Partner
E-mail: asteyer@steyerlaw.com
Telephone: 415 743 2808
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Biography
Allan Steyer is an experienced trial attorney, having tried plaintiff and defense cases in federal and state courts. He has tried cases for the National Football League, Equity Office Properties, USS-POSCO Industries, the founders/creators of Ms. Pac Man, ACC Lincoln bondholders (the infamous case against Charles Keating and others), and Technical Equities, a famous Bay Area fraud case involving more than 1,000 investors, including professional athletes and prominent professionals.
In addition, he has represented prominent entrepreneurs including Eduardo Saverin, the cofounder of Facebook, and Kirk Perron, Founder & Chairman Emeritus of Juice Club, Inc. and Jamba Juice Company.
Mr. Steyer has been co-lead counsel or played a prominent role in various class and representative cases including Lipuma v. American Express (SD Fla) – settled for $75 million – arising from foreign currency conversion charges to cardholders) Schwartz v. Visa International Corp, et al. (achieved with several co-counsel firms a $780 million judgment after a six month trial in California state court, which later settled for $336 million as part of a nationwide settlement of a companion antitrust case, in re Visa/MasterCard Currency Conversion Litigation (SD NY 2006); and in re TFT-LCD (Flat Panel/Antitrust Litigation) (N.D. Cal) which settled for $1.1 billion in 2012 on the eve of the trial, the largest ever indirect purchaser case settlement. He and other firm lawyers worked closely with the lead counsel on behalf of college athletes in Edward C. O ‘Bannon, Jr. v. National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), et al., from the outset through trial and appeal, a landmark antitrust case in the sports industry.
He successfully defended USS-POSCO Industries in an alleged market allocation antitrust case. The district court granted summary judgment to the defendants and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal affirmed. He has litigated more than 50 complex litigation matters including state and federal class actions.
Mr. Steyer has been chosen by his peers as a Super Lawyer in Northern California annually since 2004.
Education
- State University of New York at Buffalo
- (B.A. magna cum laude 1973)
- University of San Francisco School of Law (1981)
- Extern, Justice Matthew Tobriner, California Supreme Court, Fall 1980
Admitted to Practice
- 1981
Memberships
- Association of Business Trial Lawyers – Northern California
- San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association (Member, Board of Directors, 1996-2008)
- Bay Area Legal Aid, Board member 2020 –
- San Mateo County Trial Lawyers Association (Member, Board of Directors, 1987-1996; President, 1995)
- San Mateo County Bar Association (Member: Bench and Bar Committee, 1990, 1994, 1996-2004; ADR Committee, 1994-1996)
- Consumer Attorneys of California
- Anti-Defamation League – Board Member (former Regional Chairperson) of Central Pacific Region
- American Committee for Weizmann Institute of Science (Board Member, Bay Area Region)
Practice Areas
Cases of Interest
Mr. Steyer is currently representing (with three other firms) plaintiffs in an antitrust case against Sutter Health; plaintiffs in an antitrust case against poultry producers; plaintiffs in In Re Foreign Exchange Benchmark Rates Antitrust Litigation (with an existing partial settlement of $2.3 billion); he is defending a startup company in a TCPA case. As the lead attorney for Eduardo Saverin, the cofounder of Facebook, he was portrayed as a senior female attorney in the award-winning film, The Social Network.
Publications / Articles
- “Era of Accounting Irregularities,” May, 2002
- “Comprehensive General Liability Policies, 1993: Obligation of the Parties,” Practicing Law Institute
- “Insurance Claims and Coverage Litigation”
- “The Unfair Settlement Practices Regulations: Issues Relating to Discovery, Admissibility of Evidence In Civil Actions, and Exhaustion of Administrative Remedies,” June, 1993
- “Cross-Examination: Seven Steps To Success,” California Litigation, Spring Issue, 1991
Events / Speaking Engagements
- Hot Topics in Financial Institution Litigation, State Bar of California Convention, September 2005 and October 2004
- Innovative Strategies for Pursuing Unfair Competition Claims, State Bar of California Antitrust and Unfair Competition Law Section, May 2004
- 2003 Advanced Business Litigation Institute, California CPA Education Foundation -Admissibility of Expert Witness Testimony
- Advanced Business Litigation Institute Conference, California CPA Education Foundation, Era of Accounting Irregularities, May 2002
- Punitive Damages in California Courts: Post BMW v. Gore, CAOC Seminar, December, 1998
- Punitive Damages: Post BMW v. Gore – An Update, CAOC Seminar, December 1997
- Punitive Damages: BMW Case, CAOC Seminar, December, 1996
- Mediating Wrongful Termination, Harassment and Discrimination Cases, CAOC Seminar, November 1995
- The After-Acquired Evidence Defense – Alive and Well?, CAOC Seminar, November 1995
Punitive Damages: Current Status and Trends, CTLA Seminar, December 1993 - California Unfair Claims Settlement Practices Regulations: Compliance, Enforcement and Beyond, San Francisco Bar Association Program, June 1993
- PLI Program, Comprehensive General Liability Policies
- Insurance Claims and Coverage Litigation, New York, May 1993
- “The ‘Lincoln Savings’ Trial,” CTLA Seminar, December 1992
- “Handling Claims Against Savings and Loan Officers and Directors,” ATLA Advanced Seminars, August 1991
- “Securities Fraud: The Big Cases and the Small Cases,” Kansas Trial Lawyers Association Annual Meeting, 1988