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Sarah Piepmeier has devoted the past two decades to guiding technology companies through their most significant intellectual property (IP) disputes. In addition to her significant patent litigation experience, Sarah has extensive knowledge of trade secrets, copyrights, false advertising, antitrust, and technology-related commercial litigation. Sarah regularly advises Fortune 500 clients on technology issues related to semiconductors, networking, wireless standards, relational databases, social networking, and encryption software. A member of the firm’s Executive Committee, Sarah helps guide strategic, policy-making, and oversight functions.
Having tried more than a dozen high-profile and bet-the-company cases across the U.S. in federal district courts and before the International Trade Commission (ITC), Sarah has earned a reputation as an accomplished and agile first-chair trial lawyer. Sarah also has received recognition from peers and clients for her strategic, thoughtful, and responsive approach to her work and relationships. For example, Sarah is ranked as a leading patent litigator in California by Chambers USA, which noted client feedback that she is "very hard-working and smart" and “a good strategic thinker and a very strong writer with great leadership skills." Intellectual Asset Management, in its Patent 1000 rankings, notes that as “an experienced first-chair, Sarah handles a diverse range of technology intensive patent and non-patent cases, which has given her plenty of opportunities to showcase her trial skills.” Sarah was also honored with a 2019 California Lawyer of the Year for Intellectual Property, and she was previously named one of the Top Women Lawyers in California by the Daily Journal, a Woman Leader in Tech Law by The Recorder and one of the Top 40 LGBT Lawyers Under 40 in 2011.
Sarah also devotes a significant portion of her practice to pro bono civil rights litigation. She is currently defending a nonprofit organization that provides diversity training to schools. She was also a core member of the team that obtained a landmark decision invalidating California’s Proposition 8, an amendment to the California Constitution to prohibit same-sex marriage, on the grounds that it violates the U.S. Constitution. Prior to law school, Sarah spent several years as a complex database designer.
