Ben Riley is a Partner with the firm and serves on its Executive Committee. He has tried 30 cases to verdict, including 17 months in trial. Most recently, Ben won two massive trust trials. In 2022-23, he and his trial team obtained a complete defense verdict in connection with a $680 million community property claim against a large trust.  And in 2021, his Bartko team obtained a complete defense verdict in a $250+ million oral inheritance case, earning a 2022 California Lawyer Attorneys of the Year Award. See Decision Here. In addition, for 30 years Ben has focused on Intellectual Property Litigation, including patents, trade secrets, copyrights, trademarks and license disputes, and the full panoply of Business Litigation, successfully trying multiple cases.

Since 2019, Ben has been ranked by Chambers as one of the top California attorneys in Intellectual Property Litigation: Trademark, Copyright & Trade Secrets. Chambers writes: “Benjamin Riley is ‘very organized, writes beautifully and is great in front of judges,’ report sources, further noting: ‘He’s very bright, quick to grasp technical and legal issues, and he’s very efficient.’ He is an experienced practitioner skilled in handling a broad range of contentious IP matters. He is particularly highlighted for his expertise in trade secret disputes.” In addition, Chambers High Net Worth Guide ranks Ben among the top 10 litigators in California for Private Wealth Disputes, reporting that “Ben is extremely knowledgeable, thoughtful, detail-oriented, and practical in his approach to trust and estate disputes. He operates with the utmost integrity. Ben is also very unflappable, a trait which serves him well in the litigation context. He just has this quiet efficiency about him that is very powerful.”

Ben has lectured and published extensively as to Intellectual Property, Business Litigation, Trust & Estate Litigation, and trial practice skills. He is an expert in commercial arbitration law and procedure and regularly handles important cases before the world’s leading arbitration forums. He also has an active practice as a Mediator for the Northern District of California and for private litigants.

Education

  • University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, J.D.
  • Dartmouth College, A.B. Cum Laude

Bar Admissions

  • California State Bar
  • United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
  • United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
  • United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
  • United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
  • United States District Court for the Northern District of California
  • United States District Court for the Eastern District of California
  • United States District Court for the Southern District of California
  • United States District Court for the Central District of California

Honors & Awards

  • California Attorney of the Year, 2022, 2003
  • Top 100 California Lawyer, 2022, 2023
  • Top Defense Verdict, 2021, 2001
  • Chambers Ranked for Intellectual Property Litigation: Trademark, Copyright & Trade Secrets (2019-2024)
  • Chambers Ranked for High Net Worth, Private Wealth Disputes (2020-24)
  • Recognized by “Best Lawyers,” Commercial Litigation, Alternative Dispute Resolution, and Intellectual Property Litigation, 2019-25
  • Lawyer Representative to the Ninth Circuit, selected by the federal judges from the Northern District of California (2010-13)
  • President, Association of Business Trial Lawyers (Northern California) (2007)
  • Editor, ABTL Report, 2002-2006)

Representative Cases

  • In KeyBank v. James Hays, et al., Ben represents the plaintiff in a suit in Solano County against an investor in mobile solar generators who is alleged to have aided and abetted a $1 billion Ponzi scheme.
    Ben is currently representing charities and private beneficiaries in approximately five other family trust cases, each with assets between $20 million and $100 million.
  • In In Re Trust of Francesca Naify, Ben and team successfully defended the Robert A. Naify Trust against a petition where a stepdaughter claimed that her mother was not accorded her full share of community property. During a 20-day court trial held in May and August 2022, with 28 witnesses called, Petitioner sought damages of $680 million, including exemplary damages and attorneys’ fees. The Court’s Statement of Decision rejected all of Petitioner’s claims, finding in favor of Bartko’s clients on three affirmative defenses and other claims. The Court also found that even if the Trust did not prevail on its defenses, Petitioner only established damages in the amount of $167,000. Judgment entered for the Co-Trustees which may be viewed here .
  • In In Re Trust of Robert Naify, Ben and the Bartko team defended a claim for breach of alleged oral inheritance promises. Mr. Naify’s stepdaughter claimed she was promised a golf course in Spain and to be treated the same as Mr. Naify’s biological daughters in his final trust — claims valued between $250 million and $300 million. In 2021, our clients prevailed after a three-week court trial where the Court found petitioner failed to prove her alleged promises. Judgment entered in favor of the Naify Trust, including an award for legal costs. See Decision here.
  • In In Re Trusts of Robert and Francesca Naify, Bartko successfully resolved two other petitions brought against the Naify Trust by a second stepdaughter, again alleging improper allocation of community property. The court-approved settlement provides a lifetime trust for housing and certain living expenses, but no lump-sum payment. All of this petitioner’s claims were released and dismissed.
  • In Cloud Cruiser Arbitration, Ben prosecuted breach of license claims involving database software for monitoring and use of cloud computing.
    In Netlist v. Diablo, Ben represented plaintiff in the trial of trade secret, patent and trademark claims involving HyperCloud® LR-DIMM memory module technology.
  • In Wells Fargo v. ABD, Ben represented the defendants in a trademark case over his client’s business name, twice defeating Wells Fargo’s motions for preliminary injunction. 2014 WL 4312021.
  • In Geron v. ViaCyte, Ben successfully defended a Section 146 appeal of a patent interference action based on the PTO Board of Appeals’ finding of lack of enablement.
  • In Scicom v. Actuate, Ben prosecuted a copyright and breach of contract action concerning the misuse of database software.
  • In Impinj v. Synopsys, Ben represented the Claimant in a JAMS arbitration regarding the rights and restrictions under an Asset Purchase Agreement and the sale of non-volatile memory semiconductor technology.
  • Ben successfully defended Washington Mutual, JP Morgan and Raytheon in disputes over copyright and software license agreements concerning database software.
  • In Juarez et al. v. Jani-King, Ben defeated class certification in a matter involving the alleged violation of California wage and hour laws asserted against the world’s largest janitorial franchise companies. An appeal of the matter is pending.
  • In Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soap v. Hain Celestial, et al., Ben obtained a dismissal of unfair competition and Lanham Act claims in favor of a cosmetic manufacturer accused of deceptively labeling products as “Organic.”
  • In Sun Microsystems v. Azul, Ben represented the plaintiff in connection with patent, trade secret, contract and interference claims brought against its former employees concerning JAVA-based software and hardware for parallel chip computing.
  • In Broadband Holdings v. Norwest, Ben obtained summary judgment for former directors and venture capital shareholders in a breach of fiduciary duty and fraud action.
  • In Forge v. National Semiconductor, Ben obtained a defense verdict for his client after a six-week class action jury trial alleging breach of fiduciary duty and Sections 11 and 12 securities law violations in connection with the manufacture of microprocessors.
  • In Soko Bukai v. YWCA, Ben successfully sued for breach of trust in connection with a historic building in San Francisco’s Japantown resulting in conveyance of the historic home of the Japanese YWCA to a community childcare organization.

Publications & Speaking Engagements

Practice Areas