Frederick D. Baron is a Litigation partner in the Cooley Godward Palo Alto office. He joined the Firm in 1983, and chairs the Firm's Employment & Labor section.

Mr. Baron specializes in business litigation and prelitigation counseling, concentrating on representation of venture capital funded high technology companies and investment funds. His practice has included litigation, arbitration and mediation in the areas of employment, trade secrets, contracts and distributorships. Mr. Baron has handled more than 35 criminal and civil jury trials and argued numerous appeals in both federal and state courts. He regularly provides counseling on employment and separation matters, proprietary information protection, employee raiding, noncompetition, whistleblowing and human resources issues.

Mr. Baron was appointed by Attorney General Janet Reno to serve as Associate Deputy Attorney General and Director of the Executive Office for National Security of the Department of Justice from 1995 to 1996, coordinating policy on international law enforcement and foreign intelligence matters. In 1992, Mr. Baron served on President Clinton's presidential transition team. From 1980 to 1982, he was an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, handling federal criminal prosecutions and special civil proceedings. From 1977 to 1979, Mr. Baron served as Special Assistant to Attorney General Griffin Bell, with responsibility for foreign intelligence and counterintelligence matters. In 1976, he served on President Carter's presidential transition team. From 1975 to 1976, Mr. Baron served as counsel to the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.

Mr. Baron received a law degree from Stanford University Law School in 1974. In 1969, he received a B.A, magna cum laude, from Amherst College, where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa.

Mr. Baron was admitted to the California bar in 1974 and the District of Columbia bar in 1975. He is also admitted to practice before the U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit and the District of Columbia Circuit; U.S. District Courts in the Northern District of California and the District of Columbia; and the United States Supreme Court. He is a member of the employment and litigation sections of the American Bar Association and the bar associations of Santa Clara County and the District of Columbia. He has authored U.S. Senate reports in the foreign intelligence field, and articles on employment law issues and the uses of Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) in civil litigation.

Mr. Baron is listed in Who's Who in American Law. He has lectured internationally about the U.S. justice system under State Department sponsorship, and presented numerous professional seminars on employment and trade secret issues. He is a past president of the Keys School board of trustees, a former director of Retail Resources, Inc., and a member of the Board of Visitors of Stanford Law School.