Lynne Hermle and Annette Hurst Honored as Top Women Lawyers in California

April.20.2016

Orrick congratulates our partners Lynne Hermle and Annette Hurst on their selection to the Daily Journal’s 2016 Top Women Lawyers list. This annual feature profiles 75 litigators and 25 transactional lawyers known throughout the state of California for their accomplishments in the law.

Lynne Hermle, a member of Orrick’s Employment Law & Litigation team in Silicon Valley, has a long track record of defeating class certification, obtaining summary judgment and winning high-profile jury trials on behalf of industry-leading clients. This is her second consecutive year being named to the Top Women Lawyers list and her third time overall. The publication singles out her “mega-win” on behalf of venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers in a high-stakes gender discrimination suit and the dismissal she obtained of a Dodd-Frank retaliation claim filed against Broadcom Corp. as part of gender discrimination suit set to go to trial in October. Long a member of the firm’s senior leadership team, Lynne currently serves on Orrick’s Management Committee.

A member of Orrick’s Intellectual Property team in San Francisco, Annette Hurst is an experienced trial lawyer who has tried patent, copyright, trade secret, trademark and business tort claims. This is her third consecutive year being selected to the Top Women Lawyers list. Citing her “history of successful retrials,” the Daily Journal notes Annette’s representation of Oracle in the upcoming retrial of its copyright dispute with Google over Oracle’s Java software platform—a case referred to as “the World Series of IP.” Her recent victories include obtaining summary judgment on copyright claims brought by Fox against client DISH Network over its award-winning Hopper DVR and its Sling, PrimeTime Anytime and AutoHop features. Annette serves on Orrick’s Board and is Chair of the firm’s Practice Management Committee.

Related Lawyers

Lynne Hermle Partner, Employment Law & Litigation, Wage and Hour

Silicon Valley

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D:+1 650 614 7422
E: [email protected]

Practice:

Technology & Innovation Sector
Employment Law & Litigation
Wage and Hour
Pay Equity

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Lynne Hermle Partner

Silicon Valley

Lynne has significant experience successfully defending complex discrimination and wage-and-hour class actions for global leaders in the retail and technology sectors including Microsoft, Twitter, The Gap, Genentech, Sears, Burlington Coat Factory, Gymboree, Spencer’s Gifts, Banana Republic, Old Navy, Williams Sonoma and Pottery Barn Kids, among many others.

Lynne led the trial team that obtained a complete defense verdict for Kleiner Perkins in Pao v. Kleiner Perkins, the high-stakes gender discrimination and retaliation case that garnered intense international media scrutiny. In naming Lynne “Litigator of the Week” for this victory, American Lawyer described her effective voir dire and how she “steadily poked holes in Pao’s testimony.” The Recorder called Lynne’s cross-examination “masterful” and Bloomberg reported that her “charismatic, intimidating oratory made her the trial’s breakout star.”

Following Pao, Lynne secured a complete defense verdict for SpaceX in an $8 million gender discrimination and retaliation suit. The Daily Journal called the outcome “another triumph for Hermle,” observing that her “string of successes for tech clients fighting off gender harassment and discrimination claims got longer.” The publication also pronounced Lynne to be “arguably the most feared employment defense attorney in California.” Eight months later she followed that up with another jury defense verdict for SpaceX in a wrongful discharge and retaliation case.

In recognition of these successes and her high-profile career trial work, Lynne was inducted into the American College of Trial Lawyers in 2017. She is a fellow in the International Academy of Trial Lawyers and many other trial related organizations.

Annette Hurst Partner, Intellectual Property, Trademark, Copyright & Media

San Francisco

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D:+1 415 773 4585
E: [email protected]

Practice:

Technology & Innovation Sector
Intellectual Property
Trademark, Copyright & Media
Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning

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Annette Hurst Partner

San Francisco

Annette is an experienced trial lawyer who has tried copyright, trade secret, trademark, patent and business tort claims. As a risk analyst and problem solver with deep proficiency in the software industry, Annette is a go-to counselor and speaker regarding the legal issues surrounding access and use of datasets in the development of machine learning algorithms. She was named “Litigator of the Week” by The American Lawyer for her work as co-lead counsel on the Mattel/MGA case. Chambers USA ranks her in Band 1 for Trademark, Copyright & Trade Secrets, with clients reporting that she is “smart, creative and terrific at oral argument” and “a very well-known authority in copyright law, a great advocate and a great trial lawyer.” Chambers reports: “Clients agree that Annette Hurst is ‘a very powerful and experienced trial lawyer for copyright cases, and a good team leader who is reliable before judges,” and “Peers consider Annette Hurst a ‘remarkably intuitive’ lawyer who ‘brings unique perspectives to soft IP cases.” Since 2018, The Legal 500 has recognized Annette as a “Leading Lawyer” in copyright law, and she was named “Female Litigator of the Year West” by Benchmark Litigation in 2013. Annette has been repeatedly named one of the top 75 IP litigators in California by The Daily Journal.

Annette’s community and professional activities include past service on the Northern District of California Patent Local Rules Committee, President of the Lafayette Elementary School PTA, and past membership on the Board of Directors of the Volunteer Legal Services Program and Board of Directors of the Bar Association of San Francisco for which she was chair of the Finance and Investments Committee. She also is a past member of the Board of Directors of the Legal Aid Society of San Francisco and the Board of Governors of the Association of Business Trial Lawyers, Northern California Chapter, as well as a past president of the Barristers Club.

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