Legal News

Small Silicon Valley IP firms making strides

By Richard Binder

Two former Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges senior associates, Douglas Colt and Thomas Wallerstein, launched their own practice last week. Colt and Wallerstein said that they weren't laid off from Quinn Emanuel, although that firm too has conducted layoffs, and that they were on the partnership track. But they decided they wanted to be working on cases instead of pushing paper.

The two-woman operation Turner Boyd just made its first hire, bringing on former Fish & Richardson IP lawyer Joshua Masur. Turner Boyd decided to hire one more lawyer so it could take on slightly bigger cases. Masur had worked at Mayer Brown and was hired at Fish & Richardson about a year ago as counsel. The former Fish lawyer said he liked the idea of working at a small firm where he wouldn't be embarrassed telling people his billing rate.

The upsides of a small IP shop are lower billing rates and closer attention from partners. The downside is that it's difficult to handle hefty IP cases, especially the document downpour of patent litigation.

Full story at The Recorder.

Full post as published by Legal Pad | LA on September 16, 2009 (boomark / email).