Weil Gotshal & Manges has hired a pair of IP litigators from Latham & Watkins as it continues to build out its technology litigation capabilities in the US.
Chris Henry and Gaby LaHatte have joined Weil’s new IP, technology and science litigation practice. Henry has joined the firm in Boston after nearly three years as a partner at Latham, while LaHatte has made partner on joining Weil’s San Francisco office, having been a counsel at Latham.
News of their hire comes less than two weeks after highly regarded IP trial lawyers Doug Lumish, Jeff Homrig and Gabe Gross joined Weil across California and Texas from Latham in a group move, with Lumish and Homrig anointed head of the IP, technology and science litigation practice.
Weil executive partner Barry Wolf said the hire of Henry and LaHatte was “the latest milestone in our strategy to build the industry’s premier IP litigation practice, with much more to come”.
In a joint statement, Lumish and Homrig said the incoming duo were “talented litigators who have consistently prevailed for clients in bet-the-company cases. They will strengthen our trial readiness and our ability to guide clients at any phase of litigation”.
Henry represents clients in high-stakes trade secret and IP litigation before US district courts, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board and the US International Trade Commission. He represents clients in litigation involving technologies including software, electromechanical devices, medical technologies and semiconductors.
He joined Latham as an associate in 2018, before which he practised at Boston IP firm Wolf Greenfield.
Meanwhile, LaHatte represents companies in patent litigation and trade secret matters before the federal district courts, the International Trade Commission and in appeals before the Federal Circuit involving myriad life sciences and technology matters.
David Lender, co-chair of Weil’s global litigation department, pointed to the duo’s experience representing “some of the world’s largest technology and life sciences companies in their most important cases”, having said that the earlier hires from Latham gave the firm the “rare opportunity to overtake our competitors and better serve our clients across a broad range of patent, trade secret and other technology and life science-focused engagements”.
The Latham lawyers’ move to Weil comes amid a busy time in the IP hiring market, fuelled by increasing tech innovation, particularly around AI and biotechnology.
Just last month, Cozen O’Connor hired an IP litigation team from Eversheds Sutherland for its planned San Diego office opening. While at the start of July, Crowell & Moring hired an 18-strong IP team from Dentons in London to bolster its Unified Patent Court capabilities in Europe.
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