Adam Cashman

Partner

Awards and Recognitions

Chambers & Partners USA 2024:  IP: Trademark, Copyright, & Trade Secrets in California
Daily Journal Top IP Lawyers (2024)
Daily Journal Top Trade Secrets Lawyers (2023)
Daily Journal Top Verdicts and Settlements (2022)
Best Lawyers, Litigation - Intellectual Property (2024)
California Super Lawyers (2019-2024)
Best Lawyers in America

  • J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center, cum laude

    B.A. in Psychology from The Colorado College

  • Law Clerk to the Honorable Samuel Conti
    U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California

  • Singer Cashman LLP

    Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP

  • Member of the State Bar of California and of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts

    Admitted in the Northern District of California, the Central District of California, the Southern District of California, Northern District of California Bankruptcy Court, the District of Massachusetts, the Eastern District of Texas, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the First Circuit Court of Appeals, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, and the United States Supreme Court 

    Board Member, Jewish Bar Association of San Francisco 

Biography

Adam Cashman is a Partner in BraunHagey & Borden’s San Francisco office. He is a first-chair trial lawyer with two decades of experience litigating a wide spectrum of complex commercial and intellectual property disputes. He regularly represents both plaintiffs and defendants in matters involving trade secrets, trademarks, and other intellectual property rights. He also represents his clients in commercial matters involving contracts, fiduciary duties, partnership and licensing disputes, fraud and malfeasance, structured financing transactions, and insolvency matters, among many other matters.  Adam has dedicated his legal career to serving his diverse client base, which includes Fortune 100 companies, innovative startups, investment funds, prominent individuals, and family and legacy businesses.   

Adam is also committed to providing legal services in his community such as representing asylum seekers and other undocumented individuals in their efforts to obtain status. He also served as lead counsel to the African American Environmental Association as amicus curie in an appeal before the New York Court of Appeals, Entergy Nuclear Operations et al. v. New York State Department of State, et al

Representative Matters

  • Adam served as lead counsel for Eventbrite, Inc. in a trial of its claims against Canada’s largest independent concert promoter and organizer.  He obtained a complete jury verdict in Eventbrite’s favor after a one-week trial in one of the first cases to construe the meaning of the term “material adverse change” under California law.  In recognition of this result, Adam was named “litigator of the week” runner up by the American Lawyer.  

    Eventbrite, Inc. v. M.R.G. Concerts Ltd et al (N.D. Ca.)

  • Adam obtained a complete victory on behalf of his client, the former Chief Technology Officer of a cybersecurity software company, against claims that he misappropriated trade secrets, infringed copyrights, and breached his contractual obligations to his former employer by retaining an unauthorized copy of the employer’s source code following cessation of his employment, and further, by copying parts of that code to create a competing product for his new employer.  Following a three-week trial in which the jury implicitly rejected Plaintiff’s claims that the former CTO was the “central bad actor” by declining to find any willful and malicious misappropriation, the Court held that the CTO bore no responsibility for any damages attributable to any trade secret misappropriation, and further reduced the jury’s award of damages for breach of contract to the nominal sum of $1.  

    Proofpoint, Inc. v. Vade Secure, et al. (N.D. Ca.)

  • Adam acted as lead counsel to a major technology company in its arbitration of claims against a former senior employee relating to ownership of more than two dozen patents relating to computer vision technology.  After a one-week plenary hearing, Adam’s client was awarded ownership of most of the patents in dispute and was further awarded the full amount of monetary relief sought.  

  • Adam obtained a complete victory at the summary judgment stage on behalf of Bobby Chao, a founder of DFJ DragonFund China, in connection with an investment into a company that ultimately became insolvent.  In an adversary proceeding initiated within the bankruptcy proceedings, Adam’s client was awarded summary judgment as to all claims asserted against him, and despite the fact that only minimal discovery had been taken. 

    In re Luxul Technology, Inc. (N.D. Ca. Bankr.)

  • As lead counsel to Intuitive Surgical Inc., Adam obtained a complete defense victory at the summary judgment stage against claims stemming from the purchase of one of Intuitive’s surgical robots by a prominent medical provider.   

    Heredia v. Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (N.D. Ca.)

  • Adam has also served as lead trial counsel to Instacart, Inc. in its successful defense against contract and fraud claims brought by a former senior executive over the issuance of restricted stock units; as lead arbitration counsel to a technology-enabled insurance brokerage firm in its defense against claims that its senior leadership copied source code and misappropriated other trade secrets from their former employer; as lead counsel to Uniloc 2017, a company controlled by funds managed by Fortress Investment Group, in its defense against contract and fraud claims brought by the company’s former founder and CEO relating to the issuance of certain bonus payments; and as lead counsel for such prominent individuals as Elon Musk in connection with defamation claims and Marco Polo Del Nero (former head of the Brazilian national soccer federation) in connection with his arbitration of claims against FIFA stemming from penalties imposed in the wake of an alleged kickback scheme that resulted in the indictment of more than 20 defendants in the Eastern District of New York.   

Personal

Adam lives in San Francisco with his wife and three children. In his free time, you can find him chasing his family around the mountains, losing to his kids in chess, splitting fairways at Harding Park, or appeasing the BBQ gods with his smoked brisket. 

For more information about Adam’s representative cases and experience, please contact the firm.