Jeffrey M. Theodore
Partner
Awards and Recognitions
California Super Lawyers (2024), Daily Journal Top Trade Secrets Lawyers (2024)
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J.D. from Harvard Law School
A.B. in History from Harvard College
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Steptoe & Johnson LLP (D.C. and San Francisco)
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Member of State Bar of California, D.C. and Maryland
Admitted in the Northern District, Central District, and Southern District of California
Admitted in the United States Supreme Court; Admitted in the United States District Courts for D.C. and Maryland and the United States Courts of Appeals for the Second, Third, Fourth, Sixth, and Federal Circuits
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Biography
Jeffrey M. Theodore is a partner with BraunHagey & Borden. Jeff has extensive experience representing domestic and international clients on both plaintiff and defense sides of complex commercial and intellectual property disputes. He has obtained victories as trial counsel in eight- and nine-figure federal jury trials and arbitrations. And he has obtained reversals after presenting oral argument to federal and state appellate courts.
Jeff played a leading role in the successful defense of two of the largest trade secret misappropriation suits filed in the United States in the last five years, including presenting the successful defense-side damages case in a recent $600 million trade secret jury trial. In copyright infringement litigation to hold Cox Communications liable for its high-speed internet subscribers’ online sharing of copyrighted music files, Jeff briefed and argued the summary judgment motion that stripped Cox of its Digital Millennium Copyright Act “safe harbor” defense to contributory copyright infringement liability – the first time a cable internet provider had ever lost its DMCA “safe harbor.” In the financial services arena, Jeff represented the claimant in a dispute over the interpretation of a hedge-fund linked derivative that resulted in what was at the time the largest award in FINRA history.
Jeff is committed to providing pro bono services to those in need of legal protection but without the resources to obtain meaningful access to the courts. Jeff represented a prison inmate on appeal after his suit against prison officials was dismissed by the district court. Jeff's victory in the Third Circuit made new law protecting prisoners’ rights under the Due Process Clause and established new procedures to ensure that pro se prisoner plaintiffs have an adequate opportunity to take discovery.
Personal
Jeff lives in San Francisco with his wife, a pediatric gastroenterologist at UCSF, and two sons, budding medieval historians whom Jeff looks forward to taking on their first trip to Europe to see thirteenth-century castles and churches.
For more information about Jeffrey’s representative cases and experience, please contact the firm.