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Rocca

Brian C. Rocca

Partner

brian.rocca@morganlewis.com

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.

selected representations

Antitrust Matters

  • Uber Technologies Pricing Cases — pricing practices
  • 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

Services

  • Antitrust Competition
  • Litigation Regulation Investigations
  • Commercial Litigation
  • Class Actions Group Litigation
  • Appellate
  • Privacy Cybersecurity
  • eData

Events

5/13/2020 - Navigating the Antitrust Risks of Competitor Collaborations

5/10/2019 - 2019 Technology May-rathon: Big Data, Privacy, and Competition Law: The Transatlantic Debate

5/1/2019 - 2019 Technology May-rathon: No-Poaching Agreements and Antitrust Laws

11/7/2018 - 2018 Doing Business in the Golden State – Morgan Lewis Webinar Series

9/20/2018 - Labor and Employment and Employee Benefits Seminar

9/18/2018 - No-Poaching and Wage Fixing Agreements and Antitrust Laws Webinar

5/23/2018 - 2018 Technology May-rathon: No-Poaching Agreements and Antitrust Laws: What Global Employers Should Know

12/6/2017 - Doing Business in the Golden State – A Year in Review

7/5/2017 - Doing Business in the Golden State – Regulating the Future

2/1/2017 - Doing Business in the Golden State—California's Response to The New Administration

2/1/2017 - 2017 Doing Business in the Golden State – Morgan Lewis Webinar Series

11/9/2016 - California Beer & Beverage Distributors Annual Convention

News

6/25/2020 - Morgan Lewis Partner Recognized Among Top Antitrust Lawyers by Daily Journal

7/20/2017 - Morgan Lewis Partner Brian Rocca Named Law360 2017 Rising Star

4/18/2017 - Morgan Lewis Partner Recognized in the Daily Journal’s Top 40 Under 40

8/5/2016 - Morgan Lewis Partners Recognized in Benchmark Litigation’s Under 40 Hot List

1/21/2015 - Morgan Lewis Appoints New Co-Managing Partner in San Francisco Office

Publications

10/29/2019 - Role of Antitrust Laws in Labor Markets, Including in the Energy Field, Remains Key Focus of Enforcers

10/1/2019 - Mitigating the Risk of Enforcement Actions and Litigation from ‘No Poach’ and Other Agreements, Bloomberg Law

2019 - Big Data, Privacy, and Competition Law

2019 - US No-Poaching Agreements and Antitrust Laws

12/21/2018 - A Few of Their Favorite Things

May 2018 - Summary Judgment Motions in Antitrust Cases, Lexis Practice Advisor

11/1/2016 - White House Analyzes Opportunities and Challenges for New Frontiers in AI

7/6/2016 - Calling All Robot Enthusiasts: The White House Wants Your Input

2014 - Contributor, Sports and Antitrust Law, ABA Section of Antitrust Law

4/29/2013 - Cybersecurity Bill Stalls In Senate, Shifting Attention To Executive Order

Fall 2012 - Bingham eDiscovery News

Summer 2012 - Bingham eDiscovery News

Spring 2012 - Bingham eDiscovery News

September 2011 - Nuts and Bolts of Search Strategy and Modern Document Review

November/December 2010 - Ninth Circuit En Banc Panel Raises Bar for Governmental Seizure of Electronic Data

January 2010 - Ninth Circuit Affirms Legality of Manufacturer’s Market Share Discounts, Sole-Source Agreements and Design Innovations

January 2010 - Zubulake Revisited: New E-Discovery Opinion Clarifies Preservation Obligations and Standards for Award of Sanctions

1/20/2010 - Zubulake Revisited: New E-Discovery Opinion Clarifies Preservation Obligations and Standards for Award of Sanctions

1/12/2010 - Ninth Circuit Affirms Legality of Manufacturer’s Market Share Discounts, Sole-Source Agreements and Design Innovations

November 2009 - Ninth Circuit En Banc Panel Adopts Safeguards For Subjects of Search Warrants Involving Electronically Stored Information

January 2010 - Ninth Circuit Affirms Legality of Manufacturer’s Market Share Discounts