Mountain View, CA (July 29, 2016)– Fenwick & West is pleased to announce that the American Bar Association (ABA) will install Fenwick Partner Laurence Pulgram as Chair of the Section of Litigation at the 2016 ABA Annual Meeting held in San Francisco from August 4-9, 2016.
Pulgram, who chairs Fenwick’s Commercial Litigation practice and co-chairs its Copyright Litigation practice, brings over 30 years of courtroom experience to the role. He serves as trial, litigation and appellate counsel for his clients, which include some of the hottest startups in social networking and internet media, Fortune 100 companies and venture capitalists.
The Section of Litigation is the ABA’s largest practice entity with more than 50,000 members. It is dedicated to helping litigators become more effective advocates for their clients and improving the profession and justice system.
“I’m deeply honored to lead the ABA’s Litigation Section and look forward to driving programs that focus on diversity, engaging younger lawyers and encouraging pro bono work,” said Pulgram, who is the first Bay Area attorney to serve as its chair in over 30 years. “Another focus of mine will be on advancing the Litigation Section through technology and innovation—both of which are central to the work we do at Fenwick and to the entire Silicon Valley region.”
Active in the ABA for nearly 20 years, Pulgram is a longtime leader in the Section of Litigation and previously served on the ABA’s Executive Committee as Budget Officer, and as chair and member of numerous task forces and committees.
As Chair Elect of the ABA Section of Litigation, Pulgram helped develop a first of its kind 17-city "roadshow" of half-day events that examined the 2015 amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure because, as Pulgram puts it, “the rules matter; they’re where the rubber hits the road.” The program reached over 2300 members of the bench and bar for discussion of what are considered to be the most significant changes to discovery and case management practices in more than a decade.
Pulgram is also vice chair and a member of the Executive Committee of The Legal Aid Society–Employment Law Center in San Francisco. He is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation and a member of the Bar Association of San Francisco and the Association of Business Trial Lawyers. He is also a member of the Board of Advisors for the Stanford School of Public Policy at Duke University. Pulgram earned a J.D., magna cum laude, from Harvard Law School and an A.B., summa cum laude, from Duke University.
About Fenwick & West
Fenwick & West LLP provides comprehensive legal services to ground-breaking technology and life sciences companies – at every stage of their lifecycle – and the investors that partner with them. We craft innovative, cost-effective and practical solutions on issues ranging from venture capital, public offerings, joint ventures, M&A and strategic relationships, to intellectual property, litigation and dispute resolution, taxation, antitrust, and employment and labor law. For more than four decades, Fenwick has helped some of the world's most recognized companies become and remain market leaders. For more information, please visit fenwick.com.