Rockwell, Lawrence K.

Lawrence K. Rockwell is a senior litigation and business partner with over 30 years experience. Without interruption in his practice of law, he has served in firm leadership positions of Chief Executive and Chief Financial Officer since 1990.

His practice over the last twenty plus years has focused on commercial litigation and legal counseling in the areas of business/commercial disputes, intellectual property, and business and trade practices. This followed almost a decade of legal practice focused on nonlitigation traditional corporate and debt/financing practice mixed with some business litigation.

Mr. Rockwell represents and counsel the firm's institutional clients such as Autodesk, Inc., Sybase, Inc., Symantec Corporation, and Unisys Corporation, Inc., as well as being counsel to medium and small Bay Area businesses, start-up companies and very high net worth individuals.

His litigation experience has included being lead attorney in jury trials, non jury trials and arbitrations for both plaintiffs and defendants. Mr. Rockwell's experience encompasses a wide scope of practice areas illustrated by his defense (and trial) of consumer, business and employment class action lawsuits, and representing plaintiffs through trial in actions against internet businesses engaging in software piracy. A substantial part of his practice also includes representation of clients in disputes of more modest size. In all matters, efficient cost effective success has been and remains the goal; as a measure of success to that he encourages potential new clients to seek out opinions of his clients.

Mr. Rockwell's intellectual property practice includes leading litigation enforcing the copyright and trademark rights of numerous computer software and entertainment software companies, and representing the trade organizations of which they are members. Activities in federal courts have regularly included obtaining pre judgment injunctive relief, seizure orders, and pursuit of the action to judgment through trial or otherwise. Mr. Rockwell has brought dozens of lawsuits to judgment obtaining damages and injunctive relief to protect clients' intellectual property rights in U.S. District Courts in California, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, Oregon and Texas. Mr. Rockwell has also been a lead counsel in lawsuits brought on behalf of the firm's entertainment clients enforcing their trademark and other intellectual property rights in and outside of California. He has served as counsel to numerous start-up businesses and served on the advisory board to the Oakland (California) Communications Technology Cluster of which the firm was a founder, and the former Contra Costa County (California) Software Business Incubator.

Mr. Rockwell's business law practice includes representing clients in prelitigation dispute resolution/mediation, lawsuits and trials in areas such as business and trade practices, contract and licensing disputes, reseller and distribution relationship disputes, joint venture disputes, and secured financing transactions and enforcement.

Mr. Rockwell's many years of practice have also included retention as counsel for defendants sued in class actions, including retailers sued for alleged price fixing and combinations in restraint of trade, employers sued for alleged discrimination, and businesses sued for unfair business practices.

Mr. Rockwell joined Donahue Gallagher in 1976 and became a partner in the firm in 1982. He graduated from Hastings College of the Law in 1976. He has both a B.A. degree in Economics with distinction and a B.S. degree in Business Administration with honors from the University of California at Berkeley in 1973. He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He is a member of the American Bar Association (Business Law and Litigation Sections), State Bar of California (Litigation and Intellectual Property Law Sections), and Alameda County Bar Association. Along with several other members of the firm, Mr. Rockwell has been named at various times a "Super Lawyer" by San Francisco Magazine and has been listed as one of "The Best Lawyers in the [San Francisco] Bay Area by Bay Area Lawyer Magazine". He has been active in the Oakland Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, has served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Contra Costa Children's Chorus, a member of the Lafayette (California) Gifted and Talented Education Committee, and as Chairperson of the Lafayette Arts & Science Foundation's Business Gifts Committee. His favorite recreation remains spending time with his family of six children, and annually since 1991 managing youth baseball and softball teams.