Keker, Van Nest & Peters is pleased to announce that the firm elevated Julia Allen and Sophie Hood to its partnership effective January 1, 2021.
“Julia and Sophie are great litigators and they embody the determination, creativity and collaborative spirit that defines our firm,” managing partner Steven Taylor said. “Both Julia and Sophie have served recently on our management committee and we’re grateful for their enthusiasm and contributions to the success of our firm. I’m proud to welcome them to the partnership.”
Julia Allen has a broad range of experience representing companies, individuals, and nonprofits in complex civil litigation and criminal proceedings in state and federal courts. She has defended technology companies in class and collective actions, law firms in malpractice cases, and individuals charged with fraud and other crimes. Recently, Julia has successfully defended Instacart in class and collective actions alleging that shoppers should be classified as employees rather than independent contractors. Julia also represents Wetlands Preservation Foundation and prevailed at trial against the California Department of Water Resources for its neglect of an island in the California Delta that serves as a critical wildlife habitat and agricultural resource. As part of her pro bono practice, Julia won a landmark verdict in a federal jury trial representing an inmate at San Quentin State Prison who had been coerced into sexual acts by a prison staff member.
Julia earned her J.D. from Stanford Law School where she was a member of the Stanford Law Review and co-president of the Women of Stanford Law. She received her undergraduate degree from Duke University and graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. Prior to joining the firm, Julia volunteered at the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office where she served as sole trial counsel in six jury trials. Earlier in her career, Julia worked as a litigation associate in the San Francisco office of a large firm where she litigated consumer class actions as well as restructuring and bankruptcy-related disputes.
Sophie Hood specializes in high-stakes, complex litigation in federal and state court. She has represented clients in civil and criminal cases involving intellectual property, fraud, breach of contract, antitrust and securities disputes. She has worked on numerous patent cases between competitors, including Keker’s successful defense of Veeva Systems from patent infringement allegations. Sophie has also secured many early wins for clients. She helped Major League Baseball successfully compel arbitration and obtain dismissal of all claims in a purported class action alleging false advertising and unfair competition. She also worked to win summary judgment for a major semiconductor company in a fraud case. Working pro bono, Sophie is part of a Keker team that represents the nation’s largest Title X grantee in a lawsuit challenging the Trump Administration’s sweeping changes to the federal Title X family planning program.
Sophie earned her J.D. from Yale Law School, where she was on the Yale Law Journal and received the Francis Wayland Prize for greatest proficiency in preparing and presenting a case in litigation. She received her undergraduate degree from Williams College, where she graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. Prior to joining the firm, Sophie served as a law clerk to Hon. Sidney R. Thomas of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. She was also a fellow at the Information Law Institute of New York University, where she focused on privacy and algorithms. Before law school, Sophie worked as an analyst in Morgan Stanley’s Institutional Securities division and as a researcher at Harvard Business School.
About Keker, Van Nest & Peters
For 40 years, Keker, Van Nest & Peters has litigated complex, high-stakes civil and criminal cases throughout the nation. The firm takes the cases where companies, products, and careers are riding on the result. Our clients are high-profile individuals, as well as some of the world’s most successful companies, including Facebook, Genentech, Google, Instacart, Lyft, Major League Baseball, Netflix and Qualcomm. The firm’s areas of expertise include intellectual property, professional liability, class actions, general contract and commercial litigation, antitrust, white collar, and appellate.
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