The Legal 500

Within Patent litigation: hi tech electronics and IT: National,

Foley & Lardner

PRACTICE: With nearly 240 IP attorneys, Foley & Lardner occupies a stable position in the intellectual property market, where it has particular expertise in patent litigation. Headquartered in Milwaukee, with 18 offices located across the US, the firm has expanded its IP and litigation groups with the hiring of ten attorneys and one patent specialist from the defunct law firm Heller Ehrman. A more recent string of high-profile additions between November 2008 and February 2009 includes Jon Dudas, a former undersecretary of commerce for intellectual property and former director of the USPTO.

Clients say that ‘they understand the client’s as well as the counterpart’s business and are creative in coming up with new ideas for the discussion and settlement’.

CLIENTS: Hewlett-Packard, Toshiba, Linear Technology, Lucent Technologies, AT&T, Motorola, Nvidia and Philips are some of the firm’s clients.

INDIVIDUALS: John Feldhaus in Washington DC focuses his practice on patent litigation relating to electronic and computer technologies. Clients admire his ‘great attention to detail, going about and beyond critical thinking’.

Former executive assistant to the commissioner of patents and trademarks Barry Grossman, based in Milwaukee, is experienced in all IP areas, from licensing to litigation and asset management. Sharon Barner in Chicago has been representing clients in a vast range of technologies over the course of her 20-year career.

Within Patent prosecution - plant patents: National,

Foley & Lardner LLP

PRACTICE: A dozen intellectual property lawyers at Foley & Lardner LLP spend a considerable amount of time working with plants, advising up to 40 PVPAs annually on corn, soybeans and cotton. They are part of a ‘well known’ intellectual property group, offering services across the firm’s 19 US offices.

In praising the firm’s attorneys, clients say: ‘They understand the technologies, give appropriate and professional advice and have negotiation skills and creative ideas.’

In 2008, the practice filed utility patents for Brassica Protection Products, which developed an anti-cancer compound, found in broccoli.

The firm is also increasingly consolidating its strengths in green energy technologies, helping clients to license and protect products and services, in order to create alternative or clean energy.

Among the recently written patents by the intellectual property group is an apple tree named ‘Zari’, characterized by having early maturity and a very crisp and juicy pulp of fruit.

CLIENTS: A Dutch developer of tools for genetic engineering of plants, an Israeli horticultural developer, a major US developer of genetically engineered potato and oil-seed crops and a large Danish developer of horticultural crops are among the practice’s clients.

INDIVIDUALS: Richard Peet in Washington DC chairs the firm’s international practice and is also a member of the biotechnology & pharmaceutical team. Benjamin Berkowitz, also in Washington DC is experienced in prosecuting patents in the fields of plant molecular biology, chemical sensors and pharmaceuticals.

Within Patent prosecution: utility and design patents: National,

Foley & Lardner LLP

PRACTICE: Foley & Lardner LLP’s attorneys have ‘great expertise in intellectual property-related work, in addition to understanding clients, as well as counterparts’ businesses and having the creativeness in coming up with new ideas for the discussion and settlement’, comment clients.

Headquartered in Milwaukee, the firm counts 180 patent prosecution attorneys working for mature manufacturing companies, in sectors such as automobile, household appliances, new technology, financial services and video-compression.

Clients praise the attorneys’ ‘great attention to detail, going about and beyond critical thinking’, and their ‘compassion and commitment, showing how much they care about their clients’. In addition, Foley & Lardner LLP’s lawyers are appreciated for ‘understanding technologies, giving appropriate and professional advice, for their negotiation skills and their creative ideas’.

During 2008, the intellectual property group filed a high volume of patents in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical areas, for companies such as Ireland-based Elan Pharmaceuticals.

CLIENTS: Clients include Behr, Cummins Engines, Incyte, Johnson Controls, Wyeth and Hewlett-Packard. In addition, the practice advises NEC LCD Technologies and Nissan Motor.

INDIVIDUALS: Leon Radomsky in Washington DC chairs the firm’s nanotechnology industry team and focuses on client counseling, intellectual property due diligence and agreements.

Antoinette Konski in Silicon Valley works with life science and technology clients in preparing and optimizing their patent portfolios.

Harold Wegner splits time between Washington DC and Tokyo, and is experienced in patent enforcement and management for multinational, particularly Chinese and Japanese, companies.

Within Sports: National,

Foley & Lardner

PRACTICE: What’s particularly impressive about the Foley & Lardner sports law practice is the spread of engagements it undertakes.

The group has developed out of its Milwaukee base and has members in several East Coast offices, as well as in San Diego and Los Angeles. Still, with 14 partners in the sports practice in its headquarters, it is seen as ‘one of the biggest and best sports practices’. Having represented local teams, the Bucks and the Brewers, as well as the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Green Bay Packers, the practice has a strong grounding in handling both transactional and IP matters for major sporting teams.

However, it’s in representing Major League Baseball where the group continues to notch up big scores. Regarded as ‘probably the finest name associated with the MLB’, the group’s relation with the league has been long running and featured prominent work with regard to its deals with broadcast media, structure and payment issues, and disputes. Here the ability the practice has to call on ‘top notch litigators’, a strong corporate element and relevant expertise, such as real estate and IP, has been a genuine boon for the group.

CLIENTS: Clients of the team include MLB Advanced Media.

INDIVIDUALS: Mary Braza is known as ‘among a handful of top legal professionals associated with the big sporting leagues, something she has won through simply knowing the most about what her clients need and how to give it to them’. Braza chairs the sports practice out of the Milwaukee office and has ‘an unequalled record in MLB-related work’.

Within Technology - data protection and privacy: National,

Foley & Lardner

PRACTICE: With a practice featuring 22 attorneys spread across the country, Foley & Lardner has continued to make an impact in the privacy space without falling into any particular sub-category of specialization. The team has had success in acting on a wide range of representations, earning a reputation for ‘excellent service’.

Clients acknowledge the group as ‘dependable and quick to respond with a succinct answer’, and certainly the breach component of the group has earned itself a name as one of the most competent available. The firm’s recently launched privacy litigation SWAT team is a notable adjunct to the team’s general activities, and that few others have dedicated the same focus to such an endeavour, reflects on the firm’s drive to put itself among the major players in the data privacy league.

That the team has continued to be used by Facebook for privacy and internet marketing advice speaks to both its reach and its ability to compete with other technology-orientated firms when it comes to winning big mandates from technology clients.

CLIENTS: Clients of the practice include Provide Commerce, Tyco, Epsilon Data Management, Exelon, 24 Hour Fitness, Sempra Energy, Truste, Monster Worldwide, and Walmart.

INDIVIDUALS: Andrew Serwin is the founding chair of the practice and co-chair of the privacy litigation team. Based in the San Diego offices, Serwin draws praise from clients for being ‘a trustworthy and approachable lawyer’ and ‘intelligent and capable’.

Within Antitrust - Midwest,

Foley & Lardner LLP

PRACTICE: Foley & Lardner LLP’s Milwaukee office is recommended for day-to-day counseling, and multi-district class action litigation. The practice’s experience includes high-profile and multi-billion dollar claims, pre-merger notification/Hart-Scott-Rodino issues, civil investigative demands, and agency antitrust investigations. The team comprises trial lawyers, business counselors, and former government antitrust lawyers, including a former acting assistant director of the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) Bureau of Competition.

CLIENTS: The list of client corporations derives from a broad range of industries, including names from the healthcare, energy and financial services sectors.

INDIVIDUALS: Partner Jim McKeown regularly advises clients before federal and state antitrust enforcement agencies, including representation on Hart-Scott-Rodino matters.

Within Florida: transactions and finance,

Foley & Lardner

PRACTICE: With offices in Jacksonville, Tampa and Orlando, Foley & Lardner’s Florida real estate practice forms a core part of the firm’s overall US offering. As such, the firm’s 30 Florida-based real estate lawyers handle both state-wide and big ticket national transactions.

CLIENTS: The practice acts for an impressive mix of financial institutions, developer and leisure clients including Wachovia and Regions Bank, Textrong Financial, Pacific Life Insurance, the Bethany Group, St Regis Paper, Regency Centers and the Meadowbrook Golf Club.

INDIVIDUALS: Tampa-based partner Fred Ridley is the national vice-chair of Foley & Lardner’s real estate group, and is particularly well known for his strong niche in the hospitality, resort and golf sectors. Other highly rated partners include Tampa’s Stephen Szabo and Orlando’s multi-talented Paul Rosenthal. Jacksonville-based partner David Cook is recommended for his expertise in retail and mixed-use development and finance.

Within Illinois,

Foley & Lardner

PRACTICE: Foley & Lardner’s Chicago real estate practice of six partners is well balanced between transactions, finance, litigation, and reconstruction practices. Targeted at the mid-stream assignment, the firm thrives in its milieu. Clients comment on ‘a friendly firm that tells you where it can help; and where it can’t’.

Industry niches in transactions and development work include golf courses, healthcare, and the resort industry. The firm also boasts expertise in REITs and investment funds as well as acting for lenders and borrowers in a range of complex deals. The practice acted for Pacific Life on a $120m construction loan for the development of an apartment tower in Chicago, and assisted the University of Illinois at Chicago with its retail development and leasing of University Village MarketPlace.

CLIENTS: Clients include Hyundai Mobis, Harley-Davidson, Sigma Aldrich, Tyco, Pacific Life, Resurrection Health Care, General Growth Properties, Westfield Corporation, First Bank and the Magellan Development Group.

INDIVIDUALS: Elizabeth Corey heads the Chicago practice and has considerable expertise in hospitality and golf development and financing. Real estate partner Wayne Osoba is praised as ‘the best transaction attorney I have ever worked with, he drafts documentation which is always as tight as a drum’.