Brett Schuman

Brett Schuman is the co-chair of Goodwin’s Intellectual Property Litigation practice. He is the former chair of the firm’s San Francisco office, the former head of the Litigation department for Goodwin's California offices, and a former member of the firm’s Executive Committee.

Brett is a partner in the firm’s IP Litigation group. His practice is focused on trying patent and other IP cases in federal and state courts around the country, and also in arbitration. Brett’s patent litigation practice comprises patent cases on behalf of both plaintiffs and defendants across various industries. He serves as lead trial counsel in patent infringement litigation matters involving broadband communications technology, semiconductors, wearables, and medical devices. He also maintains an active appellate practice at the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, and is also actively involved with post-grant review proceedings at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.

Brett’s practice also comprises copyright and trade secret litigation, including trade secret litigation relating to employee mobility and trade secret litigation between competitors. For example, Brett was co-lead counsel for Otto Trucking, LLC in the Waymo LLC v. Uber Technologies, et al., where Goodwin achieved a summary judgment victory for our client Otto Trucking. Brett also served as co-lead counsel during the related Google v. Anthony Levandowski et al. arbitration proceedings.

Brett also co-founded and co-chairs the firm’s Cannabis practice. According to the American Lawyer, Goodwin was the first Am Law Top 50 firm with an established cannabis practice. Brett advises operators and investors in, or looking to get in, the cannabis industry. On the operator side, his clients range from Fortune 50 companies to multi-state operators (MSOs) to single-state brands; on the investor side, his clients range from PE and VC funds to family offices and other financiers. He advises cannabis industry clients regarding the federal and state regulatory regimes relating to cannabis, IP issues, products liability, and other issues. He also represents cannabis industry clients in litigation, including leading brands such as Central Coast Agriculture, Inc. (dba Raw Garden), PAX Labs and Kiva Brands, Inc.

JD, Harvard Law School 1996 (cum laude); BA, University of Michigan 1993 (Phi Beta Kappa)