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Brewer, Linda J.

Linda J. Brewer

Partner

lindabrewer@quinnemanuel.com
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Direct Tel: +1 415-875-6403
San Francisco
Tel: +1 415 875 6600 Fax: +1 415 875 6700

Linda J. Brewer is a partner in the San Francisco office of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP, where she is a recognized leader in complex intellectual property and commercial litigation. With a proven track record of success, Linda has earned prestigious rankings in Lawdragon’s 500 Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers Guide for Complex Litigation (2024) and The Best Lawyers in America for Litigation – Securities (2024-2025) and Litigation – Intellectual Property (2025). Specializing in high-stakes business litigation, Linda represents both plaintiffs and defendants in a broad spectrum of cases, including intellectual property, trade secret misappropriation, and high-stakes commercial and financial disputes. Known for her strategic approach and unwavering commitment to delivering successful outcomes, Linda consistently achieves results that meet her clients’ unique needs, regardless of the complexity or subject matter of the case.  

Linda’s active trial practice spans multiple jurisdictions. She has successfully conducted jury and bench trials in California, Texas, Florida, and Arkansas federal courts, as well as in state courts across California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Delaware. Linda has also argued before numerous state and federal courts and administrative agencies, including the International Trade Commission (ITC). Outside the courtroom, she is a sought-after speaker at national conferences on e-discovery and intellectual property issues. In addition, Linda has extensive dispute resolution experience, having overseen a mediation program that resolved thousands of tort claims in under three years. With deep familiarity of the Northern District of California, Linda served as a law clerk for the Honorable Saundra Brown Armstrong in the Oakland Division and as an extern for the Honorable Ronald Whyte in the San Jose Division. 

Linda received a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy from Dartmouth University and a J.D. from Duke University School of Law.  While at Dartmouth, Linda participated in the Foreign Studies Programs for both Philosophy and Environment Studies and lived in Edinburgh, Scotland and Nairobi, Kenya.           

  • Charter Communications
  • Elliott Management
  • Google
  • InComm
  • Next Insurance
  • Qualcomm
  • Samsung Display Co., Ltd.
  • Sequoia Capital
  • SoftBank Group.
  • SB Investment Advisers (US) Inc.
  • Vicor Corporation
  • X Corp.

General Commercial and Securities Litigation

  • Secured a bench trial victory for a leading financial technology company in a high-stakes breach of contract case against its primary competitor involving proprietary lottery systems.
  • Secured a bench trial victory for a leading D&O insurer in San Mateo Superior Court in a landmark case addressing a critical question of first impression for the D&O industry: the definition of ‘Loss’ and its applicability to indemnified settlements resolving a shareholder dispute over a major corporate acquisition.
  • Secured a favorable settlement during trial for a leading software company in a merger termination bench trial in the Delaware Chancery Court.
  • Achieved completed dismissal of control person claims asserted against a venture capital client in multiple putative class actions pending in the Northern District of California.
  • Defeated a putative class action alleging unfair trade practices and fraudulent conduct against a leading online content platform. Secured a dismissal on jurisdictional grounds after plaintiffs were compelled to withdraw false bribery allegations.
  • Represented a major global investment fund in complex Delaware litigation arising from a high-profile investment. The matter involved contested corporate governance issues and multibillion-dollar claims, and was ultimately resolved through a confidential settlement.
  • Successfully represented the ResCap Liquidating Trust in actions against correspondent lenders relating to the origination and sale of billions of dollars of defective residential mortgages.  Total recoveries exceed $1.2 billion. 
  • Defeated a motion for temporary restraining order filed by investors in a Madoff-feeder fund against the fund’s managers, which resulted in the investors staying all litigation against the fund’s managers, ultimately culminating in a favorable settlement of the class and derivative claims.

Copyright and Trademark Litigation

  • Successfully defended a major internet service provider in three high-stakes copyright actions brought by prominent music industry entities alleging secondary infringement based on customers’ use of peer-to-peer file-sharing technologies. Achieved favorable settlements across all three cases on the eve of the first trial, following a critical spoliation ruling and contempt proceedings against a closely-related third party.
  • Achieved a favorable settlement for a leading insurtech company just months after taking over the defense, following a key discovery sanctions ruling on the eve of the summary judgment hearing.
  • Successfully defended a leading global internet services provider in a high-profile copyright infringement action brought by a prominent content publisher. Secured summary judgment on direct infringement and most secondary infringement claims, establishing that the alleged infringements were either fair use, extraterritorial, or both. The case ultimately settled following these pivotal rulings.
  • Currently representing X in Middle District of Tennessee in a copyright case brought by major music publishers based on alleged sharing of music files on the X platform.  
  • Currently representing Zazzle in a lawsuit brought by a font designer asserting copyright, trademark, fraud and contract claims arising from Zazzle’s claimed use of a font trio in its design tool.

Trade Secret Litigation

  • Secured a preliminary injunction and other provisional relief prior to trial for Waymo in high-stakes trade secret litigation involving autonomous vehicle technology.  The case resolved during trial through a confidential settlement.
  • Obtained a pivotal spoliation ruling on behalf of a leading global display panel manufacturer in high-stakes trade secret litigation against a key competitor before the International Trade Commission.
  • Successfully represented a leading electric vehicle manufacturer in trade secret litigation against a rival EV startup, resulting in a favorable pre-trial settlement.

Antitrust Litigation

  • Defeated class certification in two multi-billion dollar antitrust class actions before the Northern District of California that asserted price fixing in the sale of flash memory.  The Court of Appeals declined to reconsider the District Court's decision to deny class certification.  Case resolved through a voluntary dismissal of the direct purchaser action and a settlement of the indirect purchasers’ claims on favorable terms.

Patent Litigation

  • Represented Qualcomm Inc. in patent infringement suit brought in the Eastern District of Texas involving microprocessor technology.  Case resolved through a settlement on favorable terms. 
  • Represented Intertrust Technologies Corporation as plaintiff against Apple in the Northern District of California, in which Intertrust asserted 23 patents from its portfolio covering trusted computing and digital rights management against virtually every product and service offered by Apple.
  • Represented AccessClosure, Inc. in a patent infringement jury trial in the Western District of Arkansas.  Jury trial resulted in the finding of invalidity for one of the patents in suit.
  • Represented InterActiveCorp in patent infringement action related to internet business methods, resulting in a successful outcome of invalidity and non-infringement following an appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. 

Tort Litigation

  • Secured a complete defense verdict for a leading global automative manufacturer in a high-stakes personal injury trial involving a $1 billion punitive damages demand.
  • Represented utility in defense of a mass tort action involving claims of subrogated insurers, government entities, and homeowners asserting over $2 billion in claimed property and other damages.  Oversaw a mediation program that successfully resolved over 2,800 homeowners’ lawsuits seeking uninsured losses.
  • Duke University School of Law
    (J.D., with Honors, 2001)
    • Moot Court Board Siegel Fellow
    • Environmental Law & Policy Forum:
      • Editor
  • Dartmouth College
    (A.B., Philosophy, with minor in Environmental Studies, 1996)
  • The State Bar of California
  • United States District Courts:
    • Central District of California
    • Northern District of California
  • Law Clerk to the Hon. Saundra Brown Armstrong:
    • United States District Court for the Northern District of California, 2005-2006
  • Extern to the Hon. Ronald M. Whyte:
    • United States District Court for the Northern District of California, 1999
  • Cooley LLP
    • Associate, 2001-2005
  • Lawdragon, 500 Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers Guide, Complex Litigation, 2024
  • Ranked by The Best Lawyers in America for Litigation - Securities, 2024-2025
  • Ranked by The Best Lawyers in America for Litigation - Intellectual Property, 2025
  • Ranked by The Best Lawyers in America for Litigation – Securities, 2025
  • “Quarantines and Cancellations in the Age of the COVID-19 Pandemic,” Business Insurance, May 1, 2020
  • Panelist, “Standard Essential Patents & FRAND,” Duff & Phelps IP Value Summit, October 2019
  • Panelist, “Trade Secrets Litigation,” Duff & Phelps IP Value Summit, October 2017
  • Panelist, “Machine Learning/Predictive Coding Social Media & Cloud Computing,” Corporate eDiscovery Forum, San Francisco, July 2011
  • Panelist, “Getting Outside Counsel's Buy-In on Advanced Analytics,” Corporate eDiscovery Forum, Houston, November 2011
  • Member, American Bar Association
  • Member, Association of Business Trial Lawyers

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