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Kristopher R. Wood

Senior Associate

橘郡

Kristopher Wood is a versatile and innovative Senior Associate in Orrick's Orange County office and is a member of the Complex Litigation and Dispute Resolution Group. Mr. Wood represents clients in a broad array of litigation matters, including intellectual property disputes, shareholder disputes, complex breach of contract actions, bond validation actions, and other commercial litigation matters. Mr. Wood's areas of particular interest include trade secret law, intellectual property damages, pension obligation bond validations, and identifying and developing opportunities for practice automation.

Mr. Wood's experience spans multiple industries, practice areas, and jurisdictions. Through his work, Mr. Wood has developed a strong sense of the importance of each client's unique industry and circumstances to the matters he undertakes, and he thoroughly enjoys each chance to learn about his clients and their work. Although Mr. Wood's focus is on trade secret misappropriation and business torts, he prizes variety in his practice and relishes the chance to take on new challenges in different areas of law.

Mr. Wood is known for developing a deep understanding of the facts and law in each case. In most of his cases, he serves as the point person for fact discovery, and through this experience he has created highly efficient and effective methods of identifying, tracking, organizing and synthesizing key facts in even the most complex matters. He excels at identifying patters and drawing meaning from large data sets, and his methods have led to breakthroughs in his cases on more than on occasion.

Mr. Wood's interest in efficiency extends beyond the specific matters he works on. Mr. Wood enjoys identifying tasks in his practice that can be automated and developing tools to do so. This redounds to his clients' benefit--in one case Mr. Wood's automation tool led to nearly a 50% reduction in the total time required for a given matter.

Beyond his paid work, Mr. Wood is also an active participant in pro bono activities and organizations. Mr. Wood serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the Public Law Center of Orange County, and previously served two terms as Co-Chair of the PLC Advocates. He also regularly takes on pro bono clients, primarily representing clients in removal proceedings before the immigration courts and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

  • Mr. Wood’s representative matters include the following.

    • Represented an automotive parts remanufacturer in a multi-jurisdiction trade secret dispute involving both civil claims and white collar criminal investigations
    • Represented an auto manufacturer in arbitration involving trademark licensing claims and breach of contract claims, resolved through mediation
    • Represented a large life sciences corporation asserting trade secret misappropriation claims and defendant against a cross-claims for misappropriation of an individual's name or likeness. Won summary judgment on the cross-claims, and settled the case on extremely favorable terms for the client.
    • Represented a boutique fitness franchisor in a variety of matters, including disputes with franchisees, vendors, former employees, and competitors
    • Represented an electronics manufacturer in a dispute between founders over stock ownership before the California superior court
    • Represented an individual defendant in a shareholder dispute before the California state courts arising out of the client’s sale of a corporation, which, after months of litigation, resulted in a favorable settlement for the client.
    • Represented a major health and fitness company in an arbitration arising out of the client’s purchase of certain assets of another health and fitness company. The matter eventually reached a settlement favorable to the client.
    • Defended a major real estate appraisal corporation against claims of fraud, negligent misrepresentation, tortious interference with contract, and negligence in a putative class action.
    • Represented a major chemical manufacturer in defending against enforcement of a judgment for damages in the Southern District of New York.
    • Pro Bono. Represented a client before the Board of Immigration Appeals in an appeal from an order denying the client’s petition for withholding of removal and relief under the U.N. Convention Against Torture. After the initial briefing on the matter, Mr. Wood negotiated an agreement with the Department of Homeland Security to grant the client the relief sought and terminate the removal proceedings.