Practice Areas
- Antitrust/Competition
- Appellate Advocacy
- Banking and Financial Institutions
- China - Business and Litigation
- Class Actions
- Complex Litigation
- Director and Officer
- Employment
- Intellectual Property
- International Competition
- Public Interest
- Securities
- Trade Regulation
Education
- Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, J.D., 1972
- University of California, Los Angeles, B.A., cum laude, 1969
Bar and Court Admissions
- State Court: California, District of Columbia
Past Professional Experience
- Law Clerk, Judge O.D. Hamlin, United States Court Of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, San Francisco, CA, 1972-1973
- Kellogg Company, Battle Creek, Michigan Acting General Counsel, 1988-1989
- Furth, Fahrner & Mason, San Francisco, CA Associate, Partner and Managing Partner, 1973-2000
Daniel S. Mason
Mr. Mason is a senior partner in the law firm of Zelle Hofmann Voelbel & Mason LLP, with offices in San Francisco, Minneapolis, Dallas, Washington, D.C. and Boston, with affiliate offices in Beijing and Shanghai. Mr. Mason is resident in San Francisco, and is a member of the firm’s Executive Committee. Mr. Mason is a member of the Bars of the State of California and Washington, D.C. He has also been admitted to numerous state and federal trial and appellate courts, as well as the United States Supreme Court.
Mr. Mason graduated from University of California, Los Angeles in 1969, with a degree in History, and from Duke University School of Law in 1972. From 1972-1973, he served as a law clerk to Judge O.D. Hamlin, United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, in San Francisco.
From 1973-May, 2000, he was an associate, partner and managing partner of Furth, Fahrner & Mason, San Francisco, and its predecessors. Thereafter, Furth, Fahrner & Mason merged with Zelle Hofmann. From 1988-1989, Mr. Mason served as Acting General Counsel of Kellogg Company, Battle Creek, Michigan.
During his 38 years at the Bar, Mr. Mason has focused on trial and appellate work, and a wide variety of complex litigation matters in literally hundreds of cases. He has particular expertise in the areas of antitrust, trade regulation, international trade law, unfair competition, intellectual property, statutory construction, as well as a wide variety of contractual and other commercial disputes.
He has appeared on behalf of both plaintiffs and defendants in courts in virtually every state in the Nation, as well as in Italy, the United Kingdom and the People’s Republic of China, and before the Federal Trade Commission, the Department of Justice, the Food and Drug Administration, and numerous state administrative agencies. He has also served as special antitrust counsel for the States of Arizona and New Mexico, as well as numerous municipalities. He has presented numerous oral arguments before state and federal appellate courts, as well as the U.S. Supreme Court.
Mr. Mason has significant international law experience, representing clients in arbitrations and judicial proceedings in Europe and China, where he was one of the first American lawyers to present formal argument in the court of the People’s Republic of China and be recognized in a published opinion by the Chinese appellate court. He represented the Government of the People's Republic of China on international trade disputes.
Mr. Mason has participated in numerous arbitrations and mediations, and has served as an appointed mediator. He has lectured before lawyers on antitrust, trade regulation, U.S. Civil Procedure, distributorship and trial tactics in the United States, China and Italy. Most recently, he served as the legal consultant to the Supreme Court of China on the implementation of Chinese anti-monopoly law and, at the invitation of the Chief Justice of the Chinese Supreme Court, conducted a seminar on antitrust principles for the justices of that court, as well as several other Chinese Courts.
Mr. Mason has published articles in legal journals on China’s antitrust statute and E.U. competition law objectives. He was a guest speaker at the International Symposium on WTO legal issues in Shanghai, China.
Mr. Mason is a member of the Board of Directors of a U.S. public company, as well as the Legal Aid Society of San Francisco.
Articles & Presentations
"The Non-Statutory Labor Exemption in Antitrust/Labor Law," 2011 Sports Law Symposium, September 8, 2011, presenter
"Private Litigation under China’s New Anti-Monopoly Law," seminar sponsored by the San Francisco Bar Association, February 17, 2011, presenter
"Private Enforcement of Articles 101 and 102 in Europe's National Courts," The Comparative Law Yearbook of International Business, published by the Center for International Legal Studies, Volume 32, 2010, co-author
Amateurism as It Relates to Concussions, Performance-enhancing Drugs, and the Use of Athletes’ Images, 2010 Sports Law Symposium, Santa Clara University Law School, September 16, 2010
"A Comment on Private Antitrust Litigation in China," Competition Law360, April 8, 2010, author
Effectuating Private Antitrust Enforcement under China's Anti-Monopoly Law, presentation to Chinese Supreme Court, Beijing and Shanghai Supreme Courts and Intermediate Courts and China International Economic Law Society, Beijing, China, February 2, 2010
"Next Battleground In EU Antitrust Litigation," Law360, April 7, 2009, author
"The Next Battleground in Antitrust Litigation: Private Enforcement of Articles 81 and 82 in the Courts of the European Union's Member States," November 2008, co-author
"China’s Proposed Anti-Monopoly Law: The U.S. and European Perspectives," Asian Law & Practice, Vol. II, Issue 6, November 2004, co-author
Professional Affiliations
- Association of Trial Lawyers of America
- District of Columbia Bar Association
- International Trademark Association
- American Bar Association
- Bar Association of San Francisco
News
- Zelle Hofmann and Employment Law Center Attorneys Defeat Government Motion To Dismiss In Defense Of Marriage Act Case
- Zelle Hofmann Represents Former NFL Players in Class Action
- Zelle Hofmann Hosts China's Chief Justice
- Legal Aid Society-Employment Law Center Scores Key Ruling In Challenge To Government's Denial Of Insurance Benefits To Same-Sex Couples
- Court Approves Settlement in Disability Discrimination Class Action
- Mason Interviewed About Plaintiffs’ Antitrust Actions in Europe
- Zelle Hofmann Co-Counsel in NCAA Antitrust Suit
