Texas

Firm overview

With 120 trial lawyers across offices in Austin, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Marshall, New York, and Washington, D.C., McKool Smith has established a reputation as one of America’s leading trial firms. The firm has secured 13 nine-figure jury verdicts and 15 eight-figure jury verdicts, obtaining more VerdictSearch and The National Law Journal “Top 100 Verdicts” than any other US law firm. These courtroom successes have earned McKool Smith critical acclaim and helped the firm become what The Wall Street Journal describes as “one of the biggest law firm success stories of the past decade.”

Its Patent Contentious practice comprises more than 60 attorneys representing plaintiffs and defendants against global tech giants including Apple, Google, Amazon, Netflix, Samsung, Meta (Facebook), Tesla, Uber, Microsoft, and many others. Matters involve a broad range of technologies and industries including electronics, semiconductors, software, telecommunications, the internet, FDA-approved drugs and medical devices, chemical engineering and materials science, and media and entertainment.

The firm’s clients includes some of the world’s largest standard essential patent holders (e.g., Nokia and Ericsson), and it specializes in developing strategies to force unwilling licensees to agree to patent licenses on Fair Reasonable and Non-Discriminatory (FRAND) terms. These strategies often including maximizing pressure on unwilling licensees via litigation in multiple jurisdictions and, when appropriate, through injunctions. It also defends standard essential patent holder clients against claims that their licensing practices are abusive and/or that their offered royalty rates are not FRAND. 

In addition to regularly appearing in district courts across the country, the firm has a robust DC practice with extensive experience before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board and the International Trade Commission.

Firm overview

Alston & Bird LLP has grown to become a leading international firm while remaining steeped in a culture with client service and teamwork as the cornerstones of all that we do. We develop, assemble, and nurture the strongest and broadest array of legal talent and expertise necessary to meet our clients’ needs in an ever-changing and fast-paced environment.

Firm overview

We’re proud to work with some of the world’s most dynamic organizations and the leaders who drive them. We know that on any given day you’re tackling competition, corporate development, asset protection, talent management—some days all of the above. While there’s a bevy of smart folks out there to help you address them on a case-by-case basis, there are few who have the breadth and depth of focused knowledge to help you attend to them all and stay ahead of what’s next.

That’s McDermott.

When you hire us, you don’t just get the experience of an individual. You get a purpose-built, tightly woven network of legal thought leaders who marry their passion for business with a deep, focused understanding of the law.

And your team isn’t just the lawyers working on your business day one. It’s also their colleagues around the world who guide and advise around the edges—the ones who add diverse, nuanced perspectives to elevate strategy and surface highly effective—but often unexpected—solutions when a “simple” transaction becomes a bet-the-company deal or a basic arbitration turns into multi-year litigation.

We don’t just promote this approach—we thrive on it. We know that it’s our ability to tap into the particular knowledge of our individual lawyers and then to harness their collective experience that makes us uniquely qualified to help our clients move faster and propel their success.

You can see it the results we deliver and you’ll feel it when you meet with us to talk about your needs. You’ll know that we’re more than “just” lawyers. We’re scientists, accountants, analysts, policy makers, money managers and family members who love the law. We bring all of those experiences to bear for your business and the people you serve.

Most importantly, we’re committed to helping you make real progress against your goals—to turning those big ideas into actionable plans—and to making it as easy and enjoyable as possible.

Firm overview

For more than a century, the world’s leading companies have turned to Shook, Hardy & Bacon to obtain favorable results under the most contentious circumstances.

Our clients expect more than wins. They engage Shook both inside and outside the courtroom to protect their business investments and maximize opportunities for growth. At Shook, we believe that legal excellence begins and ends with relationships founded on creative and practical solutions. Our attorneys approach every challenge with integrity, tenacity and collegiality to achieve the best results for those we represent.

Critical in a crisis, creative in court.®