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!121294  Gossip on patent law firms around the country

     One of the trickiest parts of applying for a patent is choosing a patent
law firm to represent you.  If you are not "networked", it is hard to obtain
opinions and gossip on patent law firms in your city (not that patent law is
different from any other form of law in this aspect - it is hard to find
people to go on the record about any law firm).

     One way to find out which firms might be most appropriate is to do a
patent search in your field of technology, restricted to patents awarded to
companies in your part of the country.  You can find out which law firms
represented these companies, and at least get a list of firms to check out
in more detail.

     Usually after contacting some of these firms, you will get nice glossy
brochures about the firm and the glory of patenting, maybe a list of the
partners and areas of technology they specialize in.  While you have more
information, it does little to give you a feel for the people there.
What to do??????

     Well, a book has just been published that partially addresses this
problem.  The book is titled:
			"Insider's Guide to Law Firms"
			Sheila Malkani and Michael Walsh
			Mobius Press
			P.O. Box 3339
			Boulder, CO  80307
			730 pages - ISBN 0-9637970-3-4
			1-800-529-5627
			$28.95 - paperback + $3
			$79.95 - hardcover + $3

The book is edited by two former Harvard Law Students, and has descriptions
on a variety of law firms around the country.  The two first contacted other
law students who had clerked during the summers to get their impressions and
observations, and then they interviewed the law firms.  The book is not an
expose type of book, and is intended for graduating law students who want
to know more about potential employers.

For each firm (and not every firm in every city is covered), the following
mostly demographic information is provided: name, address, hiring attorney,
associate salary, average hours worked, benefits, partnership, partners per
practice area, and women/minority staffing.  After these tables, casual text
paragraphs cover atmosphere, working conditions, opportunities, training,
social life, diversity, management, decor, specialties and interview styles.
Other topics are covered from firm to firm.

In general, for the price, it is an excellent guide to understanding law
firms.  For the money, it provides a wealth of information and insights if
you are going to be using law firms to any degree.  True it is written more
for students as a guide, but the information will be helpful to everyone.
The following cities are covered: Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago,
Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh,
San Francisco/Palo Alto and Washington.

Unfortunately for patenting types, the patent law community is not thoroughly
covered, but there are enough reviews of patent law firms (especially in
Silicon Valley) to make it worthwhile to buy this book.  What follows are
a comment or two taken from the reviews of the patent law firms, to give
you a flavor of the book.  NOTE: Anything in brackets "[ ]" are my comments,
unless they are libelous.  Buy the book or get your library to buy the book.

ATLANTA
Kilpatrick & Cody (20 IP lawyers out of 151)
   Full service law firm with international reach.  Comfortable working
atmosphere.  Growing intellectual property practice.

BOSTON
Fish & Richardson (40 IP lawyers out of 42)
   Big biotech practice. 50/50 patent prosecution & litigation. Individualist
atmosphere - not a lot of teamwork.  Good technology users.  [ Just opened up
a Palo Alto office. ]

Testa, Hurwitz & Thibeault (10 IP lawyers out of 135)
   Firm's forte is venture capital / high technology.  Helps build companies,
representing clients in a variety of areas (litigation, corporate practice).
Low key, hard working atmosphere.

CHICAGO
Keck, Mahin & Cate (18 IP lawyers out of 184)
   Client's mostly medium and large corporations.  IP section is growing.
Hard working place with good support for legal staff, good atmosphere.

Kirkland & Ellis (23 IP lawyers out of 233)
   GM is a big client, and firm deals mostly with corporations.  Very hard
working environment, attorneys individualistic.  Works with venture capital
firms, with ties to a Palo Alto firm, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati.

DALLAS
Thompson & Knight (79 IP lawyers out of 217)
   Big in oil and gas industry.  Friendly and relaxed atmosphere, though
one of the biggest firms in Texas.

LOS ANGELES
Irell & Manella (17 IP lawyers out of 158)
   One of LA's best full service law firms.  IP litigation section has been
growing rapidly.  Hard working, entreprenuerial environment.  If nothing
else, partner Morgan Chu led the team that whupped Microsoft's butt in
court by helping Stac win its infringement lawsuit. Has other expertise in
computer law.

NEW YORK
Fish & Neave (>50% IP lawyers out of 121)
   Fish & Neave is one of the nation's premier patent firms, and apparently
this is their "motto".  Founded in 1870, it has represented Alexander Graham
Bell, the Wright Brothers, Thomas Edison and Henry Ford.  In recent times,
it helped Polaroid get a billion dollars of Kodak over instant camera
infringement.  85% of work is patent litigation.  Formal atmosphere.  Most
work involves multi-million dollar litigation.

Kenyon & Kenyon (78 IP lawyers out of 78)
   70 percent of firm is devoted to patents, split between prosecution and
litigation.  Known throughout the world and well respected, though they
would have preferred to have been more successful representing Kodak (see
Fish & Neave).  Deals with patenting in electronics, computers and chemistry.
Atmosphere is a bit formal and stratified, though low stress.  Associates
have more opportunities to work on patent prosecution than litigation.  Has
office in Frankfurt.

Pennie & Edmonds (89 patent lawyers out of 119)
   70 percent of work is patent litigation or prosecution.  Well regarded
for its biotechnology expertise.  Helped Hewlett Packard fight off charges
by Apple of GUI technology theft.  Nationally known IP firm, recently
opening an office in Menlo Park.  Hard working environment, with a formal
atmosphere.  Occasionally represents small inventors.

SAN FRANCISCO / PALO ALTO
Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison
   One of the major venture capital law firms.  Hard working atmosphere.
SF office mostly litigation, PA office mostly venture capital.  Working
the Pacific Rim.  Bureaucratic and conventional atmosphere.

Cooley Godward Castro Huddleson & Tatum (41 IP lawyers out of 201)
   Represents many small and mid-size entrepreneurial clients, with a good
venture capital practice.  Fun atmosphere to work at.  Very supportive of
women. Does a lot of biotech work (such as Amgen).  One name partner, Ed
Huddleson, wrote Nixon's Executive Order creating the AEC (now DOE).

Fenwick & West (40 IP lawyers out of 102)
   Full service firm for high technology businesses in Silicon Valley,
representing many computer and biotech companies. Mostly patent prosecution
work.  Pleasant place to work, good balance between work and play. [They
publish a free guide to software protection around the world].

McCutchen, Doyle, Brown & Enersen
   Very profitable and prestigous SF law firms.  Pleasant but formal working
atmosphere.  IP work mostly litigation [helped Microsoft win copyright
infringement case against Apple].  Known for liberal philosophy. [Probably
has greatest office views for any IP firm in the country].

Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati (43 IP lawyers out of 261)
   Legal powerhouse of Silicon Valley, one of the top 30 most profitable
law firms in country.  Represents thousands of Silicon Valley companies,
helpig with incorporation, IP protection, IPOs, mergers and acquisitions.
Does a lot of IP litigation.  Hard working but pleasant atmosphere.

WASHINGTON
Arnold & Porter (55 IP lawyers out of 359)
   One of most prestigious firms in DC.  Hardwording and serious atmosphere.
Full service law firm.  Office in Tokyo.

Foley & Lardner (35 IP lawyers out of 68)
   Many of the patent lawyers have technical backgrounds.  Pleasant working
atmosphere.  Headquarters in Milwaukee.

Venable, Baetjer, Howard & Civiletti (11 IP lawyers out of 60)
   Thriving IP practice.  Headquarters in Baltimore.

===========================================================================

    All in all, a random sampling of patent law firms around the country.
The authors may work on a new edition in the future (and presumably cover
more firms) - depends on time and interest.

    At the price, it is a good read to find out more about the internal
dynamics of all types of law firms, helpful when it comes to choosing one
for your own company.