Dirk Schenkkan is a director with the firm and engages in a broad range of business litigation, with particular emphasis on consumer class action defense and disputes involving contracts, business torts, employment law and intellectual property.

Mr. Schenkkan's private sector clients have ranged from Fortune 500 companies such as Sears and Kmart to individual entrepreneurs and corporate executives. In the public sector, his clients have included most of California’s counties, the City of Palo Alto and the Tax Assessor of Plumas County.

Mr. Schenkkan has been a panelist in numerous litigation-related seminars and workshops sponsored by the State Bar, The Rutter Group and Stanford and USF Law Schools. He serves by appointment as an arbitrator and mediator for the federal and state courts of the Northern District of California and San Francisco courts respectively.

Representative Matters

• Defense of The Men’s Wearhouse in a California consumer class action pertaining to customer information (Song-Beverly Act)
• Defense of Kmart Corporation in multiple national and state consumer class actions involving (variously) product sales and pricing accuracy
• Defense of Pier 1 Imports (USA), Inc., in an employee class action alleging multiple violations of the wage & hour laws
• Defense of Sears Roebuck & Company in multiple national consumer class actions relative to its automotive repair services
• Defense of a Transamerica subsidiary relative to unfair competition and related consumer class claims involving a reverse mortgage product
• Prosecution of trade secret/customer list claims on behalf of a San Francisco bank
• Defense of departing employee in trade secrets litigation involving semiconductor technology
• Prosecution of a faithless general partner on behalf of multiple investors in real estate limited partnerships
• Prosecution of claim on behalf of a business liability insurer Evanston Insurance Company to recover defense and indemnity payments made on behalf of an insured pursuant to a reservation of rights
• Defense of disability access claims under the Americans With Disabilities Act and the Unruh Act on behalf of Union Bank, Sumitomo Bank, Beverages & More and others
• Prosecution of wrongful termination and contract claims on behalf of the departing general counsel of a financial services company
• Defense of state consumer regulatory claims involving scanner accuracy and false advertising on behalf of various retail clients including Longs Drugstores and Kmart Corporation
• Prosecution against Eureka Federal Savings & Loan Association on behalf of Commodore Savings Association to enforce letter of credit

Education

• J.D., Yale Law School (prizes for legal writing and mock trial competition), 1975
• B.A., University of Texas (highest honors, Phi Beta Kappa), 1971
• University of Kent, Canterbury, England (Rotary International Fellow), 1972-1973

Admitted

• California state and federal courts
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth District

Memberships

• State Bar of California
• American Bar Association, Litigation and Alternate Dispute Resolution Sections
• Bar Association of San Francisco
• Association of Business Trial Lawyers, Board of Governors, 1994-2006

Selected Publications

• "New Scrutiny of Credit Insurance," co-author, Consumer Finance Law Quarterly Report (1997)

Awards & Honors

Mr. Schenkkan was recognized as a Northern California Super Lawyer from 2004 through 2008. He is also an AV-rated attorney, a peer-awarded honor given by Martindale-Hubbell.