LawFuel.com – Shearman & Sterling LLP expands litigation practice with lateral hires Antitrust and intellectual property attorneys join firm
in Washington, DC and San Francisco offices
New York, July 27, 2009 – Global law firm Shearman & Sterling LLP will significantly expand its litigation capabilities with the addition of four new partners – two in antitrust litigation and two in intellectual property litigation.
Antitrust litigator Edward B. Schwartz, formerly a Shearman & Sterling associate, returns to the firm from DLA Piper, where he served as a partner and had recently been appointed as Chair of its US Antitrust and Trade Regulation Group. He is based in the firm’s Washington, DC, office.
James Donato joins the firm from Cooley Godward Kronish LLP. He recently served as president of the Bar Association of San Francisco and will expand the firm’s antitrust litigation capabilities in its Bay Area offices (San Francisco and Menlo Park).
Intellectual property litigators Michael D. Bednarek and Scott Doyle will join the firm in Washington, DC as co-heads of the firm’s IP Litigation practice. Bednarek will join from Paul Hastings and will team with Doyle, who joins from Steptoe & Johnson LLP, to expand the firm’s capabilities in IP.
Rohan S. Weerasinghe, Senior Partner of Shearman & Sterling, said, “We set out to expand our already strong litigation capabilities in two specific areas – antitrust and intellectual property – and we are delighted to bring in four new partners with the intellect, reputation and client experiences of Ed, Jim, Michael and Scott. We expect that our four new partners will be instrumental in the continued success and continued expansion of our litigation practice.”
Added Stephen Fishbein, the firm’s global Litigation Practice leader, “Each of these new partners comes to the firm with the same objective in mind – to capitalize on our firm’s outstanding global capabilities both to better serve their existing clients and to bring new clients with US and international needs to our firm.”
Mr. Schwartz, 51, has approximately 25 years of litigation experience, during which he has developed a reputation for aggressively and successfully defending clients in diverse industries in class action and other antitrust cases alleging a variety of claims, including conspiratorial conduct (tying, exclusive dealing, price-fixing, market allocations), unilateral conduct (monopolization, monopsonization and predatory pricing) and price discrimination. He also represents clients before the FTC and Antitrust Division in both merger and non-merger investigations. In addition to his antitrust practice, Mr. Schwartz has successfully represented clients in a number of intellectual property (trademark, copyright, trade secrets), banking and securities actions and other complex commercial disputes.
Mr. Donato, 48, has nearly two decades of experience as a trial lawyer, focusing on class actions, antitrust disputes, unfair competition issues, false claim act cases and other complex disputes. He has represented a number of major companies in cases ranging from actions by competitors to consumer class actions and alleged qui tam “whistleblower” claimants. He has particular expertise in antitrust actions involving monopolization, exclusive dealing, and price-fixing claims brought by individual and class plaintiffs. Before joining Cooley, Mr. Donato served as a trial attorney in the San Francisco City Attorney’s Office.
Mr. Bednarek’s practice focuses on patent and trade secret litigation and counseling on behalf of a broad range of international and domestic clients in financial services (e.g., commercial banking, investment banking, fund management, reinsurance, trading and arbitrage), software, electronics and other industries. Mr. Bednarek, 48, has helped clients develop, manage, leverage and monetize intellectual property assets throughout the world in a wide range of fields, including computer hardware and software, electronic commerce, business systems, telecommunications, mechanical and electrical products and semiconductor devices. He also represents clients in high-technology intellectual property litigation both in the courts and before the International Trade Commission (ITC).
Mr. Doyle, 46, has concentrated his practice on the litigation of intellectual property and high technology matters, in courts throughout the United States and the US International Trade Commission. Successfully representing a broad array of clients, he has been lead counsel in multiple intellectual property litigations and has provided trial and appellate representation of corporations in major patent litigation cases. Mr. Doyle’s cases have spanned a wide range of technologies, including telecommunications systems, VOIP telephony, computer hardware and software, encryption, chemical compositions and medical devices, among others. As an electrical engineer prior to practicing law, he helped design and develop next-generation military satellite and terrestrial communications systems.
Shearman & Sterling’s global antitrust litigation practice advises on all phases of criminal investigations and civil litigation, including cartel investigations, dawn raids and predatory pricing. The firm’s antitrust litigation lawyers have significant trial experience in all types of civil and criminal cases before juries and judges in multiple jurisdictions. The firm’s lawyers have also successfully argued before all major authorities and courts in the US and Europe. They have demonstrated particular success in obtaining dismissals prior to trial, as well as special expertise defending complex class actions.
Shearman & Sterling’s intellectual property litigation practice is part of a full-service intellectual property practice that handles intellectual property litigations, infringement and validity analyses, licensing, intellectual property portfolio development, intellectual property due diligence and intellectual property issues arising in corporate and financial transactions. The practice includes intellectual property attorneys in New York, Silicon Valley and London, which enables the firm to handle matters locally from any of these offices, as well as to manage cross-border transactions and implement global intellectual property strategies in coordination with firm offices throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia. Intellectual property litigators focus on litigation and dispute resolution, including arbitration and mediation; patent infringement and validity analyses and opinions; and patent, trademark and copyright prosecution.
Shearman & Sterling LLP is a global law firm with approximately 900 lawyers in 19 offices in 12 countries. The firm is a leader in mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, private finance, project development and finance, complex business litigation and international arbitration, asset management, antitrust and tax.