution process transparent, but critics say it will prevent executions

April 12, 2018

The LA Times and two San Francisco-based non-profit news organizations are suing to keep executions from resuming in CA. The Times, NPR-member station KQED and the San Francisco Progressive Media Center want guaranteed full access to executions before they resume. Read more

Keker and the ACLU of Northern California Call on State to Allow Full Press Access to Executions

April 11, 2018

Keker, Van Nest & Peters and The American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Northern California filed suit against the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation challenging its execution viewing procedure. Read more

Litigating Over Trade Secrets

07/13/2016

Ben Berkowitz will give a presentation on trade secret litigation to the Marin County Bar Association. Read more

12th Annual Federal Boot Camp

05/13/2016

Ben Berkowitz will serve as a faculty member for this conference, which will cover everything from complaints to discovery to case management conferences, motion writing and tricks, trial prep, and trial techniques. All from the Federal Court perspective. Read more

Victories for Instacart, Qualcomm, and the San Diego County Water Authority Earn Recognition in the Recorder's Litigation Department of the Year Awards

02/26/2016

The awards recognize California litigation practices that delivered exceptional results on their clients' most critical and challenging matters. Read more

Susan Harriman and Ben Berkowitz Defeat Putative Class Action

12/15/2015

A Bay Area company that operates fitness centers isn’t violating age-discrimination laws by charging reduced membership fees to 18- to 29-year-olds, who tend to have lower incomes than older adults, a state appeals court has ruled. Read more

Rachael Meny, Ben Berkowitz and Their Team Protect Instacart from a Putative Class Action

11/04/2015

A California federal court crushed a proposed labor class action against smartphone-based grocery delivery service Instacart by ordering workers to individually arbitrate their claims. Read more

American Health Lawyers Association Fraud and Compliance Forum

9/27/2015-9/29/2015

Faculty member Ben Berkowitz will present "Defending FCA Lawsuits Based on the “Swapping” Theory of Anti-Kickback Liability." Read more

How To Survive a Lawsuit

01/16/2015

While many suits against entrepreneurs can never be foreseen, you can take steps now to protect yourself when waters are calm. Read more

Keker & Van Nest Wins Summary Judgment for TSMC in Patent Dispute with Ziptronix

10/21/2014

Ziptronix had asserted nine patents and more than 500 claims over TSMC’s manufacturing of semiconductors. Read more

Keker & Van Nest and EFF Ask Judge to Rule NSA Internet "Backbone" Spying Techniques Unconstitutional

07/25/2014

Keker & Van Nest filed a brief in the Jewel v. NSA case claiming that backbone surveillance violates the 4th Amendment at the time of seizure and at the time of the search for selectors. Read more

National Institute of Trial Advocacy

June 22-28, 2014

Ben Berkowitz will serve as a faculty member for the National Institute of Trial Advocacy's Trial Skills program. Read more

Federal Court Boot Camp Conference

06/05/2014

Ben Berkowitz will present at a one-day seminar on federal court practice. Read more

Restorative Justice and Our Communities: A Panel Discussion

05/01/2014

Ben Berkowitz will moderate this panel, featuring perspectives from lawyers on the front lines of the restorative justice movement and debate. Read more

Superior Court Boot Camp

10/24/2013

Ben Berkowitz and his fellow speakers will offer concrete, practical ideas ranging from discovery, depos and motions, to voir dire and jury instructions, to powerful opening statements. Read more

Keker Team Won a $1 Billion Bet for McKesson

08/12/2013

Jeff Chanin and David Silbert overcame tough odds and high financial stakes to prove their client was innocent of kickback charges. Read more

Keker & Van Nest Backs the Electronic Frontier Foundation's Challenge to NSA Surveillance

07/16/2013

A diverse group of political, religious and environmental entities claim the government's sweeping collection of telephone communications data chills their members' First Amendment right to free association. Read more

Keker & Van Nest Elevates Four Attorneys to Partner

01/07/2013

New partners all served on several significant trial teams, attended elite law schools, and completed prominent clerkships. Read more

Digital Sharing Gets More Protection from Ninth Circuit

12/20/2011

Keker & Van Nest filed an amicus brief on behalf of eBay Inc., Facebook Inc., Google Inc., InterActiveCorp and Yahoo Inc. Read more

Hot Topics in Copyright Law

10/04/2011

Ben Berkowitz discussed recent copyright decisions and the implications for public policy and private rights. Read more

Digital Property, Extraterritoriality, and the Evolution of the First Sale Doctrine

03/15/2011

Mr. Berkowitz addressed when and how post-sale copyright restraints are justified in a digital and global economy, and its effect on creativity, prices and consumer choices. Read more

Digital Property, Extraterritoriality, and the Evolution of the First Sale Doctrine

03/15/2011

Ben Berkowitz addressed when and how post-sale copyright restraints are justified in a digital and global economy, and its effect on creativity, prices and consumer choices. Read more

  • Speaker, “Navigating the Privacy Minefield: Litigation Trends and Case Strategy,” Association of Corporate Counsel, 2024
  • Speaker, “Navigating the Privacy Minefield: Litigation and Enforcement Trends in the U.S., Europe & Around the World,” Association of Corporate Counsel, 2022
  • Moderator, “Section 230: What’s Next for Free Speech on the Internet?” American Constitution Society, 2021
  • Co-Author, "Trade Secret Law: A Brief Guide for In-House Counsel," InsideCounsel, 2016
  • Faculty, "Federal Court Boot Camp," Pincus Professional Education, 2016
  • Faculty, "Defending FCA Lawsuits Based on the “Swapping” Theory of Anti-Kickback Liability," American Health Lawyers Association Fraud and Compliance Forum, 2015
  • Author, "An Entrepreneur's Guide to Getting Sued and Fighting Back," Entrepreneur, 2014
  • Faculty, National Institute for Trial Advocacy, 2014
  • Faculty, "Federal Court Boot Camp," Pincus Professional Education, June 2014
  • Moderator, "Restorative Justice and Our Communities," American Constitution Society and the National Council on Crime and Delinquency, 2014
  • Faculty, "Superior Court Boot Camp," Pincus Professional Education, October 2013
  • Moderator, "Forty Years after Roe: Examining the Social, Political and Economic Impact of the Constitutional Right to Abortion," March 2013, American Constitution Society
  • Lecture, "Digital Property, Extraterritoriality, and the Evolution of the First Sale Doctrine," March 2011, University of California Berkeley Center for Law & Technology
  • Lecture, "Hot Topics in Copyright Law," October 2011, University of California  Berkeley Center for Law & Technology