JD Journal » Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton

Leading Patent Litigator Joins Sheppard Mullin as Co-Chair of IP Practice Group

rebneely — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 01:01:13 +0000

Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP recently announced that Nagendra “Nick” Setty joined the firm as co-chair of the firm’s 70 attorney IP practice group. He will work out of the firm’s Palo Alto and San Francisco offices.

Setty joins from Fish & Richardson. There, he founded and was managing principal of its Atlanta office and resided part-time in its Silicon Valley office. He follows Stephen S. Korniczky, co-chair of Sheppard Mullin’s IP practice, who joined

last year from Paul Hastings, where he was global chair of its IP practice group.

Setty has an international practice representing leading global businesses such as Bank of America, Cipla, Cisco, EchoStar, Landis + Gyr, LG, McKesson, Samsung, Siemens and Verint. He focuses his practice on litigating jury, bench and arbitration trials in patent, trademark, trade secrets, and copyright cases. During the past twenty years, he has served as lead counsel in more than 120 intellectual property cases, which have spanned a broad range of technologies. Setty is a frequent lecturer and author on IP related topics, and is recognized for his IP litigation expertise in Chambers USA.

Guy N. Halgren, chairman of Sheppard Mullin was quoted as saying in a press release at the firm’s website: “Nick is an extremely experienced, high profile patent litigator. He brings a sophisticated patent litigation practice to our Palo Alto and San Francisco Offices and strengthens our global IP capabilities. Nick is yet another excellent addition to our firm as we continue to build our nationally recognized IP team.”

Setty was quoted as saying: “I am extremely excited about joining Sheppard Mullin’s global platform. It’s clear to me that the firm is on the rise. I am incredibly impressed with its strategic plan and collegial and entrepreneurial culture. I look forward to helping Sheppard Mullin strengthen and build its growing reputation as a top tier IP practice.”

Stephen S. Korniczky was quoted as saying: “Nick is an incredible addition to our IP team and we are thrilled to have him on board. He is a leader with a history of building top notch IP practices, and has 20 years of experience successfully litigating “big ticket” patent disputes. Equally important, he is genuinely a really nice guy.”

Korniczky is a trial lawyer who concentrates his practice on patent litigation and strategic counseling on patent, trademark, trade secret and copyright matters. He has litigated over 100 patent and other IP lawsuits, including some of the largest multi-patent infringement actions in the United States. He has invalidated numerous patents asserted against his clients and possesses significant experience in handling nationwide patent and trademark enforcement campaigns against multiple infringers. He represents internationally based, publicly traded and emerging companies in many areas, including in the life sciences, medical device, computer, mobile communications, internet/e-commerce and consumer electronics industries.

Founded in 1927 in Los Angeles, California in 1927, Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP is an AmLaw 100 law firm with more than 550 attorneys in 10 offices in the United States and one in Shanghai.

Morning Roundup

joshua — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 00:09:37 +0000

Good morning everybody! Today is Wednesday, November 10th. Here’s a look back at yesterday’s stories.

DLA Piper announced Henry Koda and William L. Androlia joined the firm’s Intellectual Property and Technology (IPT) practice as Senior Counsel in Tokyo and Los Angeles…

Greenberg Traurig shareholder William R. Clayton was chosen for fellowship in the Litigation Counsel of America…

Sheppard Mullin added five attorneys to its Labor and Employment Practice group…

Six Jones Walker attorneys based in Louisiana have been recognized by The Best Lawyers in America 2011 as “Lawyers of the Year”…

Eight partners fromThompson Hine were named “Leading Lawyers” for 2010 by Inside Business Magazine…

Perkins Coie launched an investment management group in its Washington D.C. office…

Sheppard Mullin Adds Five Attorneys to Labor and Employment Practice Group

joshua — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 23:21:46 +0000

Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP has added five attorneys to the firm’s Labor and Employment practice group in San Francisco.

The group joins the firm’s office from Littler Mendelson.

The attorneys are partners Ron Holland and Ellen Bronchetti, and associates Paul Cowie, Elia DeLuca and Jennifer Holly.

In the press release at the firm’s website, Guy Halgren, chairman of Sheppard Mullin was quoted as saying: “Ron is one of the top traditional labor lawyers and brings with him an impressive national practice. We continue to grow cornerstone practice groups like Labor and Employment and expand our capabilities to better serve clients. Ron and Ellen are a terrific team, and we welcome them to the firm.”

Holland’s practice focuses on traditional labor and employment issues in a variety of industries, including trucking, airlines transportation, technology and entertainment. He specializes in representing clients in union negotiations, organizing campaigns and unfair labor practice proceedings before the National Labor Relations Board.

Ms. Bronchetti advises all types of employers, from start-ups to multi-national corporations on all aspects of the employer-employee relationship, including union avoidance, employee classification issues, and wage and hour disputes.

Holland and Bronchetti are the latest of nineteen partners to join Sheppard Mullin in 2010.

Sheppard Mullin is a full service AmLaw 100 firm with 550 attorneys in 11 offices located in the United States and Asia.

Revenues and Profits Increase at Sheppard Mullin

sara — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 16:47:58 +0000

Los Angeles based firm Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton reported slight increases in revenue and profits in 2009. Revenue increased 2.5% to $361 million. Profits per equity partner were $1.244 million, an increase of 3.5%. Revenue per lawyer though decline to $753,645, 1.8%.

Last year the firm cut 25 lawyers in the first two months. In January 2009 the firm also announced a freeze of associate compensation for the year. The freeze is no longer in effect. Sheppard Mullin chair Guy Halgren says that the demand for transactional and real estate work was low, the decline in those areas was offset by a demand for labor and employment, bankruptcy, government contracts and anti-trust practices.

Founded in 1927 Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton is a general practice firm with over 520 attorneys in 11 offices.

DLA Piper Loses 4 Real Estate Lawyers

Erik Even — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 17:00:09 +0000

DLA Piper has shed four attorneys from its real estate practice in recent months.

Pamela Westhoff left the firm’s Los Angeles office, joining Sheppard Mullin as a partner.

San Francisco attorneys Donald Archer and Sara Hansen Wilson moved to Drinker Biddle & Reath as partners.

Chicago’s Michael Ben-Isvy joined Quarles & Brady as a partner.

DLA Piper is one of the largest law firms in the world, and is the only firm with more than 3,700 lawyers in North America and Europe. DLA Piper is a legal services organization whose members and affiliates are separate and distinct legal entities. Together, the organization operates in 28 countries and 66 offices throughout the world.

Sheppard Mullin Hires 3

Erik Even — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 16:46:46 +0000

Los Angeles’ Sheppard Mullin has recently hired three new attorneys in Los Angeles and China.

This week the firm announced that corporate partner Brian D. Weimer from Latham & Watkins, and real estate partner Pamela L. Westhoff from DLA Piper, were joining Sheppard Mullin.

Earlier this month, the firm hired corporate partner Todd Bissett of O’Melveny & Myers’ Beijing office. He will work for Sheppard Mullin out of Shanghai.

The firm has laid off 25 attorneys so far this year, and froze associate salaries in January.

Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP is an Am Law 100 law firm with over 520 attorneys in 10 offices in the United States and one in Shanghai. Its first office was founded in Los Angeles, California in 1927.

Sheppard Mullin Admits to Stealth Layoffs

Erik Even — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 22:34:36 +0000

Sheppard Mullin, which instituted salary freezes in January, now admits it has been shedding attorneys since the beginning of 2009.

At yesterday’s meeting of the Sheppard Mullin Associates’ Forum, firm management announced that by the end of this week about 25 attorneys firmwide will have been let go since the beginning of the year. Some of these terminations were performance-related; others were true “lay-offs,” done in order to adjust professional staff levels in practice groups whose level of business has been adversely affected by the economic downturn.

The terminations have been carried out incrementally over the last two months, because firm management has very carefully assessed each associate’s performance in the context of the level of work projected for the associate’s practice group.

Sheppard Mullin “Freezes” 2009 Salaries

Erik Even — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 21:28:52 +0000

If you’re an associate of AmLaw 100 firm Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP, and you haven’t checked your email because you were busy figuring out whether to spend your big 2009 salary increase on a solid gold car bra for your BMW M6 Convertible or on that Lladro figurine that will complete your collection, you’d better read this:

Each of you is aware of what is going on in the world economy in general, and in the legal market in particular. The Executive Committee and our Firm’s senior managerial and financial officers, Bob Zuber and Kevin Combs, have been working hard over the past several months to ensure Sheppard Mullin’s continued financial strength through the current economic downturn. We feel it is critical to rigorously control expenses during these times. As part of our management of expenses, we have decided to “freeze” Associate compensation for 2009. This means your base compensation will be the same as in 2008. Special Counsel and Senior Attorney compensation will also be frozen, with minor exceptions.

We trust you understand this decision is a reflection of the market and not how we value any of you. We are very proud of our attorneys and the superior service, quality and value you provide to our clients.

Bob Zuber and I will be making our annual State of the Firm presentations in each office at the end of January and beginning of February. As usual, we will have an open forum to address any questions you have. Should you have any questions in the meantime, please direct them to Robert Beall, Bob Neufeld, Bob Zuber or me.

Thank you for your hard work and many contributions in 2008 and best wishes to all of you for 2009.

-Guy [N. Halgren] and The Executive Committee

I’m not sure why “Guy” felt the “need” to place the “word” “freeze” in “quotes.” But I’m sure associates will “love” his “friendly” and “avuncular” “style” as they sell off their home gym equipment to “pay” “off” their student loans.

Law Firms Focus on Video Game Industry

Erik Even — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 23:06:23 +0000

In the Los Angeles Times, a feature on law firms creating specialized practices for the video games industry:

A year ago, newly minted lawyer Shawn Foust approached a senior partner at his Century City firm with an idea: dedicate an entire practice to the video game industry.

Today, the 26-year-old coordinates a team of 20 lawyers at Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton that tackles mergers, licensing contracts and other deals that help make the burgeoning game business hum.

“I’m pursuing my lifelong dream of combining the two things I love — games and law,” Foust said.

Another firm with a specialty game practice is Greenberg Glusker Fields Claman & Machtinger.

Lawyers in these groups are often gamers, who are familiar with the industry and its products.

The video game industry faces unique legal issues, such as the place of so-called “postmortems” in contract disputes.

Read the whole article. And if you’re interested in games law, I recommend GamePolitics.