Cody Gray represents public and private companies, non-profits, and individuals in complex commercial litigation and white-collar criminal matters. He is experienced with every phase of the litigation process and adept at developing creative factual and legal strategies to help his clients achieve their goals as efficiently as possible.
Cody has litigated a wide variety of high-stakes civil disputes in state and federal courts and in arbitration. His clients include leading businesses in the technology, healthcare, and professional services industries. His recent experience includes representing a software provider in a breach of contract and privacy-related matter; a chip design company in copyright and patent infringement litigation; and a marketing platform in a putative class action involving right of publicity and unfair competition law claims.
In his criminal practice, Cody represents corporations and individuals in internal and government investigations and trials. His expertise spans every phase of the criminal process, from investigation, indictment, bail, and discovery, to trial, sentencing, and appeal. His criminal matters have involved an array of substantive offenses, including conspiracy, mail fraud, wire fraud, securities fraud, honest services fraud, bank fraud, tax fraud, tax evasion, insider trading, bribery, and money laundering. Cody also regularly represents indigent clients charged with drug and other alleged offenses as a member of the Northern District of California’s Criminal Justice Act panel. His recent experience includes defending a businessman charged with conspiracy, making false statements, and bank fraud; a real estate developer charged with bribing a politician; a corporation and its current and former employees in a prosecution involving claims of honest services fraud and money laundering; and a senior executive in a federal insider trading investigation.
Cody maintains an active pro bono practice centered on civil rights and voting-related matters. He recently represented an inmate alleging an Eighth Amendment claim against a yard gunner at San Quentin State Prison. He also assisted a successful effort to evacuate a family of six from Kabul, Afghanistan, and has drafted effective amicus briefs in several voting rights cases.
Prior to joining Keker, Van Nest & Peters, Cody served as a law clerk to Judge Richard Seeborg of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, and Judge Milan D. Smith, Jr. of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Cody earned his J.D. cum laude from Harvard Law School, his Ph.D. and M.A. in Politics from Princeton University, and his B.A. in political science from the University of California, Berkeley. During law school, he interned at the U.S. Department of Justice in the Civil Rights Division’s Voting Section. Prior to law school, Cody was an aide to U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein on the Senate Judiciary Committee and spent a summer working on the Native American Affairs Policy Team at the White House Domestic Policy Council.
People v. Pougnet, Meaney & Wessman
We represent John Wessman, a legendary Coachella Valley real estate developer, who is accused of paying bribes to former Palm Springs Mayor Steve Pougnet in connection with the successful redevelopment of the now-revitalized downtown of Palm Springs.
Gbeintor et al. v. Demandbase and InsideView Technologies
We are defending Demandbase and InsideView against a putative right-of-publicity and privacy class action filed in federal court in the Northern District of California.
United States v. Harlan Kelly and Victor Makras
We represented San Francisco real estate broker Victor Makras in a federal criminal trial, which stemmed from a wide-ranging federal investigation of public corruption involving San Francisco city officials. Although the jury found Mr. Makras guilty of a subset of the charges related to a home mortgage refinancing for former Public Utilities Commission President Harlan Kelly, we persuaded the Court to sentence Mr. Makras to serve no jail time and Mr. Makras ultimately paid a minimal fine.
Synopsys, Inc. v. Real Intent, Inc.
We are defending EDA company Real Intent from patent and copyright infringement claims in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California concerning electronic design automation software.
United States v. Executive
During a nine-week trial, we defended the former chief financial officer of a British software company against federal criminal charges accusing our client of alleged accounting fraud, relating to a $11 billion acquisition by a U.S. company.
Plaintiff v. Law Firm
We represented a law firm in successfully settling a dispute with a former client related to a mid-trial settlement the firm had negotiated.
United States v. Individual
We represented an individual defendant charged with escape from custody and persuaded the government during discovery to dismiss the indictment.
Peters, Gray, Staelin v. Infor
We represented a software provider in an earnout dispute with the senior executives of a company it acquired, filed counterclaims, and ultimately obtained a favorable pre-trial settlement.
Netflix v. Kail
We represented Netflix and 12 current and former employees in a federal prosecution against Michael Kail, a former Netflix employee. In coordination with the U.S. Attorney’s Office and FBI, we prepared the Netflix witnesses to testify during a two and a half-week trial in the Northern District of California. Mr. Kail was convicted of wire fraud, mail fraud, and money laundering.
Williams v. Lawrence et al.
We represented an inmate alleging an Eighth Amendment violation against a yard gunner at San Quentin State Prison. After conducting significant fact and expert discovery and winning a key motion to compel, we ultimately obtained a favorable settlement on the eve of trial.
United States v. Individual
We represented an individual defendant on federal drug trafficking charges and negotiated a favorable plea agreement.
08/15/2024
The 2025 edition of The Best Lawyers in America® and the Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch® in America featured 25 KVP attorneys. Read more
01/18/2024
Keker, Van Nest & Peters is pleased to announce that the firm has elevated associates Andrew Bruns, Cody Gray, Maya James, Christina Lee, and Franco Muzzio to Partner, Kristen Lovin to Of Counsel and Senior IP & Technology Litigator and Hamilton Jordan to Of Counsel, effective January 1, 2024. This class marks the largest group of associates promoted to partner since the firm was founded in 1978. Read more
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
September 23, 2019
This October, white collar lawyers should set their eyes on Kelly v. United States, the one white collar criminal matter the Supreme Court has currently agreed to hear.[1] The case stems from New Jersey’s Bridgegate affair, has headline-grabbing potential, and affords another opportunity for the court to consider the scope of the federal fraud statutes, a la McNally and Skilling. Read more
- Moderator and Panelist, “Ethical Pitfalls When the Lawyer is Involved in the Case,” National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, West Coast White Collar Conference (2024)
- Supreme Court Examines Civil Asset Forfeiture and Due Process in Culley, Daily Journal, 2023, co-authored with Brook Dooley.
- Questions Awaiting Justices in ‘Repugnant’ Verdicts Hearing, Law360, 2023, co-authored with Brook Dooley.
- October Term 2023 Supreme Court Preview: White Collar Criminal Defense, The Recorder, 2023, co-authored with Brook Dooley.
- Examining 4 Areas Where DOJ Faced Recent Setbacks, Law360, 2023, co-authored with Brook Dooley, Eric MacMichael, and Nicholas Goldberg.
- Panelist and moderator, “Hot Topics and Recent Developments in the World of Insider Trading,” Bar Association of San Francisco, 2022.
- Presenter, “Tips for Avoiding Ethical Dilemmas as In-House Counsel,” Association of Corporate Counsel, San Francisco Bay Area, 2022
- Justices May Cabin Theory of Fraud in ‘Buffalo Billion’ Case, Law360, 2022, co-authored with Brook Dooley.
- The Supreme Court’s 2022 White-Collar Docket, Thomson Reuters Westlaw / Westlaw Today, 2022, co-authored with Brook Dooley.
- Takeaways from White Collar Criminal Enforcement in 2021, Law360, 2022, co-authored with Brook Dooley, Eric MacMichael, and Nicholas Goldberg.
- 2020 White Collar Prosecution and Enforcement Trends, Law360, 2020, co-authored with Brook Dooley, Eric MacMichael, and Nicholas Goldberg.
- White Collar Cases and Trends to Watch at High Court, Law360, 2019, co-authored with Brook Dooley.
- From Textbook Pluralism to Modern Hyper Pluralism: Interest Groups and Supreme Court Nominations, 1930-2017, 8 J. Law & Courts 301 (2020) (with co-authors).
- “Nothing to See Here”? Enforcing Brady in “Outsourced” Government Investigations, NACDL’s West Coast White Collar Conference, 2019, co-authored with Jan Nielsen Little and Nic Marais.
- Parties by Design: Pluralist Party Reform in a Polarized Era, 93 N.Y.U. L. Rev. 621 (2018) (with Bruce E. Cain) (Symposium on the Presidential Nomination Process).
- A New Proposal to Address Local Voting Discrimination, 50 U. Rich. L. Rev. 611 (2016).
- Savior Through Severance: A Litigation-Based Response to Shelby County v. Holder, 50 Harv. C.R.–C.L. L. Rev. 49 (2015).