The Legal 500

Within Healthcare and life sciences, Davis Wright Tremaine LLP is a third tier firm,

Davis Wright Tremaine LLP is ‘committed to the healthcare space’. It is particularly ‘a real force in California’ and, more broadly, along the West Coast, although it also has a team in Washington DC. The group comprehensively represents healthcare service providers and research institutes on their regulatory, transactional and litigation needs. Recent clients include Seattle Children’s Hospital and Providence Health Systems. On the life sciences side of the industry, the firm is most noteworthy for its busy commercial licensing and investments practice as well as patent prosecution and litigation. Highlights included advising Kaiser Venture Group on investments, and advising Catholic Healthcare West and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center on their technology transfer programs. Seattle-based Robert Homchick chairs the national healthcare practice, and is an expert on the Stark Law and state equivalents, as well as regulatory compliance and fraud and abuse. Four former partners left the firm to join Hooper, Lundy & Bookman, PC at the start of 2011.

Within Copyright, Davis Wright Tremaine LLP is a second tier firm,

Noted for its strength in media and broadcasting, Davis Wright Tremaine LLP’s team, based in New York, handles counseling, registration and transactional issues alongside a dedicated litigation practice. Copyright litigator Elizabeth McNamara has extensive experience acting for television broadcasters, literary agents and publishing houses alongside other media and entertainment clients. McNamara recently represented Spike Cable Networks, MTV Networks, Viacom and CBS in an infringement suit regarding a television show. Kelli Sager also has experience representing media broadcasters and publications at trial and appellate level, and is currently defending British newspaper The Mail on Sunday in a copyright claim brought by a Beach Boys band member. Other clients include BBC and NBC Universal. The practice successfully represented the latter in an infringement claim regarding the television show Heroes. In a reflection of its strength in literary rights, it represented author JD Salinger in Salinger v Colting, an infringement suit alleging that another writer’s work was a would-be sequel to The Catcher in the Rye. The case was granted preliminary injunction and at a Second Circuit appeal was vacated and remanded. Marcia Paul represents various major media organisations in copyright litigation.

Within M&A: middle-market (sub-$500m), Davis Wright Tremaine LLP is a first tier firm,

Davis Wright Tremaine LLP’s strong industry knowledge extends to a number of fields, including family-owned or other privately held companies, emerging technology companies, telecommunications, energy, health care, medical devices, food and food processing, as well as manufacturing. Work highlights have included advising Semitool in its $364m tender offer and merger with Applied Materials, acting for Rainsweet in negotiating the sale of a frozen onion business unit and developing a strategic alliance with Freeze Pack, and assisting Confirma, the creator of Cadstream, a medical device software system that automates the processing of breast magnetic resonance imaging studies, in its $22m merger with Merge Healthcare. It also represented the owners of Massif Mountain Gear Company in the sale of the company to Golden Gate Capital, and advised Starbucks in the acquisition of Cafe Hawaii Partners and Puerto Rico Coffee Partners. Additionally, the practice was counsel to West Coast Hotels in its sale to Cavanaugh’s, and in the subsequent acquisition of Red Lion Hotels from Hilton. Portland business chair Michael Phillips is recommended; Phillips has acted in cross-border M&A for Canadian and United States entities. In Seattle, business transactions chair Joseph Weinstein is especially focused on transactions involving family or closely held businesses, private equity funds and international businesses. Weinstein has substantial experience in the food-related industries and assists clients with the purchase and sale of such companies.