Distinguished Group Is Led By David Kleinfeld, Prominent Litigator and Former Co-Chair of Heller’s Complex Commercial Litigation Practice.
Foley announced today that 10 former Heller Ehrman LLP attorneys and one patent specialist, led by prominent litigator and former co-chair of Heller’s Complex Commercial Litigation Practice, David Kleinfeld, will join the firm’s Litigation and Intellectual Property Departments and reside in the firm’s San Diego and Del Mar offices.
Kleinfeld is joined by former Heller partners Kurt Kjelland, Dan Silverman, Chad Fuller and Barry Tucker. Kleinfeld, Fuller, Silverman and Tucker will join Foley’s national Litigation Department while Kjelland will join Foley’s national Intellectual Property Department. All five attorneys specialize in intellectual property litigation and will be members of Foley’s national Intellectual Property Litigation Practice Group. In addition, five former Heller associates will be joining Foley’s San Diego and Del Mar offices including Steve Moore, Ph.D., Sam Hellfeld, Richard Thill, Nicole Cunningham and Tammy Boggs. Bob Palmer, Ph.D., also joins as a patent specialist.
“After detailed discussions with many of the top law firms in the U.S., I am extremely pleased to be joining Foley at a time of continued growth and success for the firm,” explained Kleinfeld. “Foley’s outstanding national intellectual property and litigation capabilities will provide a tremendous platform for my practice as well as that of my partners Kurt, Dan, Chad and Barry.”
Throughout his career, Kleinfeld has been widely recognized as one of the top business litigators in California, receiving various recognitions for his work including being listed as one of San Diego’s top business litigators by San Diego Magazine and one of California’s top rainmakers by California Law Business. He focuses his practice on intellectual property and complex commercial litigation, including high-stakes, “bet the company” matters. Kleinfeld’s recent trial victories include the complete defense victory by QUALCOMM on all patent infringement claims after a three week jury trial involving position location technology. He also recently represented Washington Mutual and Hewlett Packard in class action litigation as well as the City of San Diego in litigation related to the multibillion dollar underfunding of the San Diego City Employee Retirement System. Kleinfeld has successfully handled dozens of banking litigation, class action, securities litigation, intellectual property and unfair competition litigation cases. Other representative clients include Kyocera, SAIC, Bank of America and Ernst & Young, among others.
“Foley’s patent litigation practice has enjoyed national and international prominence for many years, and Foley’s Intellectual Property practice has been ranked in the top 10 nationally for the past seven years for both patent litigation and patent prosecution,” said Sharon R. Barner, chair of the firm’s Intellectual Property Department. “David and his team bring a significant level of patent litigation experience and strong track record of success that further advances our reputation and capabilities both nationally and in Southern California. In addition, the team’s deep experience in the electronics industry will serve as a natural complement to our representation of Japanese corporations in U.S. intellectual property matters, leveraging our Tokyo presence.”
“This group epitomizes the qualities we look for in partners namely, character, integrity and intellectual capacity and we are pleased to welcome them to our Foley family,” said Van Tengberg, managing partner of Foley’s San Diego and Del Mar offices. “This team of highly talented attorneys will add significant depth to our pre-eminent intellectual property litigation capabilities and general commercial litigation presence in Southern California. The addition of this group extends the rapid rise and growth of our San Diego and Del Mar offices.”
Kjelland focuses his practice on patent litigation with substantial experience in high-stakes patent and trade secret cases. His cases have spanned the technology, biotechnology, pharmaceutical and consumer products fields. Kjelland also has extensive experience conducting Hatch-Waxman litigation and regularly counsels start-up companies on a variety of IP issues. Prior to practicing law, he worked as a chemical engineer for the Dow Chemical Company.
Silverman focuses his practice on intellectual property and complex commercial litigation. His intellectual property litigation experience ranges from defending and prosecuting numerous misappropriations of trade secrets lawsuits, software license agreement disputes and patent and trademark infringement disputes. Silverman’s commercial litigation experience includes defending unfair competition and unfair business practice class actions, securities fraud class actions and lender liability and fraud actions. He is a board member and president-elect of the San Diego Volunteer Lawyer Program and a board member of the Association of Business Trial Lawyers.
Fuller focuses his practice on a wide variety of litigation matters, including intellectual property, complex commercial, consumer, and securities litigation. He is currently the co-chair of the litigation section of the San Diego County Bar Association and sits on the board of directors for the University of San Diego.
Tucker focuses his practice on intellectual property and commercial litigation. He has served as past president of the San Diego Legal Aid Society and as a lawyer representative of the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference.
Comprised of nearly 240 attorneys, Foley’s Intellectual Property practice is a recognized leader in IP legal services. For the seventh consecutive year, Foley was ranked by IP Today as one of the top 10 firms for the number of patents issued and by IP Law & Business magazine as one of the top patent litigation firms in the nation. These rankings make Foley the only general practice firm to appear in the top 10 for both patent litigation and patent procurement.
Foley’s Litigation practice is one of the largest in the country, including more than 450 attorneys nationwide with extensive experience in all aspects of complex litigation, arbitration, mediation and alternative dispute resolution. Foley represents corporations in nearly every industry, handling some of the largest and most sophisticated commercial lawsuits for major domestic and international clients.
Foley & Lardner LLP continually evolves to meet the changing legal needs of our clients. Our team-based approach, proprietary client service technology, and practice depth enhance client relationships while seeing clients through their most complex legal challenges. The BTI Consulting Group (Wellesley, Massachusetts) recently recognized Foley as one of the top four law firms shaping the U.S. legal market, while CIO magazine has named Foley to its CIO 100 list six times for our client-focused technology. With more than 1,000 attorneys in 22 offices and more than 50 practices, count on Foley for high-caliber business and legal insight.