Who has the Commission chosen to serve its Voting Rights Act attorneys?
On March 18, 2011, the California Redistricting Commission chose as its Voting Rights Act counsel a
team of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher attorneys headed by Daniel Kolkey (R) and George Brown (D). Below
of are their biographies from the law firm’s website: www.GibsonDunn.com.
George H. Brown is a partner in Gibson, Dunn & Daniel M. Kolkey is a partner in the San Francisco office
Crutcher's Palo Alto office and a member of the of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. A member of the Litigation
Litigation Department. Mr. Brown practices in the Department, he is co-chair of the Appellate and
areas of complex securities litigation, accountants’ Constitutional Law Practice Group and vice-chair of the
liability and corporate governance. He has Crisis Management Practice Group. Mr. Kolkey returned
represented officers, directors, board committees and to the firm in November 2003 after five years as an
the professionals who serve those corporate Associate Justice on the California Court of Appeal, Third
constituencies in class action securities litigation, Appellate District, in Sacramento.
internal company investigations, regulatory and grand
jury investigations, derivative actions, arbitration Recognized in 2005 and 2007 by California Lawyer
proceedings, and related matters. He regularly magazine as an Attorney of the Year in the fields of
represents accounting firms in a wide variety of Government/Public Policy and Appellate law,
disputes proceedings and regulatory settings. respectively, and ranked in the first tier for California
Appellate Litigation by Chambers USA in 2010, Mr.
Kolkey's practice focuses on appellate litigation. He has
Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Brown practiced with also advised four different governors on legal issues, and
Heller Ehrman and O’Melveny & Myers. He was also served as Governor Pete Wilson’s and Governor Arnold
previously a law professor at UCLA School of Law, Schwarzenegger's lead negotiator for tribal-state
where he taught contracts, business associations, and compacts under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. He
securities regulation courses. He is a licensed Certified was named in 2004, 2005, and 2006 by the Daily
Public Accountant (inactive). Journal as one of the top 100 attorneys in California.
And in May 2010, he was appointed by the California
Chief Justice to the California Judicial Council’s
He currently serves as Co-Chair of the Board of
Appellate Advisory Committee for a three-year term.
Directors for the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights
in San Francisco and has been a member of the board
since 2005. Prior to being appointed as an Associate Justice on the
California Court of Appeal, Mr. Kolkey served as Legal
He received a joint JD/MBA in 1988 from UCLA, Affairs Secretary and counsel to Governor Pete Wilson
where he served as editor-in-chief of the National for four years. As such, he was responsible for all of the
legal advice within the Governor's Office; approving all
Black Law Journal.
state agency appeals; supervising and directing litigation
strategy with respect to lawsuits brought against the
Securities and Corporate Governance Representation: Governor in his official capacity; drafting the Governor's
civil justice reform legislation; and negotiating tribal-
Representing Big 4 accounting firm in multi- state compacts under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.
billion dollar shareholder class action
involving Fannie Mae. Before serving Governor Wilson, Mr. Kolkey was a
Represented commercial mortgage partner at Gibson Dunn, where he handled litigation at
investment REITs in investor class action both the trial and appellate levels, including commercial
concerning appraisal rights in San Diego disputes, political law litigation, and international
County Superior Court. arbitration.
Represented commercial mortgage
investment REITs in group actions by As a litigator (before and after his government service
investors concerning challenges to merger from 1995 to 2003), Mr. Kolkey has handled class and
transactions in state court proceedings in Las shareholder actions; construction, real estate,
Vegas, Nevada. employment, and contract disputes; unfair competition
Represented Audit Committee and Special litigation; and political law litigation, including ballot
Litigation Committee of a Silicon Valley litigation, Voting Rights Act claims, and redistricting
technology company in an internal matters.
investigation of stock option practices, and
related matters. Representative Matters
Represented CEO of a Silicon Valley
technology company in connection with Successful appeal of a national drugstore chain’s
internal investigation and SEC investigation equal protection challenge to a municipal
relating to past stock option practices. ordinance in the California Court of Appeal
Represented Chief Financial Officer of a (Walgreen Co. v. City and County of San
Silicon Valley technology company in Francisco, ___ Cal.App.4th ___ (2010))
connection with Special Committee Successful reversal of a multimillion dollar legal
investigation into stock option practices and malpractice judgment against a client. (Blanks
related shareholder derivative actions in U.S. v Seyfarth Shaw LLP, 171 Cal.App.4th 336
District Court, Northern District of (2009))
California, and in Santa Clara County Successful defense of a claim under the
Superior Court. California False Claims Act in the California
Represented Big 4 accounting firm in a multi- Supreme Court. (Harris v.
PricewaterhouseCoopers, 39 Cal.4th 1220
billion dollar claim relating to shareholder
(2006))
class actions with New Jersey based
consumer marketing company. Successful defense of Proposition 77 in the
California Supreme Court. (Costa v. Superior
Represented interim CEO of a mobile media Court, 37 Cal.4th 986 (2006))
and entertainment provider who was
Successful representation of business interests
appointed by venture capital investors to
over the validity of a referendum petition.
replace founders in connection with lawsuit (Zaremberg v. Superior Court, 115 Cal.App.4th
by founders involving dispute over voting 111 (2004))
rights agreement and related corporate
Successful representation of a corporation in a
governance issues. proxy dispute before the federal district court
Represented Providian Financial Corporation and Ninth Circuit. (Acosta v. Pacific
in a shareholder class action alleging failure Enterprises, 950 F.2d 682 (9th Cir. 1993))
to disclose numerous alleged fraudulent Successful representation of a government
consumer practices in connection with contractor in a bankruptcy dispute before the
subprime credit card lending. bankruptcy court, federal district court, and
Represented Symantec Corporation in Ninth Circuit. (Softwaire Centre International,
connection with shareholder class action Inc., 994 F.2d 682 (9th Cir. 1993))
alleging revenue recognition fraud. Successful representation of the Governor of
Represented Big 4 accounting firm in California in the redistricting litigation before
securities fraud class action, related the California Supreme Court. (Wilson v. Eu, 1
derivative lawsuits, opt-out cases, and SEC Cal.4th 707 (1992))
investigations arising out of alleged revenue Successful representation of the Arizona House
recognition fraud committed by Silicon Valley of Representatives in the trial over Arizona's
technology company. congressional districts. (Arizonans for Fair
Represented Ireland affiliate of Big 4 Representation v. Symington, 828 F.Supp. 684
accounting firm in connection with (D. Ariz. 1992), affirmed, 113 S.Ct. 1573 (1993))
shareholder class action arising after a 2002 Successful representation of the Governor of
merger with SkillSoft Corporation. California against a challenge to a ballot
initiative. (League of Women Voters v. Eu, 7
Represented Ireland affiliate of Big 4 Cal.App 4th 649 (1992))
accounting firm in connection with SEC
investigation arising out of announced
restatement of financial statements based on He has also maintained an international arbitration
incorrect software revenue recognition by practice that has included matters under the English
Arbitration Acts and before the International Chamber of
SmartForce Plc. Commerce, the American Arbitration Association, and
Represented accounting firm in connection the Iran-United States Claim Tribunal.
with shareholder class action based on
alleged revenue recognition fraud. As a judge, Mr. Kolkey's representative decisions include
Successfully forced plaintiffs to voluntarily FNB Mortgage Corp. v. Pacific General Group, 76
dismiss all claims with prejudice after Cal.App.4th 1116 (1999) (tolling of statute of limitations);
prevailing on motion to compel responses to Bank of America v. Jennett, 77 Cal.App.4th 104 (1999)
subpoenas directed to plaintiffs’ counsel’s law (Full Faith and Credit Clause); Marin Healthcare
firms concerning evidence to support statute District v. Sutter Health, 103 Cal.App.4th 861 (2002)
of limitations inquiry notice argument. (application of statute of limitations to public use
property); Intel Corp. v. Hamidi, 94 Cal.App.4th 325
(2001) (dissenting opinion regarding e-mail trespass that
became the majority decision in the California Supreme
Court); and Pacific State Bank v. Greene, 110
Cal.App.4th 375 (2003) (parole evidence rule).
Appointments
Appointed by the California Chief Justice to the
California Judicial Council’s Appellate Advisory
Committee (2010 – present).
Elected to membership in the American Law
Institute (2003 – present).
Appointed to the California State-Federal
Judicial Council, 2001-2003.
Appointed by the California Judicial Council to
the Blue Ribbon Commission on Jury System
Improvement, 1996.
Appointed by the Governor to the California
Law Revision Commission, 1992-94, and elected
chair of the Commission, 1994.
Appointed by the U.S. Trade Representative as
an arbitrator on the bi-national panel for the
U.S.-Canada Free Trade Agreement, 1990-94.
Educational History
Mr. Kolkey received his J.D., magna cum laude, from
Harvard Law School in 1977 and his B.A., with distinction
and departmental honors, from Stanford University in
1974.
Affiliations
Mr. Kolkey is co-editor of The Practitioner's Handbook
on International Arbitration and Mediation (Juris
Publishing) and was an adjunct professor teaching
international arbitration at McGeorge Law School from
2001-2004.
He is admitted to practice in all California state and
federal courts, the United States Court of Appeals for the
Ninth Circuit, the United States District Court for the
District of Arizona, and the United States Supreme Court.