Douglas Carsten > McDermott Will & Emery LLP > Silicon Valley, United States > Lawyer Profile

Fielding a team of ‘experts in multiple patent lawsuits in pharmaceutical field‘, McDermott Will & Emery LLP represents global and domestic clients in patent litigation across industry sectors, with particular emphasis on the life sciences space. William Gaede in San Francisco leads the global intellectual property practice and acts for biotech, pharma, and medical device companies. Patent litigator Douglas Carsten in Orange County is a life sciences expert, Boston-based IP attorney Sarah Columbia works across the pharma and tech sectors, and Michael Chu in Chicago has a broad IP practice. The group also includes IP litigators Thomas Steindler in Washington DC, Shane Nichols in Atlanta, and Kevin Meek in Austin, and New-York based lawyer Simon Roberts, who handles patent infringement cases for major pharma companies.

One client suggests that McDermott Will & Emery LLP fields ‘best trial team in the patent litigation space,’ and the practice is sought after by clients seeking both to protect their novel drugs and enforce them in the face of infringements. Beyond this, the firm is able to provide support across myriad matters, including stock and asset deals, M&As and partnerships in the industry. Jointly leading the team alongside her are Douglas Carsten, an Orange County-based specialist in life sciences patent disputes who helps clients protect pharmaceuticals, biologics and medical devices, and Silicon Valley’s William Gaede, a fellow patent litigator who specializes in antibodies, proteins and small molecules. Also in Silicon Valley, Bhanu Sadasivan litigates patent disputes concerning recombinant DNA technology. Vernessa Pollard and Anisa Mohanty departed the firm in February 2024.