Anjali Srinivasan has spent more than 13 years representing companies in complex litigation involving antitrust, intellectual property, health care fraud and privacy matters. Her client roster includes Sutter Health, Twitter, Google and Qualcomm.
Srinivasan recently secured a complete defense verdict for Sutter Health in a whistleblower fraud trial that lasted nearly a decade. Relators sought over $500 million in damages, claiming Sutter committed billing fraud through anesthesiologist practices and post-operative care protocols. (Sutter Health in Duncan v. Sutter Health, RG17846895, Alameda Super. Ct., filed Jan. 25, 2017)
The case centered on whether Sutter hospitals had anesthesiologists unnecessarily perform nerve-block procedures in operating rooms and provided needless recovery room care. Testimony and evidence showed Sutter's practices followed sound medical decisions and billing practices aligned with industry guidelines.
"If successful, relators' theories would have required Sutter hospitals to second-guess doctor's decisions about where to perform anesthesia and to discharge patients recovering from the effects of surgery and anesthesia before medical professionals deemed it safe," Srinivasan said.
A critical moment came during cross-examination of the relators' medical billing expert, who presented an entirely new opinion on the stand that had never been disclosed. Srinivasan spent a 20-minute recess developing a new cross-examination approach with her team and the client's chief medical officer.
The cross-examination exposed flaws in the expert's testimony. Within days, relators dismissed their nerve-block claims, eliminating half of their case.
Srinivasan also represented a semiconductor technology company in arbitration over a licensing agreement. The opposing party advanced an interpretation of the contract that would have created a new class of royalty-bearing products and exposed her client to ongoing payments.
Srinivasan presented a technical witness who dismantled the interpretation by explaining key contract terms and detailing the parties' 20-year course of dealing. The tribunal rejected the novel interpretation, leading to case resolution and a significant cash recovery for her client.
Her current docket includes representing the Pac-12 conference in an antitrust case challenging the Mountain West Conference's no-poach agreement. She represents Roku ina licensing dispute with Dolby involving copyright, patent and contract claims, as well as in an antitrust countersuit against Dolby. Srinivasan also represents Qualcomm against patent infringement claims brought by ParkerVision.
Srinivasan clerked for Judge Barrington D. Parker of the U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit, and Judge Thelton Henderson of the U.S. District Court, Northern District of California. Both judges continue to serve as mentors.
"Judge Henderson continues to be a source of wisdom," Srinivasan said. "He saw his share of struggle and also progress during the Civil Rights Era, and he consistently reminds me to keep hope alive and continue using my legal training to fight for a fair society bound by rules and laws."
"I eventually realized that lawyers really play a powerful and important role in our society, especially in advocating for just causes, the marginalized, and the powerless," she continued. "One of the great joys of my practice is the variety — each day I get to dive deep into and become an expert in some new industry, some new technology."
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