Alston & Bird continues to grow its San Francisco office with the hiring of litigation veteran Stuart Plunkett as partner. Arriving from Baker Botts LLP, he was one of the founding partners of the firm’s San Francisco office and also its hiring partner.
The president of the Bar Association of San Francisco, Plunkett is a stalwart of the Bay Area legal community, where he has spent more than 20 years on the winning side of some of the most highly visible and vigorously contested antitrust and commercial litigation matters.
“Stuart is a highly accomplished attorney whose litigation record demonstrates his tireless advocacy for clients in high-stakes, high-profile cases,” said Teresa Bonder, co-leader of Alston & Bird’s national Antitrust Team and partner in charge of the firm’s San Francisco office. “Stuart’s joining takes us from strength to strength in handling large crisis situations for clients and highlights the momentum that we have generated since opening our office in 2017.”
An experienced trial attorney who represents companies and individuals in complex commercial disputes in state and federal courts across the country, Plunkett has served as lead counsel for clients in competition-related claims in numerous industries, including technology, energy, transportation, and financial services.
He also has significant experience in securities fraud litigation and has represented companies in a variety of other commercial disputes and class action litigation, including consumer product liability class actions, financial services disputes, and international arbitrations.
A frequent commentator on antitrust and commercial litigation topics, Plunkett is a former editorial board member of Antitrust Law Developments (Eighth), the American Bar Association’s seminal review of federal antitrust law. He has also contributed to the Journal of the Antitrust and Unfair Competition Law Section of the State Bar of California and the California Antitrust and Unfair Competition Law, published by Lexis-Nexis. He is regularly quoted on antitrust law by legal and business media.
Plunkett has a long history of service to San Francisco’s legal community. In addition to his position as the 107th president of the Bar Association of San Francisco (BASF), Plunkett has served the organization and other local bar groups through a number of leadership roles. A former board member of both the BASF and its Justice & Diversity Center, he is a member of the Executive Committee of the BASF’s Antitrust Section and a former chair of that committee and the association’s Judiciary Committee. He is also a past member of the Executive Committee of the California Bar Association’s Antitrust and Unfair Competition Section.
Plunkett is also active in pro bono and community service. He is the past recipient of the Unity Award from the Minority Bar Coalition for his work sponsoring and facilitating scholarships for minority law students and has been named Outstanding Volunteer by the Justice & Diversity Center. He is also a three-time winner of the State Bar of California’s Wiley W. Manuel Award for Pro Bono Legal Services on behalf of low-income clients.
“Stuart brings significant heft to our West Coast antitrust and commercial litigation capabilities, both complementing our existing practices and strengthening our presence locally and nationally,” said Kristy Brown, Alston & Bird partner and co-leader of the firm’s Litigation & Trial Practice Group. “He is exceptionally well known in the Northern California legal market among companies facing aggressive, complex litigation and an outstanding addition to our accomplished and growing team in San Francisco.”
Alston & Bird’s San Francisco office has experienced a period of sustained growth over the past year. During that time, it has welcomed senior litigator Jim McCabe as counsel and Greg Christianson as environmental litigation partner. The office also welcomed antitrust partner Valarie Williams, who relocated there from the firm’s Atlanta office.
In 2019, Alston & Bird was named by Forbes as one of the country’s “most recommended” firms in antitrust and competition law, one of only seven firms to be recognized in this area of law from among more than 240 firms that made up Forbes’ inaugural survey of “America’s Top Trusted Corporate Law Firms.”