Jeffrey Tsai > DLA Piper LLP (US) > San Francisco, United States > Lawyer Profile
DLA Piper LLP (US) Offices

555 MISSION STREET, SUITE 2400
SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94105-2933
CALIFORNIA
United States
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Jeffrey Tsai

Work Department
Litigation, Arbitration and Investigations; State Attorneys General; White Collar and Corporate Crime
Position
Partner; Managing Partner, San Francisco Office; Co-Chair, State AG Group
Career
Jeff Tsai is a leading attorney in criminal and civil enforcement matters brought by state and federal regulators. He is the managing partner of the firm’s San Francisco office.
As co-chair of DLA Piper’s State Attorneys General practice, Jeff is nationally recognized by Chambers and Partners. He represents companies subject to investigative scrutiny by individual and multistate attorneys general and related federal regulators such as the Federal Trade Commission. Jeff’s matters have focused on issues ranging from consumer protection (unfair/deceptive trade practices) to antitrust to healthcare. His clients cover industries that have been the subject of recent state attorney general enforcement, including e-commerce, fintech, daily fantasy sports, travel/hospitality, and online higher education.
Jeff also actively defends white-collar matters in investigations and trials, including representations involving trade secret theft and economic espionage, complex frauds, and public corruption. He has tried more than 20 federal trials, including the prosecution of former US Senator John Edwards for violations of federal campaign finance laws in connection with his 2008 primary campaign for president and another prosecution that became the subject of a non-fiction book and television documentary program. Jeff served as first-chair counsel in one of the few federal criminal trade secret prosecutions to proceed to trial in the United States.
Jeff was a special assistant attorney general of California and principal advisor to former Attorney General Kamala D. Harris on issues related to criminal justice, corporate accountability, and intellectual property enforcement. He also supervised high-profile enforcement actions involving California’s False Claims Act, Unfair Competition Law, environmental regulations, and campaign finance laws.
In the federal government, Jeff served as a federal prosecutor and senior policy official at a US Attorney’s Office, as well as at Main Justice in Washington.
Jeff is frequently called upon for legal commentary and analysis, and he has been featured on news networks such as CNN and MSNBC.
Memberships
Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law, University of Texas at Austin, Senior Fellow (Former)
Education
J.D., Georgetown University; B.A., University of Texas at Austin
Lawyer Rankings
United States > Government > State attorneys general
(Next Generation Partners)Leveraging a wide network of relationships with state attorneys general across the country, DLA Piper LLP (US) is equally at home managing ongoing relations between clients and state AG offices as defending investigations and engaging in litigation. The team has played a significant role in pressing issues of active concern to state regulators, including consumer protection, PFAS, children’s online privacy, and cryptocurrency. With offices on both coasts, the practice is co-chaired by Jeffrey Tsai in San Francisco, who specializes in investigations and enforcement actions at both the individual and multistate level, and Scott Wilson in New York, who is frequently retained by Fortune 100 companies and other major corporations in investigations and white collar criminal matters. In Washington DC, of counsel Carlton Davis sits at the intersection of state AG and government relations, fielding a wealth of experience in investigations from his tenure as assistant attorney general of Virginia. Antitrust and competition expert Vic Domen, who previously served in the Tennessee Attorney General’s Office as senior antitrust counsel, joined the firm in January 2024 from Norton Rose Fulbright US LLP.
Lawyer Rankings
- Next Generation Partners United States > Government > State attorneys general
- State attorneys general United States > Government
Top Tier Firm Rankings
- Media, technology and telecoms > Cyber law (including data privacy and data protection)
- Tax > International tax
- Real estate > Land use/zoning
- International trade and national security > CFIUS
- Investment fund formation and management > Alternative/hedge funds
- Media, technology and telecoms > Outsourcing
- Intellectual property > Patents: licensing
- Intellectual property > Patents: litigation (International Trade Commission)
- M&A/corporate and commercial > Private equity buyouts: middle-market (Up to $500m)
- Dispute resolution > Product liability, mass tort and class action - defense: pharmaceuticals and medical devices
- Real estate > Real estate
- Government > State attorneys general
- Media, technology and telecoms > Telecoms and broadcast: regulatory
- Media, technology and telecoms > Telecoms and broadcast: transactions
Firm Rankings
- Media, technology and telecoms > Advertising and marketing: transactional and regulatory
- Insurance > Advice to insurers
- Industry focus > Cannabis
- Dispute resolution > E-discovery
- Tax > Financial products
- Finance > Fintech
- Intellectual property > Patents: litigation (full coverage)
- Dispute resolution > Product liability, mass tort and class action - defense: consumer products (including tobacco)
- Dispute resolution > Product liability, mass tort and class action - defense: toxic tort
- Real estate > Real estate investment trusts (REITs)
- Energy > Renewable/alternative power
- Finance > Structured finance: securitization
- Media, technology and telecoms > Technology transactions
- Intellectual property > Trademarks: non-contentious (including prosecution, portfolio management and licensing)
- Tax > US taxes: contentious
- M&A/corporate and commercial > Venture capital and emerging companies
- Labor and employment > Workplace and employment counseling
- Antitrust > Cartel
- Intellectual property > Copyright
- M&A/corporate and commercial > Corporate governance
- Labor and employment > Employee benefits, executive compensation and retirement plans: design
- Environment > Environment: regulatory
- Environment > Environment: transactional
- Insurance > Insurance: non-contentious
- Labor and employment > Labor and employment disputes (including collective actions)
- Labor and employment > Labor-management relations
- Healthcare > Life sciences
- Dispute resolution > M&A litigation: defense
- M&A/corporate and commercial > M&A: middle-market ($500m-999m)
- Media, technology and telecoms > Media and entertainment: transactional
- Intellectual property > Patents: prosecution (including re-examination and post-grant proceedings)
- Dispute resolution > Product liability, mass tort and class action - defense: automotive/transport
- Dispute resolution > Securities litigation: defense
- Intellectual property > Trademarks: litigation
- Tax > US taxes: non-contentious
- Finance > Capital markets: equity offerings
- Antitrust > Civil litigation/class actions: defense
- Real estate > Construction (including construction litigation)
- Labor and employment > Employee benefits, executive compensation and retirement plans: transactional
- Environment > Environment: litigation
- Dispute resolution > General commercial disputes
- Government > Government contracts
- Dispute resolution > International arbitration
- Investment fund formation and management > Private equity funds (including venture capital)
- Healthcare > Service providers
- Intellectual property > Trade secrets (litigation and non-contentious matters)
- Finance > Project finance
- M&A/corporate and commercial > M&A: large deals ($1bn+)
- Finance > Restructuring (including bankruptcy): corporate
- Dispute resolution > Corporate investigations and white-collar criminal defense
- International trade and national security > CFIUS
- Transport > Rail and road: litigation and regulation