California

Silicon Valley litigation boutique Bergeson has been in operation since 1990 and has since then etched itself a go-to position as well as an inspirational one, largely on the strength of its founder and name partner, Daniel Bergeson. “I know Dan very well,” testifies a fellow partner at another Bay Area litigation boutique. “He used to be the guy that I would refer things out to when I was at Wilson Sonsini when I had something in San Jose. His model is actually what inspired me to start my own firm. I have known him for 23 years and I like him. He has got quite a reputation in the San Jose area. He knows all the judges there.” Bergeson enjoys a varied litigation practice, representing entities as well as individuals. Bergeson represents Fortis Advisors in its capacity as Representative of the former Equityholders of 21Seeds in litigation arising out of the March 2022 acquisition of flavored-tequila maker 21Seeds by Diageo, and the obligations on the part of the beverage behemoth to make certain post-closing earn-out payments. Fortis alleges, among other things, that during acquisition negotiations, Diageo made various material misrepresentations and omissions related to its development of “Casamigas,” an offshoot brand of Casamigos, which actor George Clooney co-founded in 2017. In April 2024, Diageo announced the introduction of “Casamigas Jalapeño Tequila Brought to You by [actress] Cindy Crawford (who is married to a co-founder of Casamigos.)” Fortis alleges that Diageo acquired 21Seeds to clear a path for its subsequent launch of Casamigas. Beyond Bergeson himself, the firm is developing a profile for its other talent, notably John Pernick, who represents video-decoding technology entity DivX in an intellectual-property matter, with claims in excess of $100 million, alleging that Telechips breached transaction-reporting requirements and other obligations under the parties’ agreement licensing Telechips to sell integrated circuits incorporating DivX’s video-decoding technology.