"We try to take a very creative approach to how we litigate our cases," Roberts said. "Our overall approach to litigation is to advance arguments that haven't been heard before."
Roberts was part of a group of close-knit group of lawyers that left San Francisco-based boutique Keker & Van Nest LLP to launch their own litigation-only shop in 2008, amid a downturn in the economy. Six years later, Durie Tangri has gained a national reputation for tackling - and winning - groundbreaking matters that would befit a firm many times larger than 20 lawyers.
Durie Tangri's client list also reads like a major law firm's: Google Inc., Genentech Inc., Ticketmaster Entertainment Inc., Twitter Inc. and a host of major Silicon Valley technology giants and startups.
The firm earned a landmark result last November, when a New York federal judge decided on summary judgment that Google's online, searchable repository of digitally excerpted books was not liable for copyright infringement.
Authors and major book publishing companies claimed that Google illegally published millions of pages of copyrighted material without permission. A New York federal judge sided with firm founding partner Daralyn J. Durie's argument that the Google Books program served multiple benefits to society and was protected under federal copyright law's "fair use" provisions.
The authors and publishers have appealed to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in a case tracked closely by academic institutions and copyright holders.
Intellectual property litigation has served as a lynchpin for the firm, with the founding partners bringing practice experience from their time at Keker. The firm also takes on professional liability, corporate control and general contractual disputes.
The California State University school system has turned to the firm in a lengthy and complex class action fee dispute.
California State University students allege that the school system breached student contracts by increasing fees for the fall 2009 term.
A firm team led by Durie and founding partner Ryan M. Kent has won two summary judgment decisions this year in San Francisco Superior Court.
Partner Joshua H. Lerner said he and his colleagues maintain a collaborative environment by openly sharing work and client relationships while shunning origination credit.
He added that one of the primary challenges down the line is to maintain the camaraderie of the firm as its ranks and reputation continue to swell.
"There is a certain feeling of family that we are still able to extend to the new hires and the big challenge is going to be, how long can we do that for?" he said.
Partner Sonali D. Maitra said the firm's willingness to be flexible is one of the major reasons why the firm has been successful.
Maitra appreciates the decision-making perspective that comes with joining the partnership; she was hired as the firm's first associate shortly after its inception.
"We are always open to changing the way we do things and not insisting on doing things just because it was done like that before," she said.
- Kevin Lee
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