National Law Journal Names Stephen Neal and Michael Rhodes Litigation Trailblazers

Palo Alto – December 21, 2015 – The National Law Journal (NLJ) named as Trailblazers Cooley's chairman, Stephen Neal, and chair of Cooley's privacy and data protection practice, Michael Rhodes. Both are partners in Cooley's litigation department.

"Steve and Mike are incredibly gifted trial lawyers who routinely produce extraordinary results for Cooley clients," said Mike Attanasio, Cooley's chair of litigation. "Their unwavering commitment to getting the right result for each client has been on display in courtrooms around the country for years, and it is why so many of the world's most powerful companies and individuals call on Steve or Mike in times of legal crisis. It's heartening to see them recognized for the contributions they make to Cooley, its clients and to the art of courtroom advocacy."

Neal, whom the NLJ dubbed a White Collar Crime Trailblazer, was heralded for his renowned trial career, including overturning all of the cases Charles H. Keating Jr. had previously lost and winning an acquittal for former McAfee general counsel, Kent Roberts. Over the course of his career, Neal has acted as lead trial counsel in more than 45 cases and argued more than 20 appeals in courts around the country.

Rhodes, an NLJ Cybersecurity & Data Privacy Trailblazer, was recognized by the publication for his work on behalf of clients eBay (in a dispute involving the Digital Millennium Copyright Act), Facebook (in the Beacon privacy class action litigation), and Google (in opposing class certification in the Gmail case in which plaintiffs' claimed privacy violations).

These recognitions mark the second time in 2015 that Cooley litigators were recognized as National Law Journal Trailblazers; Cooley partner Steve Strauss was lauded as an environmental law pioneer in April 2015. 

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