Durie Tangri

One of California’s most “buzzy” boutiques, Durie Tangri has seen a steady ascent in profile since a team of several key partners calved off of Keker Van Nest & Peter, another gold-standard boutique, to launch this shop. With origins in San Francisco, where it is still best known, Durie Tangri recently expanded into Los Angeles, opening an office there to focus on more of a white-collar niche and stocking it with talent such as Benjamin Au, a rising star in the field, who migrated from San Francisco, and Michael Proctor, formerly with the Caldwell Leslie firm prior to that firm’s merger with Boies Schiller & Flexner. “Time will tell how that plays out,” opines a peer regarding the firm’s LA venture, “but that firm has a winning model and grooms great people, and Michael Proctor was a great recruit so I suspect they will do well.”

In the firm’s flagship San Francisco office, arguably the firm’s most visible and often-referenced partner, Daralyn Durie continues to elicit rave reviews for her trial acumen, primarily in the intellectual property realm. “Going against her was like going against a boxer in which you know you’re going to get hurt,” confides a former opponent. “She’s indefatigable, and very sharp. [She is] in complete command, and going against her is exhausting.” 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. 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. Exemplifying this, in a rare class-action case that made its way to trial, Durie scored on behalf of the 450,000-student California State University system, which was sued for sending out bills and then raising tuition the same semester. The plaintiffs sought $100 million in refunds, but in April 2018, a state appellate court an earlier jury verdict that the fee increase was reasonable. 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. Lemley also scored for Blue Coat Systems (later acquired by Symantec) in a patent infringement dispute with Finjan, who eventually dropped its case against the client in early 2018 after a Federal Court damages upset.