Daniel J. Gleason is co-chair of the Intellectual Property Litigation group and a member of the firm’s Life Sciences practice group. With over 30 years of experience, Dan's trial practice focuses on civil litigation and spans a wide range of business cases that he has handled as lead trial counsel including intellectual property (principally patent, copyright and trademark disputes); non-competition agreements; business torts; partnership dissolution; class actions in accounting, securities, and insurance litigation; First Amendment media defense; Superfund and environmental insurance coverage cases; civil rights and voting rights actions; and product liability defense. While he primarily focuses on trials, Dan also has substantial appellate experience on both federal and state court appeals.
An experienced arbitrator, Dan has served on commercial panels and represented litigants in business arbitrations. He also serves as a mediator, particularly for complex tort and commercial matters. Dan often teaches, lectures and writes in areas of substantive law and on trial techniques, particularly as to jury trials.
Representative First Chair Intellectual Property Cases:
Represented plaintiff in a federal trademark and copyright trial where jury awarded damages and the court awarded injunctive relief
Represented a foreign manufacturer and its U.S. distributor in a federal jury trial involving claims by a competitor of trade dress infringement; favorably settled during trial
Represented, in a federal jury case, the patent holder of voice messaging technology for controlling confidential access into highly-sensitive databanks, e.g., patient medical information; favorably settled through mediation before trial commenced
Represented a defendant in medical device patent infringement litigation; favorably settled on the basis of Markman rulings
Represented a privately-held technology-based company defending suits by a market-dominant competitor involving patents relating to reflective materials; favorably settled at mediation after Markman hearing
Successfully defended a former COO of a national restaurant chain suing for alleged breaches of confidentiality, theft of trade secrets, and unfair competition; jury finding for defendant on all counts
Favorably concluded a State’s Inspector General investigation into alleged breaches of various technology-sharing joint venture agreements involving the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for a biomedical client; securing the company’s rights to control the use of biomedical patents
Arbitrator in patent-rights dispute brought by company’s founder over patent rights
Representative First Chair Business or Commercial Litigation:
Obtained multimillion dollar jury verdict for a joint venturer and patent holder; on claims against joint venture company for breach of obligations under joint venture
Defended the largest PRP in a federal Superfund case and its related state proceedings; relating to PCB contamination of harbor. Resolved with negotiated consent decrees and with settlement of all related insurance coverage disputes, providing funding for insured’s litigation fees and expenses and against substantial costs of remedial actions in consent decree
Represented several plaintiffs litigating against former employer, a large shopping center developer, over various contingency-structured employer compensation packages, leading to substantial seven-figure settlement
Other Representative First Chair Trials:
Represented, through two bench trials and on appeal, pro bono litigants in a class action challenging the voting systems for City Council and School Committee municipal elections under 1965 Voting Rights Act
Defended various media clients in numerous defamation suits brought against newspapers and other news outlets, with cases resolved by jury verdict and by settlements before and during trials
Defended large automobile, heavy equipment, and other consumer product manufacturers in numerous product liability litigations, including individual and class actions
Represented a major private university in land court and appellate litigation over the university’s right to pursue development in two municipalities where the main campus was located; after court decision all projects were ultimately completed through further negotiations following judgment
Given his breadth of courtroom experience and depth of jury trial experience, Dan is widely recognized by his peers. He is a Fellow in the invitation-only American College of Trial Lawyers; the U.K. publisher Chambers and Partners ranked him among the leading U.S. Litigation attorneys in the 2007-2011 editions of Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business; he was named a Massachusetts Super Lawyer in the November 2004-2011 issues of Boston magazine; and he was selected for The Best Lawyers in America for the past 10 years.
In addition to long service on firm governance committees, including the Executive Committee, Dan is actively involved in pro bono representation, bar committees and charitable organizations. He presently serves as co-chair of the Board of Directors for the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights of Boston; as chair of the ABA’s Litigation Section Trade Secrets/Lanham Act Subcommittee; as a member of the Board of Directors for the Massachusetts Bar Foundation; on the ad hoc Committee on Local Court Patent Rules for the Boston Patent Law Association; as chair of the Massachusetts State Committee for the American College of Trial Lawyers; and on the Advisory Board of the Massachusetts Appleseed Foundation. Other recent service commitments include the ad hoc Boston Bar Association Committee established to investigate and report on the “vanishing trial” phenomenon as it affects Massachusetts attorneys and courts, and a board member and General Counsel for Wide Horizons for Children, an international adoption agency.
Dan received a J.D. degree, cum laude, from Harvard Law School, and a B.A., magna cum laude, from Harvard College, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.