Hamilton Jordan represents plaintiffs and defendants in all facets of high-stakes litigation, from initial case investigation through motion practice, trial, and appeals. Where possible, Hamilton helps his clients resolve disputes early and avoid litigation altogether.
In a major arbitration about self-driving vehicle technology, Hamilton helped secure one of California’s top verdicts of the year on behalf of his client, who sought to hold two former senior employees accountable for unfair competition and for breaching contract and tort duties. Following a two-week hearing, a JAMS arbitration panel awarded a nine-figure award, which Hamilton helped convert into a judgment in California Superior Court.
Hamilton has also served as appointed counsel for criminal defendants in state and federal courts. In one such case, Hamilton won a significant victory for his client before the Michigan Court of Appeals, which held that Hamilton's client—who had been wrongfully convicted of murder and incarcerated for over a decade—was entitled to a new trial.
A graduate of Berkeley Law, Hamilton clerked for Judge Richard Seeborg of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California and then-Judge Neil M. Gorsuch of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. During law school, Hamilton served as an editor of the California Law Review.
In re Unknown Walletholder Subpoena
We successfully defeated a foreign crypto-casino’s efforts to unmask our client, who uses Kraken’s platform as a cryptocurrency wallet. We persuaded the District Court to permit our client to intervene and to file a motion to quash the foreign crypto-casino’s 28 U.S.C. § 1782 application for discovery into Kraken, then we ultimately convinced the Court to deny the application as a matter of discretion, allowing our client to preserve his anonymity.
Google v. Anthony Levandowski, et. al.
We successfully represented Google in an arbitration against former employees Anthony Levandowski and Lior Ron, obtaining a ruling that they breached their duties and employment agreements in connection with their founding of a competing self-driving car business while working at Google. Their competing business, Otto, was sold to Uber for a reported price of $680 million. Following a two-week arbitration hearing, a three-judge panel awarded Google a $179 million judgment that was later confirmed by the San Francisco Superior Court.
Diabetes Research Restitution, LLC v. Ronald Katz et al.
We secured summary judgment for our client, the former Chairman of a biotech start-up company that tried to develop and commercialize an islet-cell suspension treatment for people with insulin-dependent diabetes. The lawsuit was brought by the company’s former CEO and certain shareholders against the company’s officers, directors, and creditors and sought over $100 million in damages.
05/15/2026
Keker, Van Nest & Peters is representing the small town of Social Circle, Georgia, in filing suit Wednesday against the federal government and its proposal to convert a local warehouse into a 10,000-bed immigration detention facility, a project that would nearly triple the local population and severely strain the area’s infrastructure, Law.com reported. Read more
05/13/2026
Representing the town of Social Circle in Georgia, Keker, Van Nest & Peters has filed a lawsuit to halt the federal government’s plan to convert a local warehouse into a 10,000-bed immigration detention facility without required environmental review, planning, or coordination with the community. Read more
08/25/2025
Best Lawyers Issues 2026 Edition of Top Attorneys; Elliot Peters Honored as Lawyer of the Year 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
May 01, 2020
San Francisco Superior Judge Ethan Schulman denied a motion that would have reclassified Lyft drivers as employees, so that they can reap the state’s paid sick leave, agreeing with a federal judge who found that such a ruling would jeopardize drivers' access to federal coronavirus relief. Read more
May 01, 2020
A group of Lyft drivers in California lost their latest bid to convince a state court judge to immediately reclassify them as employees with paid sick leave to help fight the spread of Covid-19. Read more
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