Nate Brown specializes in high-stakes civil litigation. He has represented major technology companies, law firms, startups, and individuals in complex commercial cases involving intellectual property, partnership and governance disputes, breach of contract claims, and fraud and malpractice allegations. He has experience drafting and arguing key motions, taking and defending depositions, and conducting direct and cross examinations of fact and expert witnesses at trial.
Nate has devoted a significant amount of his time and energy to pro bono work. He was part of a team that represented hundreds of habeas petitioners against the warden of San Quentin and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation after a Covid-19 outbreak infected 75% of the prison’s population and killed 28 people. After a three-week evidentiary hearing, the court found that the defendants “caused the worst epidemiological disaster in California correctional history” and violated petitioners’ constitutional rights. Nate also successfully defended a local majority-supported voter initiative from an attack by the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association involving a novel issue of California constitutional law.
Prior to joining Keker, Van Nest & Peters, Nate served as a law clerk to the Honorable A. Wallace Tashima of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He earned his J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, and his B.A. from Pomona College where he was student body president. During law school, he spent multiple semesters doing direct services legal work as a clinical student advocate at the East Bay Community Law Center. Before law school, he worked for U.S. Senator Brian Schatz and as the policy and research director for a congressional campaign in Colorado.
Cases of Note
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Oregon State University v. The Pac-12 Conference
We represented Oregon State University in a lawsuit against the Pac-12 Conference to determine control of the Pac-12, in the wake of the announced departures of 10 conference members. We…
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Semiconductor Company v. Supplier
Following multi-stage arbitration proceedings between our client, one of the world’s largest technology companies, and a company that had licensed certain technology to it through a complex licensing agreement, we…
News & Events
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How Keker Notched an Assist in the Pac-12’s Comeback
Tailgate parties, marching bands, and packed stadiums mean college football season is in full swing. Behind the familiar fall traditions and storied rivalries, Keker, Van Nest & Peters recently steered the …
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Keker, Van Nest & Peters Wins Emergency TRO in Pac-12 Governance Dispute
Representing Oregon State University, a Keker, Van Nest & Peters team secured a temporary restraining order blocking the Pac-12 Conference from holding an unauthorized September 13 board meeting.
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Keker, Van Nest & Peters Team Named Litigators of the Week, Runners-Up
The Am Law Litigation Daily has named a team from Keker, Van Nest & Peters among its Litigators of the Week Runners-Up for winning a temporary restraining order that blocks the Pac-12 Conference from holding an…
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Presentations
- “Recent Trends in Copyright Litigation,” Keker, Van Nest & Peters CLE Annual Workshop, March 2026