Peter Hawkes represents businesses and individuals in complex commercial litigation matters, both in trial courts and on appeal. He has taken several cases to verdict through intensive, multi-week trials, and has argued numerous cases before state and federal appellate courts. Mr. Hawkes has experience in a wide variety of civil litigation practice areas, including federal securities litigation, including both private class actions and SEC enforcement actions; antitrust litigation under both state and federal antitrust and unfair competition laws; corporate governance litigation, including derivative actions, shareholder oppression claims, and so-called “business divorces”; high-stakes commercial contract disputes; and trade secret and other intellectual property litigation.
Before joining the firm, Peter practiced with Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP in New York, New York, and with Lane Powell PC in Portland, Oregon.
Representative Matters
Obtained a $3 million jury verdict in favor of the minority owner of a berry farm against the majority owner on claims of mismanagement and self-dealing, as well as a court order removing the majority owner as manager.
Obtained summary judgment in favor of a group of commercial lenders who had been sued by their former regional bank employer after leaving for a competitor, with the court dismissing claims of trade secret misappropriation, breach of contract, conversion, intentional interference with economic relations, and breach of the duty of loyalty.
Defeated a motion for a preliminary injunction brought by a pet DNA analysis company seeking to prevent a competitor’s employment of its former head of product, with the court, in a matter of first impression, holding that the “inevitable disclosure” doctrine does not apply in Oregon.
Represented a large financial institution in a breach of contract action against a counterparty for failure to deliver a portfolio of high-yield bonds, resulting in a $7 million verdict for the client.
Represented a small, local orthodontic device manufacturer in litigation with its large, global competitor over the alleged theft of trade secrets and patent infringement, resulting in the stipulated dismissal of the competitor’s trade secrets claim and a ruling by the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals that the manufacturer’s device did not infringe the competitor’s patent.
Represented an international animal rights organization in Public Records Act litigation against members of a major public research university’s Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee who were seeking to conceal their identities. Peter obtained reversal of three preliminary injunctions in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and defeated a motion for a fourth preliminary injunction in the district court.
Represented a major international recording artist in copyright infringement litigation in the Southern District of New York.
Publications
“Litigation Technology,” Oregon Civil Pleading and Litigation (Oregon State Bar 2020 ed.)
“Resh Exposes Defendants to Serial Class Cert. Relitigation,” Law360 (June 28, 2017)
“Whose Privilege Is It, Anyway? Asserting the Attorney-Client Privilege in Insurance Coverage Disputes,” Litigation Journal (Oregon State Bar Summer 2015)
Co-author, “Civil Discovery and White-Collar Criminal Investigations,” outline for Oregon Law Institute CLE seminar (October 2013)
“Foreclosure Avoidance Mediation Program May Be Expanding to Judicial Foreclosures,”
Banking Matters (Oregon Bankers Association Spring 2013)
“Aiding and Abetting Liability Under State Securities Statutes,” For the Defense (August 2010)
“Partial Settlements Under Oregon Securities Law,” Law360 (April 2010)
“Useful methods for enforcing contracts’ arbitration clauses,” Portland Business Journal (April 2, 2010)
“Legal Fallout of the Subprime Mortgage Crisis,” Navigating the Subprime Lending Industry: Leading Lawyers on Understanding the Subprime Collapse, the Causes of the Current Lending Climate, and the Industry’s Pending Future (Thompson West 2008)
“Reaching the Bottom of the Barrel: How the Securitization of Subprime Mortgages Ultimately Backfired,” The Real Estate Finance Journal (Spring 2008)
Co-author with Floyd Abrams, “Protection of Journalists’ Sources Under Foreign and International Law,” Media Law Resource Center White Paper on the Reporter’s Privilege, MLRC Bulletin (August 2004)
Speaking Engagements
Panelist, “Corporations are People, My Friend: Corporate Law and Structure in Litigation,” Multnomah Bar Association CLE program (December 2022)
Panelist, “Corporations are People, My Friend: Corporate Law and Structure in Litigation,” 2022 Oregon Judicial Conference (October 2022)
Panelist, “Secondary Actor Liability for Lawyers under State Securities Statutes,” ABA National Legal Malpractice Conference, Colorado Springs, CO (September 2017)
Panelist, “The Future of eDiscovery and Litigation Strategies Under the New Federal Rules of Civil Procedure,” The Knowledge Group webinar (May 2017)
Media
Bill Donahue, “Adidas Quietly Won A Court Order Freezing $75M Held By Kanye’s Yeezy Brand – And It Wants To Keep It That Way,” Billboard.com (May 25, 2023)
