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Kristopher R. Wood

Senior Associate

橘郡

Kristopher (Kris) Wood is a versatile and innovative Senior Associate in Orrick’s Orange County office, with deep experience in business and public finance litigation.

Kris has experience representing a broad range of clients, from start-ups with just a few employees to Fortune 500 companies, in various industries including technology, life sciences, health & fitness, food & beverage, and automotive. His litigation matters have involved intellectual property (trade secrets, trademark, false advertising), business torts, employee mobility, breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, and complex commercial disputes before State and Federal courts. He has experience with all aspects of litigation, from initial case assessment, through pleadings, discovery, trial and appeal. Kris also has experience in alternative dispute resolution, including mediation and arbitration.

In addition, Kris is the go-to litigator for Orrick’s public finance group, with extensive experience advising public entity clients on litigation risk related to bond transactions or the use of bond proceeds, and in representing clients in validation proceedings or other litigation related to government bonds.

As a Senior Associate, Kris views his role as being the point person on a case for clients, partners, and associates, with a thorough understanding of both the grand strategy of the case and the minutiae of the facts and law. Kris is just as comfortable taking a lead role in setting strategy and driving a case forward as he is managing discrete aspects of a case as part of larger team.

One of Kris’s core interests is in finding efficient solutions to manage his cases and enhance the talents of his teams. As such, he piloted a number of AI tools and solutions build within Orrick and from third-party vendors in the context of discovery, trial preparation, and for use during trial. He has also personally developed a number of solutions for streamlining workflows or extracting useful information from large data sets.

Beyond his paid work, Kris is also an active participant in pro bono activities and organizations. Kris 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.

  • Kris’s representative matters include the following.

    Business Litigation matters:

    • Represented a major fast food company in false advertising and business torts litigation spanning multiple jurisdictions, from pre-litigation case assessment and strategic development, through pleadings and discovery, and concluding with mediation and a favorable settlement.
    • Represented a closely-held electronics manufacturer in a dispute between founders over stock ownership before the California superior court. Managed the litigation from inception through bench trial. Served as second chair during trial and cross-examined adverse witnesses.
    • Represented a prominent aerospace company in responding to a subpoena for highly-sensitive information related to a subsidiary’s product development process in connection with a trade secrets case involving defamation counterclaims.
    • Represented an automotive parts remanufacturer in a multi-jurisdiction trade secret dispute involving both civil claims and white-collar criminal investigations
    • Represented a major social media company in litigation against an advertiser regarding termination of their account. Spearheaded trial preparation efforts until the case was resolved on summary judgment weeks before trial.
    • Represented a publicly traded life-sciences corporation defending against trade secret misappropriation claims in Federal court and then in arbitration after a successful motion to compel.
    • Represented a boutique fitness franchisor in a variety of matters, including disputes with franchisees, vendors, former employees, and competitors
    • Advised a serial entrepreneur and chief executive of a publicly traded company regarding personal interests in certain corporate transactions and separation from the corporation.
    • 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 an EV manufacturer in arbitration involving trademark licensing claims and breach of contract claims, resolved through mediation.
    • 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.

    Public Finance Matters:

    • Won summary judgment for a school district in a case challenging a construction project funded by Proposition 39 school bond funds, then successfully defended that win on appeal.
    • Prepared and filed an amicus brief supporting the constitutional validity of a city's pension obligation bonds on behalf of the League of California Cities and the California State Association of Counties.
    • Developed strategy for validating judgment obligation bond credit facility for payment of stipulated judgments in settlement of tort claims in numerous lawsuits against school districts and other public entities brought under California Code of Civil Procedure Section 340.1 and California Assembly Bill 218.