Stephen Beke
Experience & Background
Stephen Beke is a master of story. Prior to attending Harvard Law School in 2000, Mr. Beke worked as a Hollywood screenwriter for almost a decade-selling a feature film to Paramount Pictures in 1995. He now utilizes his ability to capture an audience to help individuals and companies achieve justice in the courtroom.
Mr. Beke helps litigate all of the Firm’s matters, and heads up the Entertainment and Business Litigation departments . He honed his litigation skills over the past decade working for some of the world’s largest law firms in New York and the San Francisco Bay Area.
Mr. Beke has extensive litigation experience in complex individual and class cases. His past clients include Google, Merck, Bank of America, IBM, and many other Fortune 500 corporations. His experience includes securities and M&A litigation, shareholder derivative actions, antitrust litigation, contract disputes, SEC investigations, securities fraud, copyright litigation, patent, proxy battles, and international law.
Mr. Beke is adept at simplifying complex legal and factual issues to their essence-so they are easily understood, whether his audience is judge or jury. His current practice covers a broad spectrum of legal matters-including personal injury, insurance bad faith, medical malpractice, employment law, class actions, privacy, entertainment and business litigation.
Prior Work History
- Wilson, Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, PC – Palo Alto, CA 2011-2015 Litigation Associate
- Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP – New York, NY 2004-2010 Litigation Associate
- United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit 2003-2004 Law Clerk to the Honorable Sidney R. Thomas
Personal
Mr. Beke is also an accomplished classical violinist. He has performed with symphony orchestras and string quartets, as well as pop music groups. In 1995, he performed onstage in the backup orchestra for the reunion tour of Robert Plant and Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin.
Bar Admissions
- California
- New York
- Ontario, Canada
Education
Harvard Law School, Cambridge, MA
- Juris Doctor, 2003
Oxford University, Oxford, UK
- M.Litt., Literae Humaniores (Masters), 1991
- Honors: Rhodes Scholarship
- Activities: Concertmaster, Oxford Philharmonia Orchestra; Oxford Blues Ice Hockey Team
Queens University, B.A. (Distinction) in Philosophy, 1988
- Honors: Gordon Myrtle Adams Scholarship for the “most outstanding student in a B.A. program”
Publications
- Evan Chesler and Stephen Beke, Loss Causation Post-Dura, 1517 PLI/Corp 1277 (Nov. 2005)
- F. Paul Morrison and Stephen Beke, Extraterritorial Jurisdiction, COMBAR, North American Meeting, Lisbon, Portugal, 2011
- F. Paul Morrison and Stephen Beke, Cross-Border Privilege Issues — Canada, the United States, and the EU, The Advocates’ Society/ACTL Spring Symposium 2011