Facing a $335.2 million damages demand from networking giant Cisco Systems Inc., Robert Van Nest and his team at Keker & Van Nest mounted a multi-pronged defense during an intellectual property trial for Arista Networks Inc. over the past two weeks in San Jose, California federal court.
It was the type of nuanced approach that can sometimes get lawyers in trouble with lay juries in IP trials. Indeed, during closing arguments on Monday, Cisco’s lead lawyer, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan’s David Nelson, characterized Van Nest’s multiple defenses as scattershot excuse-making by Arista. “If you have one defense that’s really strong, why do you need five?” he asked.
