Overview

Sebastian Kaplan litigates disputes involving construction, commercial transactions and contracts, intellectual property (copyright, trademark, trade secrets), and policyholder-side insurance. He also counsels clients on new product litigation risks, employment mobility issues, and IP portfolio management.

Sebastian represents clients in federal and state courts and has resolved claims through trial, arbitration, and appeal. He has extensive pre-litigation and pre-trial experience, simultaneously balancing high-stakes litigation with cease and desist disputes, subpoena responses, and numerous commercial disputes. Sebastian has managed document collection in several major litigations that involved complex ESI issues, including identification and forensic collection of documents from mobile devices and collaborative databases.

Sebastian clerked for the Honorable Carlos T. Bea at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit from 2009-2010.

Sebastian frequently writes and speaks on issues of trade secrets litigation, including the Defend Trade Secrets Act, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, and trademark litigation and copyright issues. He is also committed to pro bono homelessness prevention and represents indigent tenants facing eviction. In 2015, Sebastian was awarded the Bar Association of San Francisco’s annual Housing Justice Award for first-chairing a four-day unlawful detainer trial.