John W. Keker

Keker's challenge: trying to convince a jury possibly soured on banks to remain open-minded about his client, who had worked for one.

Brian Stoker, who had worked on the structuring desk at Citigroup, was charged with securities fraud in connection with the bank's 2007 marketing of a $1 billion collateralized debt obligation backed by assets tied to the housing market.

The Securities and Exchange Commission contended Stoker was negligent for failing to disclose information about the bank's actions in its marketing materials.

After a two-week jury trial in the Southern District of New York, a federal jury rejected the SEC's case and found Stoker not liable on any of its claims. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission v. Stoker, 11-CIV-7388-JSR (S.D.N.Y., filed Oct. 19, 2011).

Such cases rarely go to trial, said Keker, who decided to tackle any possible anti-bank bias head on.

"I let them know that we recognize they are going to have a big problem with bank conduct but that it's not fair for the SEC to pick one victim when everyone else was doing the same thing," he said.

At the time, Keker said, "Everybody on Wall Street was betting. There was rampant gambling going on, and a lot of people lost a lot of money. But at the time, it was legal gambling. Nobody thought how awry it could go."

In other matters, Keker has filed a claim in the San Francisco office of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority on behalf of the founders of Silicon Valley-based semiconductor company Marvell Technology Group against Goldman Sachs.

They allege that Goldman manipulated the 2008 financial crisis to defraud them of more than $100 million. At the time, they were one of Goldman's largest private wealth management group clients on the West Coast.

Keker also is serving as lead counsel representing Lucasfilm Ltd. in a series of antitrust class actions brought by former employees of Lucasfilm, Apple Inc., Intel Corp., Intuit Inc., Adobe Systems Inc. and Pixar Animation Studios Inc. In Re: High-Tech Employee Antitrust Litigation, CV 11-2509-LHK (N.D. Cal., filed May 23, 2011).

The plaintiffs allege unlawful agreements related to hiring and employee retention.

The case is pending in federal court in San Jose.

- PAT BRODERICK