San Francisco
Phone +1.415.442.1432
Fax +1.415.442.1001
One Market, Spear Street Tower//San Francisco, CA 94105-1596//United States
Brian C. Rocca focuses on antitrust and complex litigation matters. He is managing partner of the firm’s 135-lawyer San Francisco office and leader of the firm’s Chambers-ranked California antitrust practice. Brian has worked on litigation, investigation, and counseling matters in many industries, with particular emphasis on technology and internet-based services. In 2020, Brian was named by the Daily Journal to its inaugural list of the Top Antitrust Lawyers in California. He has also been rated by Chambers USA in the antitrust field for eight consecutive years.
Brian has also litigated numerous complex civil and appellate litigation matters, including class actions, breach of contract, fraud, misappropriation, shareholder derivative, breach of fiduciary duty, and unfair competition matters. As a leading lawyer for beverage distributors in California, he handles a wide array of matters related to brand rights, contractual issues, and regulatory compliance. He provides counseling to a prominent trade association relating to alcohol distribution issues.
Brian has significant trial experience—he served as an assistant district attorney in the Trial Unit of the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office in 2007–08, and has tried civil matters in state and federal court and arbitration proceedings.
Brian has been rated by Chambers USA in the antitrust field for seven consecutive years. He was the only attorney in California recognized by Super Lawyers for nine consecutive years (2009–2017) as a “Rising Star” in the area of Antitrust Litigation. Brian was a finalist for Global Competition Review’s “Lawyer of the Year - Under 40” in 2016.
Philadelphia Taxi Association Inc. et al v. Uber Technologies Inc. — attempted monopolization
Diva Limousine v. Uber Technologies Inc. et. al — unfair competition law (UCL)
Desoto Cab Company, Inc. v. Uber Technologies, Inc. et. al — attempted monopolization
Wolf & Son Transportation, Inc. v. Becerra et. al – UCL and Cartwright Act
“No-poach” investigation in highly skilled labor market
NewCal Industries et al. v. IKON Office Solutions et al. — fraud-based antitrust claims
Feitelson et al. v. Google, Inc. – monopolization and exclusive dealing
AMD v. Intel — monopolization and pricing practices
In re Intel Corporation Microprocessor Antitrust Litigation — putative nationwide class actions
State of New York v. Intel — federal and state law antitrust claims
Clear Connection Corp. v. Comcast Cable Communications Management— restraint of trade
Precision Associates v. Panalpina et al. — putative direct purchaser class action under Sherman Act
SanDisk v. AudioMPEG et al. — legality of patent pool
Broadcom v. QUALCOMM — standard setting organizations
Genicon v. Ethicon et al. — bundled rebates
Tickets.com v. Ticketmaster — exclusive dealing
Alcatel USA, Inc. v. Cisco Systems, Inc. — licensing and refusal to deal issues
Criminal price-fixing investigation in international commercial services industry
Criminal price-fixing investigation in electronic memory industry
Abuse of market dominance investigation in mobile industry
Complex Commercial Litigation Matters
Central Delta Water Agency et al. v. Delta Wetlands Properties et al. — breach of contract and CEQA
In re The Lurie Company — shareholder derivative and contract
TSI USA LLC v. Uber Technologies Inc. — breach of contract
City and County of San Francisco v. State of Nevada — putative class action alleging misappropriation of public services
Mission Beverage Co. v. Pabst Brewing Co. — breach of contract, 15 Cal. App. 5th 686, 712 (2017) (certified for publication)
Retail Digital Network v. Prieto, 861 F.3d 839 (9th Cir. 2017) — en banc opinion applying First Amendment commercial speech principles to B&P Code Section 25503
Orion Wine Imports, LLC et al v. Appelsmith — Dormant Commerce Clause challenge to state law
MillerCoors LLC, v. Chesbay Distrib. Co. – dispute regarding applicability of state franchise laws to sale of beer distributorship
Maita Distributors Inc. v. DBI Beverage, Inc. — interpreting California Brand Transfer law, B&P Code Section 25000.2, 667 F. Supp. 2d 1140 (N.D. Cal. 2009); see also Mussetter Distributing, Inc. v. DBI Beverage, Inc., 685 F. Supp. 2d. 1028 (N.D. Cal. 2010)
American Structural Composites, Inc. v. Int’l Conference of Bldg. Officials — granting motion for summary judgment in breach of contract and fraud case, 325 F. Supp. 2d 1148 (D. Nev. 2004); aff’d, 2007 WL 495189 (9th Cir. Feb. 14, 2007) (unpublished)
AccuImage Diagnostics Corp. v. TeraRecon, Inc. — granting motion to dismiss in trade secrets case, 260 F. Supp. 2d 941 (N.D. Cal. 2003)
CGI v. Fireman’s Fund Ins. Co. — multimillion-dollar breach of contract arbitration
Klotzer et al. v. International Aluminum Corp. — multimillion-dollar construction defect class action
Awards and Affiliations
Ranked, California: Antitrust, Chambers USA (2013–2020)
Top Antitrust Lawyer (California), Daily Journal (2020)
Member, Practice Group of the Year, Competition, Law360 (2017–2020)
Highly Recommended, California Antitrust Practice, Global Competition Review (2020)
Recognized, Competition Future Leader, Global Competition Review's Who's Who Legal (2019, 2020)
Recommended, Antitrust - Civil litigation/class actions, The Legal 500 US (2016, 2017, 2019)
Rising Star (Competition Law), Law360 (2017)
Top 40 Under 40 (California), Daily Journal (2017)
National Top Litigator Under 40, Benchmark Litigation (2017)
National Under 40 “Hot List,” Benchmark Litigation (2016)
Lawyer of the Year – Under 40, Global Competition Review (2016)
Litigator of the Week (Runner Up), The AmLaw Litigation Daily (September 2019)
Litigator of the Week, Global Competition Review (April 2015)
Recognized, Northern California Super Lawyers (2018, 2019)
Rising Star, Northern California Super Lawyers, (2009–2017)
Recognized, LMG Rising Star in Competition and Antitrust, Expert Guides (2015–2018)
Recognized, US News & World Report and Best Lawyers 2017 Practice Group of the Year for Antitrust Law
Recognized, National (U.S.) and Metropolitan (San Francisco) Tier 1 in Antitrust Practice Group Rankings, US News & World Report – Best Lawyers (2018, 2019)
Recognized, National Practice Group Ranking, Antitrust, Benchmark Litigation (2017, 2018)
Member, Board of Directors, National Center for Youth Law
Member, American Bar Association (Litigation and Antitrust Sections)
Member, Bar Association of San Francisco
Admissions
California
US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
US District Court for the Central District of California
US District Court for the Eastern District of California
US District Court for the Northern District of California
US District Court for the Southern District of California
Education
University of California, Davis, 1999, Bachelor of Arts
University of Virginia School of Law, 2002, Juris Doctor