Christian Picone is an experienced trial attorney whose practice focuses on complex civil litigation in state and federal courts. He helps clients resolve business disputes, partnership disputes, and Anti-SLAPP matters. In addition to his civil litigation practice, Christian also has experience representing individuals and companies in white-collar criminal defense matters, including healthcare, visa, securities, and financial fraud. With 48 jury trials to verdict and prior experience as a lead felony prosecutor, Christian brings a strategic and comprehensive understanding of the legal process to every matter he handles.

Christian represents a diverse range of clients — from closely held businesses and healthcare professionals to multinational corporations — guiding them through high-stakes litigation, regulatory disputes, and government investigations. He takes a strategic and results-driven approach from the earliest stages of a case, whether through aggressive discovery, expert-driven litigation strategies, or direct negotiation with government agencies and opposing counsel.

His expertise spans complex commercial litigation, SEC regulations, IRS disputes, DOJ Antitrust enforcement, and environmental compliance, serving clients across the technology, healthcare, financial services, real estate, and manufacturing industries.

With 48 jury trials taken to verdict, a record of dismissed federal indictments, acquittals, successful regulatory outcomes, and significant litigation victories, as well as a background as a lead felony prosecutor, Christian brings courtroom experience and strategic insight that few attorneys can match.

His reputation in the legal community has taken him beyond the courtroom, with appearances as a guest legal analyst on NBC Bay Area Channel 11, San Jose's KNTV Channel 11, and San Francisco's KRON 4.

Representative Cases

• ANTI-SLAPP - Successfully represented defendants in a complex family business dispute involving allegations of breach of fiduciary duty, malicious prosecution, and corporate governance misconduct tied to international business operations in Hong Kong and the United States. In Yeung Chi Shing Holding (Del.) Inc. v. Yeung Bing Kwong Kenneth, the California Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court’s ruling granting our anti-SLAPP motion, dismissing all claims against the defendants and awarding significant attorney’s fees. The case involved key issues related to California’s anti-SLAPP statute, shareholder derivative litigation, fiduciary duty claims, and litigation privilege.
• Concealed Carry Weapon / Bribery Defense — Represented attorney Harpaul Nahal in a high-profile case involving former Santa Clara County Sheriff Laurie Smith. Faced with hundreds of hours of recordings and tens of thousands of documents, the defense narrowed its focus to two key events, framing the transaction as a legitimate business opportunity. Nahal was found not guilty on both counts of conspiracy to commit bribery and bribery.
• Insurance Fraud Defense — Represented an internationally renowned dentist facing 177 insurance fraud claims spanning six years. Through aggressive discovery and expert evaluation using updated dental technology, 176 of the 177 claims were confirmed as performed, with the remaining one attributed to a clerical error. The criminal complaint was dismissed.
• Federal Grant Fraud Defense — Represented an executive charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States through duplicate Small Business Innovation Research grants with the National Science Foundation and NASA. Through aggressive discovery and direct negotiation with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, obtained a diversion of prosecution agreement.
• Immigration Fraud Defense - Successfully defended an executive of a financial services company in a federal felony jury trial against charges of conspiracy to commit immigration fraud; obtained a hung jury resulting in a no-jail misdemeanor offer from the prosecution
• Securities Fraud Defense - Successfully represented a startup biomedical company and its founder in a U.S. Attorney and SEC prosecution for securities fraud; obtained a deferred prosecution agreement with a dismissal of the federal indictment and resolved the SEC civil complaint with a minor financial penalty
• Environmental Disposal Defense - Successfully defended a circuit-board maker in a state environmental disposal investigation resulting in no charges
• California Air Resources Board - In two successive litigations brought by the California Air Resources Board, negotiated favorable settlements for two premier custom motorcycle manufacturers in the United States
• IRS / Tax Court Defense - Successfully defended owners of a premier South Bay developer in an IRS dispute regarding the validity of long-term union loans collateralized with life insurance proceeds; published opinion from the United States Tax Court (Pinn v. C.I.R. (T.C. 2013) 105 T.C.M. (CCH) 1291); as a result of the defense verdict the IRS changed its method of prosecution of these loans
• Trade Secret Misappropriation Defense - Defended a multi-national corporation against claims of misappropriation of trade secrets contained in Java source code and misappropriation of corporate opportunities; obtained a favorable settlement after aggressive technical discovery and motion practices
• Federal Mortgage Fraud Defense - Obtained an unconditional dismissal of a federal indictment on eve of trial related to a mortgage application after a detailed defense investigation and the timely employment of expert witnesses
• State Environmental Complaint Defense - Obtained dismissal of a state environmental complaint in which the District Attorney sought hundreds of thousands of dollars in penalties and fines, for a Civil Compromise after an aggressive discovery practice
• DOJ Antitrust Defense - Represented executive of Japanese DRAM manufacturer, and avoided a criminal indictment in connection with industry wide price-fixing investigation by United States Department of Justice Antitrust

Note: This list of Representative Cases is not intended to imply any guarantees, warranties, or predictions regarding the result of any current or future representation.

Personal

• Born in Concord, New Hampshire
• Interests include mountain biking, nutrition, and reading