Steven Bauer has earned a reputation for taking tough cases to trial. He has tried nearly 40 civil and criminal cases to verdict in almost every kind of legal battle. For corporations and executives facing major lawsuits or today’s multi-front, civil-criminal-regulatory proceedings, he brings 24 years of experience as a versatile, meticulous, creative advocate.
Chambers USA named him one of “America's Leading Lawyers for Business.” It reported that "'strong-willed' Steven Bauer is a well-known fixture of the Bay Area legal landscape. Clients appreciate him as a 'fiercely loyal advocate' whose tenacity wins results." His peers describe him as “very tough, extremely effective, and an incredibly good team player” with "great judgment and a great caseload." The San Francisco Daily Journal characterized him as a “renowned trial attorney,” quoting another lawyer: “Steve Bauer is one of the best lawyers there is.”
Mr. Bauer’s recent trade secrets trial victory was named California’s Top Defense Verdict of the Year (Daily Journal). He has been named an Attorney of the Year (The Recorder), Litigator of the Week (AmLaw Litigation Daily), one of the Top 75 Intellectual Property Lawyers in California (Daily Journal) and a leading white collar defense attorney (International Who’s Who of Business Crime Lawyers).
Mr. Bauer is the global Co-chair of Latham’s White Collar Defense and Government Investigations Practice Group.
Notable Representaions
- The Silicon Valley Voicemail Case: Lead trial counsel in the Jasmine v. Marvell trade secrets case, where Latham won a complete defense verdict in a two-month jury trial. This victory was named the Daily Journal’s Top Defense Verdict of the Year.
- The PG&E San Bruno Accident Cases: Trial and investigations co-counsel in the aftermath of a fatal natural gas pipeline explosion in Northern California
- The KPMG Tax Shelter Cases: Lead counsel for the Presidio investment advisory firm in the IRS, DOJ, and Senate tax shelter investigations, defending some 35 civil actions throughout the country involving investors or the IRS, and representing an individual defendant in a New York federal criminal trial and appeal
- The Hedge Fund Insider Trading Cases: Representing an individual accused of insider trading in New York federal court
- U.S. v. Tenet Health System Hospitals: Trial counsel in a 4-month Medicare kickback trial, where his cross-examinations of government agents and experts caused the Court to strike the government’s Medicare financial testimony, helping lead to a hung jury
- SEC v. Technology Company CFO: Lead trial counsel in a federal securities fraud jury trial relating to stock options backdating
- People v. Major Railroad: Lead trial counsel in a state criminal prosecution alleging Public Utilities Code violations
- Failed Bank Cases: Representing the former CEO of California’s largest bank failure in the 2008 financial crisis, as well as banking institutions and borrowers in other grand jury investigations
- Thoroughbred Racehorse Tax Shelter Investigation: Lead counsel defending a grand jury investigation
- In re San Francisco Refinery Litigation: Lead counsel in 23,000-plaintiff toxic tort cases against a major oil refinery
- Akamai v. Speedera: Lead counsel in a trade secrets case obtaining an injunction against an internet routing technology competitor
- Mentor Graphics Patent Litigation: Trial counsel in several patent and trade secrets cases concerning hardware emulation technology
- Oil Refinery Insurance Litigation: Achieved over $60 million in recovery in environmental clean-up litigation
- Hospital Hostile Takeover Case: Lead counsel in defeating a public entity’s attempt to seize a hospital group
- California State Antitrust Cases: Won summary judgment in antitrust cases in the health care and recycling industries
Equally as significant as Mr. Bauer’s public accomplishments are his confidential assignments where clients have avoided all charges in grand jury and regulatory investigations, such as:
- a major law firm in the Enron investigation
- several major corporations in Foreign Corrupt Practices Act investigations
- a senior executive in the DRAM antitrust investigation
- an investment bank in the Wall Street analyst fraud investigation
- a public utility in a PUC investigation and $200 million lawsuit
- an investment advisor in the mutual fund late-trading investigations
- various hospitals in kickback and billing fraud investigations
- a major retailer in a revenue recognition investigation
- various companies in environmental contamination investigations
- executives in several medical device investigations
- managers and executives in several industrial accident manslaughter investigations
- the maintenance director in an airline crash investigation
Professional Background
Following a clerkship for federal district court Judge Pamela Ann Rymer, Mr. Bauer served as an Assistant United States Attorney in Los Angeles, where he led “Operation Big Spender,” still the largest police corruption investigation in West Coast history. As a federal prosecutor, he tried public corruption and financial crimes cases of all types, and was a leading perjury and obstruction of justice prosecutor. He joined Latham’s San Francisco office in 1993. In 1996, he was appointed by the Office of Independent Counsel as a special prosecutor in a Washington, D.C. corruption investigation. In 2003, he accepted the ABA’s Annual Pro Bono Publico Award on behalf of the firm.
Speaking and Teaching Engagements
He has appeared on ABC’s Nightline, National Public Radio’s Morning Edition, and CBS News, and has provided comments to the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, L.A. Times, Washington Post, Time Magazine, and to various Northern California news media. He has taught trial advocacy at Hastings College of Law and at the Stanford Law School Advocacy Workshop. He has also spoken to various legal and industry groups, including the ABA White Collar Defense Conference and the Stanford Directors’ College.