Bob Mittelstaedt has been described in Chambers as "one of the finest trial lawyers in the state," an "all-purpose" and "phenomenal" litigator, "tenacious and thorough." He has 40 years experience in complex commercial cases, including antitrust, copyright, unfair business practice, international law claims under the Alien Tort Statute, and employment law — in industries ranging from computer games and gasoline to high-speed internet access and online music stores. He has been responsible for the defense of nationwide class actions and for complex arbitrations, grand jury, and other criminal matters.

Bob obtained a defense verdict in a five-week jury trial in a high-profile Alien Tort Statute case in San Francisco federal court that was recognized as the "California Defense Verdict of 2008" by the Daily Journal and for which he received the California Lawyer "Attorney of the Year Award for Litigation." His Alien Tort Statute experience also includes defending Chevron in the South Africa apartheid cases and Bridgestone Firestone in a case arising in Liberia. His other trial experience includes a defense jury verdict in a monopolization case after a three-month trial, a declaratory ruling that Hawaii's rent control law was unconstitutional (later overturned by the Supreme Court), a wrongful death trial in Los Angeles federal court, and jury trials as an acting public defender.

Bob has served as a director of the Bar Association of San Francisco and the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights. He has spoken and written on trial practice and civil discovery. Before starting his legal career, he was a Peace Corps volunteer in Micronesia.