Charles (Chip) Harrison

Chip is a business litigator with a wide-ranging practice focusing primarily on complex commercial disputes, white-collar defense and state attorney general investigations. A skilled written and oral advocate, Chip has handled bet-the-company cases for clients in state and federal courts throughout the country. He is frequently called upon to litigate and try Cooley’s most procedurally challenging cases, including complex administrative hearings. Chip also leads Cooley’s website accessibility practice, helping clients navigate associated litigation wherever it arises.

Chip’s representative matters include:

White collar defense and investigations

• Defending a professional athlete in a federal criminal trial involving allegations of obstruction of justice
• Defending the CEO of a national real estate brokerage in parallel criminal and civil investigations related to one of the largest real estate disputes in San Diego history
• Representing a technology communications company against claims by the Federal Trade Commission that the company misrepresented the security features of its products, resulting in a consent order resolving the investigation with no monetary fine or penalty
• Representing an executive in a license revocation proceeding before the California Department of Real Estate and in state court writ proceedings, resulting in a consent judgment allowing the executive to retain his license
• Representing a social media company in parallel federal and state attorney general investigations related to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA)
• Representing a national mortgage servicer in an enforcement action by the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation
• Representing a technology company in an attorney general investigation related to online gambling

Product liability litigation

• Representing a defense contractor in litigation related to the crash of a tiltrotor aircraft, resulting in early dismissal of plaintiffs’ state-law claims as preempted by the Death on the High Seas Act
• Representing an aftermarket aircraft manufacturer in litigation related to its portfolio of supplemental type certificates
• Representing a light-aircraft manufacturer in multi-jurisdiction litigation related to alleged product defects

General litigation matters

• Representing a medical device startup in a founder dispute over founder status and equity ownership
• Representing a nationwide health plan against claims that its provider directory violated California’s unfair competition law
• Representing two major utility companies against claims from individuals and public entities related to California wildfires
• Representing a major technology company in a series of lawsuits against former employees accused of exfiltrating confidential information, resulting in the company securing early injunctions against the defendants
• Representing a drone manufacturer against claims by a non-practicing entity related to its acoustic navigation technology

Website accessibility

• Representing more than 50 companies in federal and state actions related to website accessibility under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
• Advising clients on compliance with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and the ADA with respect to website design

Prior to joining Cooley, Chip served as a law clerk to Chief Judge Larry Alan Burns of the US District Court for the Southern District of California, and as a judicial intern to the counselor to US Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts.

Chip previously practiced at a business litigation firm in Los Angeles, where he focused on mass tort and intellectual property litigation.

Chip graduated from the University of Chicago Law School, where he served as an articles editor for the University of Chicago Law Review.