Tech industry lawyer Neel Chatterjee leaves law firm Goodwin for King & Spalding

By Sara Merken

July 7 (Reuters) - Neel Chatterjee, a technology lawyer whose clients have included Facebook, Oracle and LinkedIn, has left law firm Goodwin Procter to join rival King & Spalding, his new firm said on Monday.

Chatterjee, a Silicon Valley-based partner who helped organize opposition among law firm partners to U.S. President Donald Trump's actions targeting the legal industry, is joining King & Spalding's business litigation group and will co-lead its intellectual property team, the firm said.

Chatterjee in April helped create Law Firm Partners United, a group that now includes more than 800 members from the 200 largest U.S. firms by revenue.

The non-profit association filed friend-of-the-court briefs backing law firms Susman Godfrey, and Jenner & Block in their lawsuits challenging Trump's executive orders against the firms. Federal judges have blocked the orders permanently.

The group also filed a brief in support of lawyer Mark Zaid in his lawsuit challenging the Trump administration's decision to revoke his U.S. security clearance. Zaid represented a government whistleblower in a case that led to Trump's impeachment during his first term.

Chatterjee had no immediate comment. A Goodwin spokesperson said the firm appreciated his contributions.

Among his prominent cases, Chatterjee represented Facebook and its founder Mark Zuckerberg in a legal battle with former Harvard classmates Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss. Their battle was dramatized in the 2010 film "The Social Network."

Other clients have included former Google engineer Anthony Levandowski, as well as NVIDIA, eBay and Logitech, according to King & Spalding.

Chatterjee joined Goodwin in 2017 and previously served on its executive committee.