Mark K. Slater
Partner
Northern California
Mark K. Slater
Mark Slater’s practice includes all facets of business disputes, litigation and trials, both jury and bench. He has extensive experience in arbitration and mediation. He has won groundbreaking decisions in insurance coverage for technology losses and indemnity for intellectual property actions, and has particular expertise in matters involving beverage distribution, valuation of privately held companies, enterprise software development and licensing, bankruptcy and creditors’ rights issues, finance disputes, mergers and acquisitions litigation, and real property.
Mark also spent four years serving as Senior Vice President, Assistant General Counsel for Ingram Micro Inc. (NYSE: IM), the world’s largest technology and IT distributor, where he managed all North American Legal Services. While at Ingram Micro, Mark’s wide-ranging responsibilities included managing a team of lawyers and legal professionals, negotiating national and international contracts, resolving distribution and outsource contract disputes, supervising multidistrict litigation and outside counsel, and handling all aspects of internal and government investigations.
Mark was previously a litigation partner with several international law firms, including Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP, Bingham McCutchen LLP, and Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP.
- Assistant District Attorney, Alameda County District Attorney’s Office
- Mediator, Marin County Superior Courts
- Judge Pro Tem, Marin County Superior Court
- Member, UCLA School of Law Alumni Board
- J.D., University of California, Los Angeles, School of Law, 1987
- B.A., University of California, Los Angeles, 1983, magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa
- Currently representing Ingram Micro Inc. in binding arbitration brought by national speaker manufacturer demanding $30 million of damages for alleged breach of contract, trademark/trade dress infringement and copyright violations
- C-Level officer representation in wrongful termination actions
- Represent party in international trade secret/intellectual property matter concerning web interface and product information
- Litigated cases of first impression concerning distribution rights for beer distributors under the California Brand Transfer Law, Business & Professions Code § 25000.2
- Managed litigation and very favorable settlement following sudden closure of CompUSA for major creditor (multiple jurisdictions)
- Represented Ingram Micro Inc. in insurance coverage action concerning business interruption caused by damage to computer network, and obtained precedent-setting ruling that loss of computer program is physical damage (American Guarantee& Liability Insurance Company v. Ingram Micro Inc., 2000 WL 726789 (D. Ariz. 2000))
- Represented software distributor in federal court trade libel action and business tort counterclaims
- Represented software distributor in federal court action over counterfeit product exceeding $3 million
- Represented Ingram Micro Inc. in action seeking recovery for copyright and trademark infringement
- As lead counsel, defendant Ingram Micro Inc. in federal court action brought by party seeking indemnity for alleged copyright and trademark infringement and other business torts concerning Novell software; obtained ruling that indemnity for copyright and trademark infringement are barred as a matter of law (unpublished decision Ansel Communications, Inc. v. Novell, Inc., 1999 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 22738)
- Represented DHL Corporation in federal court action seeking to enforce terms of a Shareholder Agreement permitting the Company to purchase 60% of its outstanding shares from the estate of a deceased shareholder, which resulted in acquisition of controlling interest in Company As co-lead counsel, represented MCI in federal court action concerning software development contract, trade secret and business tort claims; case settled on eve of trial
- As lead counsel in appeal from Bankruptcy Court action, successfully compelled arbitration of multi-million dollar fraud and fiduciary duty claims in connection with telecommunications contract (In Re Gurga, 176 B.R. 196)
- In multi-party federal court action concerning disputed termination of government contract for video teleconference technology, represented The CIT Group/Equipment Financing as lead counsel in action to enforce rights to lease stream payments from contract and against manufacturer claims
- Represented Bank of America in action to enforce buy-back from major life insurance company of twenty-five million dollars in failed loans for real estate development, and defended lender-liability claims brought by insurance company against bank; complete recovery of principal and interest by Bank
- California
- Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
- Federal District Courts for the Central, Southern, Eastern, and Northern Districts of California
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
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RIMS Presentation, June 22, 2017 — Mr. Slater joined a panel that discussed developments in business interruption insurance litigation, including the evolving definition of “physical damage.” He shared his perspective on evaluating first and third-party claims. To download the handouts from the presentation, click here. Please contact us if you’re interested in having Mark give this presentation to your organization.
- The Digital Looking Glass: Discovery, Retention and Admissibility of Electronic Evidence, American Bar Association Section of Litigation, July 9, 2000
- Virus, Hackers and Outages: Who Pays?, CyberTech Litigation Report, June 2000
- The Infringer’s Complaint: Responding to indemnity and contribution claims asserted by federal copyright and trademark infringers, Inside Litigation, July 1999
- CLE speaker on various insurance coverage, electronic discovery, and other issues