Conflict Management and Alternative Dispute Resolution

Robert Copple is a trained mediator and arbitrator. He is a member of the ADR panels for the American Arbitration Association and the CPR International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution (Technology, eDiscovery, and General Panels), and is the Chair of CPR’s Commission on Patent Dispute Resolution. As Motorola’s ADR coordinator, he directed ADR policy and led the Fortune 50 tech company’s effort to reduce litigation costs. He has published and taught extensively on ADR subjects.   He regularly serves as an arbitrator and mediator in disputes between major companies, including Fortune 50 corporations.

Litigation / Risk Evaluation and Strategy

Both as a lawyer in large firm practices and as a senior litigation counsel for Motorola, Robert Copple has conducted hundreds of detailed litigation evaluations, including shareholder and derivative suits, class actions, intellectual property and licensing cases, regulatory disputes, major environmental issues and a wide range of technology based commercial claims. Through the use of decision science techniques, such as decision trees and options analysis, these evaluations have been successfully used to brief senior management, develop ongoing litigation strategies, formulate insurance claims and negotiate with opposing parties. These techniques are also useful in establishing value for variable risks and liabilities that arise in complex transactions.

Issues Management
Crisis Communications
Public Interest Groups

Increasingly, sophisticated clients are working to avoid unfavorable events and disputes before they happen and to mitigate adverse publicity when such issues are inevitable. Robert Copple has extensive experience with the entire range of issues management, including the creation and leading of corporate issues management teams, developing strategies to avoid adverse publicity during litigation, and planning for and addressing unforeseeable crises that arise during the life cycle of a business. In addition, he has taught graduate courses on these subjects and has wide-ranging media experience, both as a consultant and a working journalist.

Environmental, Natural Resources, and Mass Tort

As one of the country’s premier Superfund lawyers, Robert Copple has represented clients in major negotiations and litigation throughout the United States and Puerto Rico. At Motorola alone, he was responsible for reorganizing and managing more than 40 Superfund and remediation sites. Other examples of his representations include:

• State of Colorado v. Newmont Mining Company
• State of Colorado v. Leadville Mining Company
• Denver Radium Sites • Cour d’Alene Tribe v. Union Pacific Railroad Company
• State of Montana v. ARCO (former Anaconda Copper Company)
• U.S. v. ARCO
• U.S. v. Montana Pole Plant
• Numerous BFI Sites throughout Western United States
• North Indian Bend Wash Superfund Site
• 52nd Street Superfund Site
• Vega Baja Superfund Site (Puerto Rico)
• Vega Alta Superfund Site (Puerto Rico)

As a result of his site management and negotiation efforts in environmental matters, his clients have developed positive relationships with regulatory agencies and have saved hundreds of millions of dollars. He has written extensively on a variety of environmental subjects and is considered a national authority on natural resource damages.  (See Publications Page)

In addition, Robert Copple has extensive experience with mass tort cases, particularly those that allege injury as a result of environmental violations or damage.

Regulatory Strategy and Negotiations

Based on the belief that prepared and structured negotiations almost always lead to better and more cost effective results, Robert Copple has successfully represented many Fortune 500 clients before federal and state agencies throughout the United States. In many cases, he has managed to repair broken relationships between the agencies and the clients, often resulting in dramatic savings. In addition, he has extensive experience in negotiations between private parties regarding settlement and liability allocation.

Intellectual Property, Biotechnology, Health, and Technology Based Solutions

The vast majority of Robert Copple’s legal experience, both in large law firm practice and as a senior in-house counsel, has focused on technology and science based issues and disputes. While at Motorola, his experience included developing risk management systems for the Iridium Satellite Program and leading the majority of the company’s patent and semiconductor litigation. His efforts on the offensive side of licensing litigation resulted in the collection of hundreds of millions of dollars in licensing revenues. In addition, he has represented telephony providers, cable television companies, and municipalities in a variety of telecommunications matters. He has published and taught nationally on a variety of law and technology subjects.  He advises corporations on intellectual property strategies and serves as a arbitrator and mediator in biotechnology and intellectual property disputes.

Robert Copple is actively involved in the development of biotechnology law, business and policy.  He is a lead editor and coauthor of Biotechnology and the Law, a biotech treatise published by the American Bar Association (2007).  In addition, he has was recently named as one of the 2007 "Best Lawyers in America" in Biotechnology Law and as a "Top Lawyer" in Phoenix.  He is also the Chairman of the Advisory Board for the Arizona State University College of Law Center for the Study of Law, Science, & Technology and is a research fellow in the Center.

Internet, eDiscovery and Data Security

Robert Copple has extensive experience dealing with legal and security issues related to the internet and data management. For example, at Motorola, he was responsible for organizing and leading all eCommerce representation, designing and implementing corporate data security policies, and training other lawyers regarding electronic discovery practice and procedure. His publications on data management and security are widely cited.

Joint Defense Groups

Joint defense group practice and dynamics often present a quandary for the uninitiated. Robert Copple has major experience organizing and working with joint defense groups in a wide variety of cases involving, among other subjects, patent litigation, environmental and toxic tort litigation and Superfund allocation negotiations.

Law Firm and Corporate Law Department Management

As a result of his combination of private practice and corporate in-house experience, Robert Copple is well suited to advise both law firms and corporate law departments regarding organizational, management and marketing issues. He has worked with large law firms on marketing and acquisitions, as well as helping firms to identify, promote, and market cutting edge specialties. Likewise, he has consulted with corporate general counsel on a variety of issues, including the management and consolidation of outside counsel representation.