Durie Tangri

The seven-year-old San Francisco boutique Durie Tangri enjoys a presence that far belies its 20-lawyer headcount. A peer at a much larger firm assesses, "They are a boutique of a boutique! The leaders there came from Keker [& Van Nest, another revered San Francisco-based litigation boutique], where they were groomed with the trial skills that they so artfully put into practice today." Another peer extols, "That's just a superb group," and goes on to elaborate, "and they have managed to do it their way, staying small and focused. They do a lot of really interesting work, none of it 'cookie-cutter,' including some trade secrets work and founder disputes for some of the 'buzziest' local entities." While still noted for maintaining a lean structure, the firm has bulked up recently, adding younger partners Sonal Mehta, a former Weil Gotshal & Manges attorney who joined the firm in July 2015, and Ben Au, who joined the firm in January 2016. Both are involved in trade secret matters, with Mehta also attending to patent and antitrust work and Au tending to a niche in quasi-white-collar matters.

Name partner and revered trial lawyer Daralyn Durie is acknowledged by peers in the community as "one of the best of the best." Although Durie counts large local mainstays such as Genentech among the clients that count on her for a high-touch, hands-on approach, it is also noted that Durie and her firm have become the attorneys of choice for several of the Bay Area's many start-ups. "They really went after that niche and man, did they ever get it. That is where their nimble structure really benefits them." While regarded as an "IP rockstar," Durie's practice extends beyond said practice; she has represented defendants in nationwide and international class actions, scoring major jury victories in the process. Mark Lemley successfully argued that "pay-for-delay" pharmaceutical patent settlements may be challenged under California antitrust law. The California Supreme Court's March 2015 ruling renews drug buyers' claims that Bayer's payments to generic manufacturers of $400 million to delay launch of another version of Cipro is illegal. The ruling overturns decisions two lower court decisions.