August 26, 2005

Google just hired the high-profile San Francisco law firm Keker & Van Nest to represent it in an impending courtroom battle with Microsoft.

Keker & Van Nest, led by ex-Marine John Keker, has defended such controversial clients as Wall Street banker Frank Quattrone and former Enron executive Andrew Fastow.

Google was sued last month by Microsoft after it hired one of the Redmond, Wash., company's former top executives to open a research laboratory in China.

The suit, filed in King County, Wash., Superior Court, alleges that Google helped ex-Microsoft executive Kai-Fu Lee violate a non-compete agreement with Microsoft.

Keker & Van Nest will work with another law firm, Dorsey & Whitney, on the case.

Google also recently filed its own lawsuit in Santa Clara County Superior Court arguing that Microsoft's attempt to enforce the "covenant not to compete" provision in the contract violates California law.

By hiring Keker & Van Nest, legal experts say, Google has signed up one of the most respected law firms in the country.

"I feel sorry for Microsoft," said San Francisco lawyer Jim Collins. "If you want to hire a firm that is going to do a job better than any law firm in the country, you go to Keker & Van Nest."

Lawyer Stuart Hanlon, also of San Francisco, said, "Google made a great choice. They're really well respected."

John Keker will work on the case, a Google spokesman said. A Vietnam War veteran, Keker went to Yale Law School and later successfully prosecuted Oliver North in the Iran-contra scandal.

He later became a defense lawyer, taking on prominent clients such as Eldridge Cleaver, George Lucas and Patrick Hallinan.

Keker also represented Chronicle Editor Phil Bronstein in a 1993 civil suit filed by political consultant Clint Reilly, which ended in an out-of- court settlement.

Recently, Keker became known for his involvement in two legal battles that sprang from corporate scandals.

He represented ex-Enron Chief Executive Officer Fastow, who pleaded guilty to fraud charges and is expected to testify against other former company executives.

Keker also helped defend Quattrone, who faced criminal obstruction-of- justice charges over the way his investment bank allocated shares of initial public offerings of stock. His first trial ended with a hung jury, but he was convicted after a second trial.

Keker was criticized for having Quattrone testify in the first trial, but some defended his handling of the case.

"There were some adverse conditions," Collins said of the Quattrone case. "My understanding from people around the case was that John did a great job."

Source: SF Gate.com

Read Serge Thibodeau's daily blogs on search engines at Serge Thibodeau Live. We strongly suggest you bookmark our web site by clicking here.

Get your business or company listed in the Global Business Listing directory and increase your business. It takes less then 24 hours to get a premium listing in the most powerful business search engine there is. Click here to find out all about it.

Rank for $ales strongly recommends the use of WordTracker to effectively identify all your right industry keywords. Accurate identification of the right keywords and key phrases used in your industry is the first basic step in any serious search engine optimization program. Click here to start your keyword and key phrase research.

You can link to the Rank for Sales web site as much as you like. Read our section on how your company can participate in our reciprocal link exchange program and increase your rankings in all the major search engines such as Google, AltaVista, Yahoo and all the others.

Home | SEO Tips | SEO Myths | FAQ | SEO News | Articles | Sitemap | Contact

---

Copyright © Rank for Sales 2003    Terms of use    Privacy agreement    Legal disclaimer

       Ce site est disponible en Français