Perkins Coie Expands Antitrust and Commercial Litigation Practice With the Addition of Alexis, Chiappetta and Yurasek

SAN FRANCISCO (July 18, 2007) – Perkins Coie announced today that Geraldine Alexis, David Chiappetta and Jason Yurasek have joined the firm as partners in its Commercial Litigation practice. All three will practice in Perkins Coie's San Francisco office and joined the firm from Bingham McCutchen.

"We are excited to have these three extremely talented attorneys join our team," said Jay Rossiter, San Francisco managing partner. "We are committed to enhancing our California presence as a way to ensure that our clients in this state and elsewhere continue to receive exceptional legal service. That commitment is reflected in the growth of our practices throughout the state."

Alexis, who was co-chair of Bingham's Antitrust and Trade Regulation practice, has extensive experience representing clients before courts and governmental agencies. She has represented clients before the Department of Justice, the Federal Trade Commission and state antitrust enforcement agencies in several significant mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures and government antitrust investigations. Alexis also counsels businesses on the antitrust aspects of joint ventures, distribution contracts, and intellectual property licenses as well as other transactions.

"I am delighted to join Perkins Coie's San Francisco office” said Alexis. “I know that, given the strategic locations of Perkins' offices and the superlative legal service David Chiappetta, Jason Yurasek and the many other great lawyers at Perkins will provide my clients, they will be well-served by Perkins." Prior to joining Bingham, Alexis was a partner at Sidley & Austin in Chicago. She earned her law degree from Northwestern University School of Law, her master's degree from Kellogg School of Business and her undergraduate degree from the University of Rochester.

Chiappetta was a partner in Bingham's Antitrust and Complex Commercial Litigation practice groups. He has represented clients in a wide range of matters, and has both bench and jury trial experience. Chiappetta’s areas of focus include antitrust and unfair business practice claims, professional negligence claims, and the electronic payments industry. He has also managed a number of significant electronic discovery (eDiscovery) matters relating to the organization and production of electronic documents. Chiappetta earned his law degree from the University of Washington School of Law and his undergraduate degree from Willamette University.

Yurasek has represented clients in a wide range of commercial litigation matters, including antitrust, business torts and intellectual property and trademark litigation. He has extensive experience in eDiscovery, including counseling clients on the issue and successfully litigating eDiscovery issues before state and federal courts. He is a member of the Sedona Conference's exclusive eDiscovery think-tank (WG1), and has actively participated in and organized several conferences on eDiscovery. He also has significant experience representing clients in complex state and federal class actions. As a partner in Bingham's Antitrust group, he prosecuted and defended claims involving a number of antitrust issues, including cross-over issues related to antitrust and intellectual property. His intellectual property practice includes patent, trade secret and trademark litigation. He earned his law degree from Northwestern University School of Law and his undergraduate degree from Indiana University.