Bob Vizas has a wide range of experience as a trial lawyer and business counselor. He has gained a national reputation in the areas of antitrust and complex commercial litigation. Mr. Vizas, who joined the Visa USA Inc. litigation team in 2004, became a member of the firm as a result of the expansion of the firm's long-standing relationship with Visa, particularly in the areas of antitrust litigation and counseling. For the past decade he has served as lead outside counsel for Visa in a large multi-district litigation in the payment industry based in the Eastern District of New York.
Mr. Vizas has a substantial background as a litigator, including extensive federal court litigation experience, and has served as a trial lawyer in a number of complex civil cases that have been tried to juries, including antitrust, intellectual property, and commercial disputes. He served as counsel at Legal Strategies Group (Emeryville, CA), during which time he tried major antitrust and patent cases in the federal court in Los Angeles, including a case in which he won a $48 million verdict for one of his clients. He has served as General Counsel and member of the Executive Committee for Raychem Corp, a $2 billion publicly traded company based in Menlo Park, CA.
Since late 2003, Mr. Vizas has also served as lead counsel for Levi Strauss & Co. in a series of government investigations and private litigation relating to alleged tax fraud and accounting improprieties which were touched off by a Wall Street Journal article.
Experience
- Served as Executive Vice President, CEO, and Vice Chairman of the San Diego Padres baseball team (1999-2004) and was involved in completing a $1 billion dollar downtown ballpark and redevelopment project.
- Served as of counsel for Legal Strategies Group (1996-1999), a litigation boutique in the Bay Area. Clients included Levi Strauss & Co., TCI, Raychem Corp., Tyco, and Dynegy.
- Tyco as counsel in an antitrust case and a companion trade secret/intellectual property case to juries in Los Angeles Federal Court. Tyco prevailed in both trials, receiving a $48 million jury award plus attorney fees in the IP case and an award of zero damages for the plaintiffs in the antitrust case. Both cases were affirmed on appeal last year.
- Served as Senior Vice President and General Counsel for Raychem Corporation (1988-1996), a multibillion dollar Silicon Valley technology company, where he tried several cases for Raychem and Levi Straus & Co.
Recognition
Credentials
Education
- J.D., Yale Law School, 1971
- B.A., University of Michigan, 1968
Admissions
- California