Ben Berkowitz is widely recognized as one of the nation’s leading litigators. A trial and appellate lawyer, he regularly serves as lead counsel in matters of national significance and “bet-the-company” cases. He represents public companies, technology startups, founders, investors, and senior executives in state and federal courts and arbitrations across the United States. He is best known for his work in high-profile cases involving emerging technologies, data privacy, and complex business disputes.

Among other honors, Ben has been named one of America’s Top 250 Lawyers by Forbes and one of California’s Top 100 Lawyers by the Daily Journal, which described him as “a formidable trial and appellate lawyer” whose “courtroom victories have helped establish legal precedents that affect how courts interpret laws governing emerging technologies.” Clients turn to him for his strategic judgment, vigorous advocacy, and ability to craft persuasive themes that resonate in the courtroom.

Ben represents clients in complex civil and criminal litigation across a wide range of industries and technologies. His cases often involve billions of dollars in exposure or precedent-setting legal issues. His recent matters include defending Google in some of the largest internet and data-privacy cases ever brought in U.S. courts, defending Twitter in litigation arising from alleged foreign espionage by the Saudi government, and defending Instacart in its nationwide gig-economy litigation. He has also secured victories for clients in shareholder and partnership disputes, antitrust and unfair competition cases, complex contractual disputes, litigation involving artificial intelligence, and high-stakes intellectual property matters involving patents, trade secrets, copyrights, and trademarks. He has successfully defended companies and executives in criminal and government investigations involving allegations such as price-fixing, computer fraud, securities fraud, government-contracting fraud, and money laundering. As an appellate advocate, he has represented clients before the California Courts of Appeal, multiple federal appellate courts, and the U.S. Supreme Court. 

In addition to his commercial practice, Ben is deeply committed to pro bono work. His cases on behalf of journalists, media, and privacy organizations have drawn national coverage in outlets including The New York Times and The Washington Post. He currently serves as President of the Board of Directors of Legal Aid of Marin. He has also taught for the National Institute for Trial Advocacy, served on the board of the American Constitution Society’s Bay Area Chapter, and sat on the Executive Committee of the Harvard Law School Alumni Association of Northern California.

Before entering private practice, Ben clerked for the Hon. Marjorie O. Rendell of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. He graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School, where he was Executive Editor of the Harvard Civil Rights–Civil Liberties Law Review, earned his undergraduate degree summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Pennsylvania, and spent a year at Oxford University studying philosophy, politics, and economics.

Cases of Note

  • Left Field v. Google

    We defeated a class action lawsuit against Google, in which a putative nationwide class of restaurants alleged that Google’s food ordering products violated the Lanham Act and constituted counterfeiting. When…

  • Freund v. Dialpad and Terrill v. Dialpad

    We are defending Dialpad in state and federal court against putative class actions that seek to apply California’s wiretapping law to AI-powered call technology. In state court, we won a…

  • McCoy v. Alphabet Inc. and Hammerling, et al. v. Google LLC

    We represented Google in two putative class action lawsuits filed in the Northern District of California asserting privacy, contract, and consumer law claims regarding Google’s alleged data collection practices related…

  • In re: Google Location History Litigation

    We defended Google in consolidated cases on behalf of a worldwide putative class of mobile device users that are challenging Google’s location-data practices. We obtained a dismissal at the pleading…

  • Abdulaziz v. Twitter, Al-Ahmed v. Twitter, and Al-Sadhan v. X Corp.

    We successfully defended Twitter and X Corp. in a series of civil lawsuits in federal courts in San Francisco and New York filed by Saudi Arabian political dissidents and journalists…

  • 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…

  • United States v. McKesson Corporation

    We won a complete defense judgment in favor of McKesson after a month-long trial of a qui tam action alleging violations of the False Claims Act and Anti-Kickback Statute. The…

  • Ziptronix v. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company

    We won summary judgment of non-infringement for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd. and its subsidiary TSMC, North America in a long-running patent lawsuit brought by North Carolina semiconductor company, Ziptronix,…

  • Instacart Nationwide “Gig Economy” Litigation

    On behalf of Instacart, we have successfully defended against numerous class and collective actions across the country alleging that that shoppers who use Instacart’s technology platform should be classified as…

  • Former Client v. Law Firm

    We won summary judgment for a major international law firm in a multi-million-dollar fee dispute and professional liability action arising from its work on a federal fraud case. We successfully…

  • Berk v. Coinbase

    We defended Coinbase in a putative class action alleging insider trading and violations of the Commodities Exchange Act and Business & Professions Code Section 17200 in connection with the launch…

  • Javorsky v. Western Athletic Clubs, Inc.

    We won summary judgment for a chain of luxury health clubs, which faced a class action alleging age discrimination based upon discounted pricing for the clubs’ younger members. After winning…

  • Plaintiffs v. Founders of Digital Currency Startup

    In classic David vs. Goliath litigation, we defended the founders of a digital currency startup against allegations of intellectual property theft brought by a large, international company. The litigation spanned…

  • Fundme, Inc. v. GoFundMe, Inc.

    We represented GoFundMe in trademark litigation brought by Fundme.com in federal district court in Utah. In pursuing an aggressive defense of GoFundMe’s trademark rights, we filed an early motion for…

  • Internet Startup Shareholder Dispute

    We represented an individual in a shareholder dispute between former partners of an Internet startup that was acquired by a multinational corporation. We reached a confidential settlement before significant sums…

  • State of Arizona v. Financial Services Company

    A criminal grand jury investigated our client, a financial services company, for money transfers in the Southwest border region. We reached a settlement with four state attorneys general that included…

  • Former Chief Executive Officer v. Bank

    We represented a bank’s former CEO in a fraud and breach of fiduciary duty case against his former employer. We won two separate petitions before the California court of appeal…

News

Presentations & Publications

  • “How 1960s Wiretap Laws Became AI’s De Facto Regulator,” The Recorder, May 2026
  • “AI and the New Wave of Privacy & Cybersecurity Litigation,” Association of Corporate Counsel’s Privacy Summit, May 2026
  • “AI and the New Wave of Privacy & Cybersecurity Litigation,” Keker, Van Nest & Peters CLE Annual Workshop, March 2026
  • The US Supreme Court Case That Could Break the Internet, Law.com, 2025
  • 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