Lawrence J. Siskind, Partner

Lawrence J. Siskind specializes in litigation, registration, and transactional advice on domestic and international copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets, and unfair competition. He designs and implements intellectual property audits to enhance protection of clients' intangible assets. He also has experience in a broad range of commercial litigation areas including insurance coverage disputes and employment law.

Mr. Siskind has been lead counsel in a number of significant decisions, including Bill v. Superior Court, 137 Cal. App. 3d 1002 (1982) (First Amendment rights of movie producers); Hearst Corp. v. Stark, 639 F. Supp. 970 (N.D. Cal. 1986) (First Amendment and copyright rights involved in the importation of foreign made books); Charles Schwab v. Hibernia Bank, 665 F. Supp. 800 (N.D. Cal. 1987) (trademark dispute over THE EQUALIZER); Lattie v. Murdach, 42 USPQ 2d 1240 (N.D. Cal. 1997) (limits to preemption under the Copyright Act); Oracle Corporation v. LightReading, 233 F.Supp.2d 1228 (N.D. Cal. 2002) (trademark dispute over ORACLE). In each case, Mr. Siskind achieved a successful result for his client.

In 1987, President Reagan appointed Mr. Siskind to serve as the nation's first Special Counsel for Immigration Related Unfair Employment Practices, after confirmation by the United States Senate. Mr. Siskind also served in the position under President Bush before returning to private practice in the summer of 1989. In 1996, Governor Pete Wilson appointed Mr. Siskind to serve as a charter member of the State Commission on Academic Content and Performance Standards. Mr. Siskind chaired the committee drafting history standards. In 1998, Governor Wilson appointed Mr. Siskind to his Advisory Council on Electronic Commerce. Mr. Siskind writes a monthly commentary on legal and political matters for the Recorder. His writings have also appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the Weekly Standard, the Legal Times, and many other national and local publications. He received First Prize for commentary for small dailies from the California Newspaper Publishers Association in 2001.

Mr. Siskind was born on the Fourth of July, 1952. He graduated with high honors in 1974 from Harvard College, where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He received his J.D. degree in 1978 from Harvard Law School, where he co-founded and served as note editor of the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy. He lives in Piedmont, California with his wife, Patricia, and their three daughters, Leah, Cory, and Sarah.

> Read a selection of Lawrence Siskind's Recent Publications.