Firm welcomes six-partner exodus from A&O ahead of merger

‘Exceptional team’ brings tech IP litigation clout to Paul Hastings | Clients include Google, Meta and Marvell Semiconductor | Moves come on eve of massive A&O merger with Shearman & Sterling.

Six partners from ‘Magic Circle’ law firm Allen & Overy have jumped ship to join rival Paul Hastings at two US offices, in a move that it says will “add more firepower” to an “already impressive group”.

Shamita Etienne-Cummings, James Gagen and an unnamed partner will be based in Washington, DC. Lisa Nguyen and Eric Lancaster will be in Palo Alto, while Grace Wang will be in New York.

The moves come just a few weeks before the announcement of the high-profile merger of Allen & Overy and Shearman & Sterling to create ‘A&O Shearman’, which they say will be the only global firm to offer US law, English law, and local law capabilities “in equal measure”.

It is unclear whether the impending merger has influenced the six partners to join Paul Hastings.

Big Tech brawn

The newly appointed “stellar” team at Paul Hastings work across Big Tech and a range of high-growth industries, including AI, AR/VR, e-commerce, software and hardware systems, semiconductors, telecommunications, mobile devices, consumer electronics, and payment systems.

Clients they have collectively represented include Google, Toshiba and its subsidiary Kioxia, US media company Curiosity Stream, Meta Platforms, Realtek Semiconductor, UK firm ResMed, and Marvell Semiconductor.

The group specialises in litigation and matters before US District Courts, the US International Trade Commission (ITC), the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) and the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

Paul Hastings chair Frank Lopez said: "With clients facing increasingly complex IP challenges due to global competition and converging technologies, adding this exceptional team to our leading practice continues our strategy of enhancing our platform with premier talent that brings proven experience in key sectors.

"Deepening our IP litigation bench in Silicon Valley and Washington will further position us to capture additional market share at the top of the market."

"We're very excited to welcome this team, and their significant impact, to our IP practice," added Naveen Modi, global co-chair of the IP practice.

“Their depth in popular patent litigation venues will add more firepower to our already impressive group. With this new team and the synergies they bring, we look forward to continuing to meet our clients' goals and providing them with the best solutions and results, including on their most important, bet-the-company matters.”

The moves, which it says will enhance its Northern California offering, follow the addition of transactional teams in Palo Alto.

The firm also says that the new team “reflects its continued commitment to serving client needs across core litigation practices,” including complex litigation, financial services investigation and regulation, white collar defence, investigations, and arbitration.

Biographies

A first-chair litigator, Etienne-Cummings advises on complex patent matters, representing technology clients before district courts, the Federal Circuit, the PTAB and the ITC.

Such matters include mobile communications, smart consumer electronics, semiconductor design and processing, media, aerospace, defence, consumer electronic devices, and medical devices.

Etienne-Cummings also represents clients in breach of contract and trade secret matters before district courts, the ITC and the International Commercial Court (ICC).

She was previously an electrical engineer and program manager for GTE Corporation in the mobile telecommunications industry, where she designed and implemented wireless communication and satellite systems.

According to her LinkedIn profile, she is “committed to diversity and inclusion initiatives across all aspects of the legal profession”, and is an adjunct professor of law at George Washington University School of Law in Washington, DC where she teaches a patent litigation practice course.

Gagen is known for his deep experience with Section 337 matters at the ITC, as well as his many successes in investigations representing complainants and respondents.

His IP litigation practice also includes appearing before federal tribunals around the country on matters involving international trade and competition matters.

According to Gagen, “some unnamed sources refer to me as an ITC nerd, which I take as a compliment”.

He also devotes a portion of his time to pro bono matters.

Nguyen focuses on patent and trade secret litigation, and has represented technology firms as lead counsel.

She represents both plaintiffs and defendants in complex multi-jurisdictional, multi-patent cases, particularly in litigation against non-practicing entities. 

Nguyen brings “substantial experience” of handling cases before district courts across the country, the ITC, and the PTAB.

She also regularly speaks and writes on patent counselling and IP issues.

Lancaster is a former managing partner of Allen & Overy's Silicon Valley and San Francisco offices, with a practice focusing on patent litigation across a wide range of sectors and technologies.

He represents clients in all aspects of the product life cycle for matters involving medical devices, software, social networking, mobile devices, semiconductor devices, computer hardware, and pharmaceuticals.

Lancaster is also an adjunct professor at Berkeley Law School where he specialises in antitrust and innovation.

Wang's practice focuses on PTAB and ITC matters, including post-grant proceedings, infringement, patent validity, freedom to operate, and due diligence analysis.

With a PhD in electrical engineering and neuroscience, Wang works with complex technologies, including medical devices, integrated circuits, signal processing, disease diagnostics, and cloud computing.

As the DEI and intellectual property partner while at Allen & Overy, Wang is known for championing diversity and inclusion.

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