Joe Farris

About Joe Farris

Joe Farris is a trial attorney and trusted advisor to technology companies facing high-stakes litigation, with a focus on the novel legal questions reshaping the technology industry. Recently, Joe has been one of a small number of litigators at the forefront of generative AI litigation — having represented leading AI companies in closely watched copyright class actions and advised clients on a range of legal issues impacting AI technology. His broader practice centers on many forms of intellectual property and technology litigation: including copyright and trademark infringement, trade secret misappropriation, virtual item economies, and hacking and web-scraping claims. Joe also litigates a range of commercial disputes impacting technology companies — including contract breaches, employee mobility claims (including non-disclosure, non-competition, and non-solicitation agreements), licensing and royalty disagreements, and founders\' disputes. His clients include leading AI companies and major technology companies, global venture capital firms, video game designers, medical technology companies, and electronics manufacturers. Before joining Arnold & Porter, Joe practiced at another international law firm and also served as an Assistant District Attorney in San Francisco, where he tried numerous jury trials to verdict.

Experience

1. Partner

   Arnold & Porter

   Jul 2015 — Present

   Joe Farris is a seasoned trial attorney and trusted advisor to technology companies based in San Francisco who represents clients in a broad range of business and intellectual property disputes. He has significant experience in state and federal courts, private arbitration, and a variety of cross-border disputes.Mr. Farris\'s clients often face emerging legal issues at the intersections of law and technology, including trade secret, copyright, trademark, patent, and unfair competition litigation. He has recently represented a medical technology company in federal court litigation against an internationally-based competitor that sought to raid the client’s US operational staff and intellectual property. Before that, he defended an international electronics manufacturer against parallel federal and state litigation asserting trade secret misappropriation and trademark infringement.His work frequently involves complex forensic investigations of digital evidence in disputes and litigation involving trade secret theft, source code copying, hacking and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), subpoenas for Internet content and communications, online defamation and harassment, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), works-for-hire disputes, and use of web-crawling bots. Mr. Farris also has experience in a variety of business litigation matters such as breaches of commercial contracts, licensing and royalty disputes, founders\' disputes, violations of fiduciary duties, and false advertising. He regularly advises and counsels clients on issues related to employee mobility, including cases involving breaches of employment contracts, non-disclosure agreements, non-competition agreements, and non-solicitation agreements.Before joining Arnold & Porter, Mr. Farris was an Assistant District Attorney for the San Francisco District Attorney\'s Office where he was lead trial counsel in 10 jury trials, nine of which resulted in a conviction.

Education

• University of California, Berkeley - School of Law

  JD, Law

  2005 — 2008

• University of Wisconsin-Madison

  BA, English, Environmental Studies

  1999 — 2003

Skills

• Trials
• Copyright Law
• Patents
• Appeals
• Intellectual Property
• Civil Litigation
• Westlaw
• Corporate Law
• Patent Litigation
• Commercial Litigation
• Trademarks
• Legal Writing
• Litigation
• Trade Secrets
• Jury Trials
• Legal Research