Mark Poe

Mark Poe profile picture

Prior to co-founding the firm of Gaw | Poe LLP, Mark Poe was Of Counsel in the litigation department of the international law firm Morrison & Foerster LLP.  He is an experienced litigator with a broad range of experience from class action defense to patent litigation. He has represented clients in a wide range of other areas as well, from trademark infringement, to commercial loan foreclosures, to conducting internal investigations, to plaintiff-side environmental litigation. Mr. Poe has also maintained an active pro bono practice, from defending impecunious residential tenants, to representation of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation in contractual matters.

Mr. Poe joined Morrison & Foerster upon graduation from Stanford Law School, where he was an Executive Editor of the Stanford Law Review and graduated with distinction. After a period with the firm, Mr. Poe accepted a clerkship with the Honorable Richard R. Clifton of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, sitting in Honolulu, Hawaii. Upon finishing his clerkship, Mr. Poe spent two years with the nation’s leading environmental law firm, Earthjustice, in its Bozeman, Montana office.  Following that stint, Mr. Poe rejoined Morrison & Foerster for seven years, as an associate, and later as of counsel, in the firm’s litigation department.

Mr. Poe earned his undergraduate degree from Utah State University, graduating as the Scholar of the Year. Upon graduation, Mr. Poe was a recipient of the Fulbright Scholarship, which he spent studying in the Faculty of Law at Hokkaido University in Sapporo, Japan.  Having spent two years as an exchange student in Japan, Mr. Poe is proficient in Japanese.

4 Embarcadero
Suite 1400
San Francisco, CA 94111

Telephone
+1-415-766-7451
Facsimile
+1-415-737-0642
E-mail
[email protected]

Representative engagements include:

  • Trendsettah USA v. Swisher International (C.D. Cal.). Lead trial counsel in Sherman Act Section 2 jury trial against world’s largest cigar manufacturer. Unanimous jury awarded our client $44.4 million in trebled antitrust damages.
  • Barranco v. 3D Systems, Inc. (AAA Arbitration). Lead trial counsel in arbitration against 3D Systems, Inc., the world’s leading manufacturer and developer of 3D printing technology. Obtained $11.3 million award on behalf of an entrepreneur who had sold his startup business to 3D Systems, only to be cheated out of his contractual earnout rights.
  • Tierney v. Javaid (San Francisco Superior Court). Lead trial counsel in jury trial over ownership of $30 million commercial property in San Francisco. Won on all counts, including award of post-trial attorney fees and expenses to client.
  • SAGE v. View (N.D. Cal.). Represented the leading innovator in the field of electrochromic glass technology, in patent litigation against an alleged infringer.
  • In re Checking Account Overdraft Litigation (S.D. Fla.). Represented a national bank in multi-district litigation involving class actions seeking to recover allegedly excessive overdraft fees stemming from the order in which electronic debit transactions are posted to consumer checking accounts.
  • Ellsworth v. U.S. Bank (N.D. Cal.).  Represented a national bank against a class of mortgage borrowers who allege that they were assessed unduly high flood insurance premiums.
  • CFPB Investigation. Represented a worldwide financial services company in a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau investigation concerning foreign exchange fees.  The Bureau made no further inquiry following client’s presentation describing its practices.
  • In Re: JPMorgan Chase Mortgage Modification Litigation. (D. Mass.) Represented a national bank in multi-district class action litigation alleging that the bank had improperly denied mortgage modifications to defaulted borrowers.
  • 5-Hour Energy Trademark Infringement Litigation (N.D. Cal.) Represented a large grocery wholesaler against trademark infringement claims brought by 5-Hour Energy, where the wholesaler had unknowingly acquired an inventory of counterfeit product that was indistinguishable from the authentic product.  Reached early settlement after series of successes in opening stages of litigation.
  • Average Wholesale Price Litigation (various). Represented a national pharmaceutical wholesaler in a series of class actions and other suits concerning alleged fraud in the pricing of prescription pharmaceuticals.
  • Newark v. Dopaco (E.D. Cal.). Led the litigation on behalf of the owner of a large industrial property, in a RCRA and nuisance action against a former tenant for contaminating the property and its groundwater with toluene.  Case resolved on the eve of trial by tenant entering a consent decree agreeing to remediate the contamination.

Stanford Law School, J.D., 2002, with distinction
Executive Editor, Stanford Law Review

Utah State University, B.S., Environmental Studies
1998 Scholar of the Year (of ~4,000 graduates)
College of Natural Resources Valedictorian
Fulbright Scholar (Japan)

Professional Activities

Admitted, California; US District Court, Northern, Central, Southern, and Eastern Districts of California; US Courts of Appeals, Ninth Circuit

Member, American Bar Association

Member, American Business Trial Lawyers Association

Member, San Francisco Bar Association