Boies Schiller Flexner (BSF) has hired two partners in the US to bolster its IP and antitrust offerings.

James Keyte is joining the firm’s New York headquarters from the economic consultancy group Brattle, where he was the director of global development focusing on economic-related aspects of antitrust work. Enoch Liang is joining the San Francisco office from litigation boutique LTL Attorneys, which he co-founded in 2008.

BSF has particular experience at the intersection of intellectual property (IP) rights and antitrust law and with the hires hopes to bolster its antitrust, sports and IP litigation offering. 

Matthew Schwartz, BSF chairman-elect said: “We are excited to be adding two highly skilled litigators in James and Enoch, both of whom have significant experience in areas where we are seeing increased client demand.”

Speaking about his new role, Keyte said the firm’s reputation for “handling cutting-edge litigation, is the perfect way to return to private practice”. He was a partner at Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom for more than two decades leading complex antitrust litigation, transactions and advisory matters across diverse sectors. 

Keyte has extensive experience in antitrust and sports litigation including litigating high-profile cases, class actions, alleged price-fixing, monopolisation, IP licensing and distribution rights.

He has represented major sports clients including the US sports leagues NHL, NFL and NBA and has provided counsel to companies such as Anheuser-Busch, Express Scripts, the Coca-Cola companies and SanDisk.

Keyte is also the director of the Fordham Competition Law Institute and has taught comparative antitrust law as an adjunct professor for several years.

Commenting on his new role, Liang said: “The firm’s commitment to innovation and its tenacity in achieving successful outcomes on behalf of clients, whether they’re plaintiffs or defendants, aligns closely with the philosophy I held at my own firm.”

In a statement, BSF pointed out that Liang helped grow his litigation boutique LTL Attorneys to 40 attorneys across three offices before shifting his focus to legal technology start-up LegalMation.

Liang co-founded LegalMation in 2018, an AI-driven platform focused on streamlining repetitive litigation processes, and saw it through a Series A funding in 2023.

Liang has experience with IP, data privacy and cross-border commercial disputes. He has litigated on matters relating to patents, copyrights, trademarks, trade dress and trade secrets.

He has served as lead counsel in numerous trials and appeals and has cross-border litigation experience and ties to the Asia Pacific market. Liang was previously a litigation attorney at Hogan Lovells and Quinn Emanuel. 

Schwartz said that in addition to seeking top-tier talent and a strong cultural fit, BSF was “looking for partners who understand trials, are comfortable operating as plaintiffs or defendants, and can develop cases and clients”.

He added: “The lateral partner market is highly competitive, and we want to be the law firm of choice for the relatively narrow subset of attorneys who fit that description.”

The duo’s arrival is the latest in a series of recent lateral hires. In September it hired Peter Skinner from Morrison Foerster to co-lead its investigations and white collar team, and Andrew Smith, who joined from Holland & Knight and covers regulatory, commercial and transactional matters. In May, BSF bolstered its patent litigation practice in Washington DC with the hire of a trio of partners from trial firm Shook Hardy & Bacon. 

The firm’s founder and chair, the renowned David Boies, is scheduled to step down this month as its leader. He made his name litigating landmark cases, including the federal government’s antitrust suit against Microsoft in 2000. In 2022, he secured an out-of-court settlement with Prince Andrew for an undisclosed sum on behalf of Virginia Giuffre.