JD Journal » ip practice

Another Partner Departs from Howrey LLP

marvins — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 17:49:41 +0000

Howrey LLP, a global law firm with over 700 lawyers, continued to suffer from partner losses as Mark Hodgson, the firm’s London managing partner and IP specialist, joins the increasing number of partners who have exited from the law firm in the last 12 months. Hodgson, who is now a lawyer at Field Fisher Waterhouse, is the fourth partner to depart from the firm’s London office. The departure of Hodgson leaves the Howrey’s London headquarters with only four full-time lawyers: litigator John Evans and antitrust partners Geert Goeteyn, Shaun Goodman and Tom McQuail.

Robert Ruyak, global managing partner and chief executive of Howrey, explained that the firm is currently in the process of trimming down its European operations to shift its strategy to a network of referral partners. “Due to very difficult and repetitive conflict issues in the IP area, we made a strategic move to reduce significantly our on-the-ground European IP practice.”

Howrey has also suffered a series of losses across its offices in Europe. As of today, about 19 partners and 30 associates have exited Howrey’s offices in various headquarters that include Amsterdam, Madrid, Brussels and Paris.

Clark Hill Reels In Chicago IP Team

eric — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 14:07:40 +0000

: The Detroit based firm Clark Hill PLC has, through lateral hires at its Chicago office, absorbed the Chicago based, boutique intellectual property firm Trexler, Bushnell, Giangiorgi, Blackstone & Marr. The Trexler firm, which focused its practice on patent, trade secret, copyright, and trademark matters, brings all 8 of its attorneys plus staff bringing Clark’s nationwide attorney headcount to 208.Crain’s Detroit Business

Clark CEO John Hern praised the acquisition and the new depth it will bring to the firm’s IP practice, “Extending our practice will allow us to offer greater value to our clients worldwide through a more complete level of service.

Clark Hill is a full service law firm focused on business legal services, government and public affairs and personal legal services. Since its opening in 1890, Clark Hill has represented a diverse spectrum of clients ranging from individuals and new business entities to Fortune 500 corporations. The firm has offices in Detroit, Lansing, and Grand Rapids, Michigan as well as offices in Chicago, Phoenix, Washington, D.C. and Birmingham, Alabama.

Goodwin Procter Adds Three to Silicon Valley Office

joshua — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 22:29:09 +0000

Goodwin Procter has added three lawyers to its technology companies and intellectual property practices in its Silicon Valley office. Slated to join the firm over the next few weeks are Anthony J. McCusker, Craig M. Schmitz and James D. Riley Jr., all of whom come over from Gunderson Dettmer.

McCusker will become co-chair of the firm’s 160-attorney strong technology companies practice. According to a firm press release, McCusker and Schmitz specialize in representing technology companies in a wide range of transactions. They work closely with venture capitalists, entrepreneurs and underwriters in venture financings, M&A, joint ventures and IPO’s.

Riley represents emerging growth technology companies seeking corporate partnering. That includes a number of areas such as strategic alliances, joint ventures, technology acquisition, spin-off transactions and intellectual property strategy, counseling and protection.

Goodwin Procter, which first established a West Coast presence in 2006, has more than 100 attorneys in the Golden State with offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego in addition to Silicon Valley.

Lee Rejoins McDermott Will as Partner

joshua — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 19:27:29 +0000

John Lee has returned to McDermott Will & Emery as a partner in its Silicon Valley office. Lee previously worked for Sonnerschein, where he was a partner with Yar Chaikovsky, who also joined McDermott’s Silicon Valley office in December.

Lee’s practice focuses on intellectual property litigation. He was previously an associate at McDermott from September 2004 until January 2008. McDermott’s IP department includes more than 180 lawyers and patent agents.

Jacobi Joins McDonald Hopkins IP Practice

joshua — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 17:35:30 +0000

Joseph Jacobi, a former partner at Kirkland & Ellis, has joined the Chicago office of McDonald Hopkins as a member of its litigation department and intellectual property practice.

Jacobi’s IP litigation experience includes patent, trade secret, trademark and copyright litigation matters. He has also litigated before the U.S. International Trade Commission.

McDonald Hopkins is a business advisory and advocacy law firm with offices in Chicago, Cleveland, Columbus, Detroit and West Palm Beach.

Seyfarth Shaw Signs Schwartz For IP Practice

joshua — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 16:52:19 +0000

Daniel J. Schwartz has joined Seyfarth Shaw’s Chicago office as a partner in the Intellectual Property Practice Group, the firm announced Tuesday. Schwartz was previously with Jenner & Block.

Schwartz focuses on the areas of intellectual property litigation and counseling with a special emphasis on patent, trade secrets and trademark litigation, according to a press release. His most recent experience includes various forms of Markman hearings and intellectual preliminary matters.

Seyfarth Shaw has over 750 attorneys in ten offices throughout the United States and Belgium.

Chadbourne & Parke Bolsters IP Practice with New Partner

joshua — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 17:48:12 +0000

International law firm Chadbourne & Parke has named John Hintz a partner in the intellectual property practice group in its New York office. He arrives from the office of Wilmer Hale in New York.

Hintz is the latest in a series of additions to Chadbourne’s IP practice in the areas of financial services, Internet technology and media. They include John Squires, formerly chief intellectual property counsel for Golden Sachs; former Time Warner Chief Patent Counsel Chuck Fish; Ken Johnson, former chief patent counsel for Credit Suisse Securities; and Duane Valz, previously V.P. and associate general counsel for Yahoo.

Hintz’s practice focuses on all aspects of patent disputes and has litigated in federal courts throughout the country and before the International Trade Commission.

Chadbourne is currently defending clients in various IP litigation matters in Texas and other jurisdictions, according to a press release. The firm is headquartered in New York City and also has offices in Washington D.C., Los Angeles, Mexico City, London, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Warsaw, Kyiv, Almaty, Dubai and Beijing.

Foley & Lardner Snag IP Co-Chair from Sheppard Mullin

joshua — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 21:22:00 +0000

Amar Thakur, who was the co-chair of Sheppard Mullin‘s IP practice group, has jumped to Foley & Lardner, bringing one other attorney with him. Thakur said that Foley’s larger IP practice and interest in his growing specialty of monetizing IP portfolios factored into the decision. Jeffrey Solomon also moved to Foley as special counsel.

Sheppar Mullin declined to comment on the move but noted that Daniel Yannuzzi has replaced Thakur as the co-chair of the IP practice group.