Kayvan M. Ghaffari is an attorney in the San Francisco office of Crowell & Moring. He is a member of the Litigation, Intellectual Property, and Privacy & Cybersecurity groups. Kayvan’s areas of emphasis include technology-related litigation, involving cybersecurity and digital crimes, blockchain, competition issues, copyright/DMCA, CDA 230, trademark, and trade secrets disputes, and complex commercial matters. He has handled numerous disputes involving cybersecurity technologies, cybercrime, fraud and hacking. He has litigated numerous Lanham Act, false advertising, unfair competition, and trade disparagement claims.
Kayvan is regularly called upon to represent clients in RICO actions. He has successfully litigated RICO as a plaintiff in complex cases involving parent-subsidiary relationships, extraterritoriality, and the DMCA. In addition, Kayvan has successfully defended clients facing bet-the-company RICO claims, including most recently, dismissing with prejudice a RICO claim against one of the world’s largest ticket marketplaces.
A Bay Area native admitted to practice in California and New York, Kayvan has substantial experience developing successful strategies that addresses all aspects of a major crisis in a high-profile setting — the legal issues; congressional and general investigations; civil litigation; media and investor scrutiny; and the long-term business or career implications. With deep relationships amongst a myriad of legal, media, and government stakeholders, Kayvan uses a unique blend of creativity and technical know- how to relentlessly protect his clients. In addition to being procedurally meticulous and a compelling writer, he focuses on unearthing ways to unravel the opposing side’s case. Using his litigation insight, Kayvan provides counseling on an array of technology and cyber-related issues for companies ranging from market leaders to start-ups.
Kayvan believes it is important to give back to his community by using his legal skills to assist those in need. He litigates pro bono cases involving civil and constitutional rights. While attending law school, he started a chapter of the Iraqi Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP), where he worked with attorneys and other law students to provide legal representation to refugees and their families in an effort to help them obtain resettlement.
Kayvan graduated Order of the Coif from the University of Southern California Gould School of Law, where he also served as senior submissions editor of the Southern California Law Review.
Prior to joining Crowell, Kayvan spent over five years of his career as an intellectual property attorney at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP in San Francisco and New York.