Max tries high-stakes cases for plaintiffs and defendants in courtrooms across the country. He has secured significant victories for his clients in antitrust and unfair competition, trade secret, copyright, class action, securities, fintech, cannabis, civil rights, and other disputes, including a complete defense verdict in a billion-dollar antitrust class action after he discovered the class representatives lacked standing, leading to their unprecedented dismissal midtrial.

Max has also litigated issues of first impression, from the disposition of frozen embryos after separation or divorce to the recognition of marriage equality as a fundamental right under the Equal Protection Clause.

Max is Chair Emeritus of the Bay Area Lawyer Chapter of the American Constitution Society and a member of the Judicial Council of California, which is responsible for ensuring the consistent, independent, impartial, and accessible administration of justice in California. Max also was appointed by the California State Bar to the Judicial Nominees Evaluation Commission, which vets the Governor's judicial candidates. In addition, Max has taught at Stanford Law School and UC Hastings College of the Law, and he regularly presents on constitutional and intellectual property litigation, trial and appellate practice, and impact litigation for legal industry and educational groups. 

Max is the leader of the firm's San Francisco office.

Max’s experience includes:

  • Defending a high-profile consumer electronics and software technology company in California state court against various tort and securities claims brought by Monster and its CEO, Noel Lee, obtaining summary judgment on all of the plaintiffs’ causes of action
  • Litigating a high-stakes antitrust case in federal court in the portable music industry, winning a defense verdict from a jury in a class action seeking $350 million before trebling
  • Defending a Fortune 500 company and private wealth managers in FINRA arbitration, obtaining an award denying breach of contract, tort, and statutory claims seeking more than $300 million
  • Litigating a case of first impression in California concerning the disposition of frozen embryos
  • Representing one of the largest banking and financial services institutions in the world in lawsuits concerning private-label mortgage-backed securities after the global financial crisis
  • Representing a Fortune 500 company in connection with a bribery and honest services fraud investigation by the Office of the United States Attorney, Eastern District of New York
  • Prosecuting intellectual property claims for a Fortune 500 computer technology corporation
  • Representing a major real estate investment, development, and management company in connection with the foreclosure of a luxury apartment complex in San Francisco after the global financial crisis
  • Prosecuting intellectual property claims for a Fortune 500 computer technology corporation
  • Litigating discovery disputes under 28 U.S.C. § 1782 in a multibillion dollar international lawsuit
  • Representing a group of voting rights litigators in an amicus brief in the United States Supreme Court defending the constitutionality of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act
  • Successfully defending the trial court’s decision declaring California’s same-sex marriage ban unconstitutional

Vetting Experts in an Adversarial System: Concurrent Evidence & “Hot Tubs,” Northern District of California District Conference (2023)

A First Step Towards Restoring Sanity to TCPA Litigation, The Daily Journal (April 13, 2021)

Pathways to the Bench, Bay Area Lawyer Chapter, American Constitution Society (June 26, 2018)

Getting the Most From Opposing Witness Testimony, Working With Witnesses in Court Program, Bridgeport (November 30, 2018)

Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Protecting Employee Mobility and Negative Trade Secrets, The Recorder (March 12, 2018)

Lessons in Trade Secret Law from Waymo v. Uber, Bar Association of San Francisco (March 7, 2018)

Information Governance in the Age of Encryption and Ephemeral Communications, 2018 NorCal eDiscovery and Information Governance Retreat (Ingenious, April 30, 2018)

Specific Discovery Strategies for Trade Secret Cases, 2018 Trade Secret and Employee Mobility Program (Bridgeport, May 4, 2018)

  • UC College of the Law, San Francisco (formerly UC Hastings College of the Law), J.D., cum laude; Witkin / CALI Awards: Evidence, Torts, Public Interest Law, Advanced Legislative Process, and Statutory Interpretation & Bill Drafting.
  • University of California, Davis, B.A.; summa cum laude, Political Science, Public Service; cum laude, Philosophy; Phi Beta Kappa.

Bars

  • California
  • U.S. Court of Appeals: Ninth Circuit
  • U.S. District Court: Northern District of California
  • U.S. District Court: Eastern District of California
  • U.S. District Court: Central District of California
  • U.S. District Court: Southern District of California
  • U.S. District Court: District of Nebraska
  • U.S. Supreme Court

Board of Directors, Marin County Bar Association

Board of Directors, Legal Aid of Marin

Member, Judicial Council of California

Appellate Lawyer Representative, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (2024-2026)

Lawdragon’s 500 Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers (2023-2024)

Lawdragon 500 Leading Litigators in America (2024, 2025)

Commissioner, Judicial Nominees Evaluation (JNE) Commission, California State Bar, 2017-2020

Master Advocate, National Institute for Trial Advocacy (NITA)

Financial Crime Specialist, Association of Certified Financial Crime Specialists (ACFCS)

E-Discovery Specialist, Association of Certified E-Discovery Specialists (ACEDS)

Northern California Rising Star, Super Lawyers, 2014-2021

Life Fellow, American Bar Foundation

Chair, Bay Area Lawyer Chapter, American Constitution Society 

Next Generation Leader, American Constitution Society

Associate Member, Edward J. McFetridge American Inn of Court

Member, American Bar Association

Member, Federal Bar Association

Barristers Ambassador and Executive Committee Member, Intellectual Property Section, Bar Association of San Francisco

Board Member, Young Lawyers Division, Federal Bar Association, 2018-2019

 

  • Hon. Marsha S. Berzon, U.S. Court of Appeals: Ninth Circuit
  • Hon. Mary H. Murguia, U.S. District Court: District of Arizona