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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Synopsys, Inc. v. Real Intent, Inc.

We defended EDA company Real Intent at trial in San Jose federal court against Synopsys’s copyright infringement claims related to the design and verification of integrated circuits. Synopsys also alleged that Real Intent breached several contractual agreements between the two companies by copying certain commands from Synopsys's software. The KVP team won a sweeping fair use victory on the copyright infringement claims at summary judgment, while the contract claim remained in the case at trial. The jury awarded nominal damages to Synopsys, far less than was sought at trial.

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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.

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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.

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United States v. Individual

We represented an individual defendant charged with escape from custody and persuaded the government during discovery to dismiss the indictment.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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United States v. Individual

We represented an individual defendant on federal drug trafficking charges and negotiated a favorable plea agreement.

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