Life sciences patent litigator Angus Chen has left IP boutique Haug Partners to become a partner at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan in New York. He said his focus on fighting for clients in the specialty pharmaceutical space would fit right in at the litigation megafirm.

Quinn Emanuel called Chen a "virtuoso" in its Thursday announcement of his hire. He has worked for such pharmaceutical clients as Chiesi, Takeda, Shire, Baxalta, Medicure and The Medicines Co., according to the Am Law 100 firm's website, on cases involving billion-dollar drugs suc as Shire's Vyvanse.

Chen, who led the life science practice at his last firm, said he "just couldn't pass" on the chance to move from Haug Partners, a boutique with about 50 lawyers in Boston, New York and Washington, to Quinn Emanuel, which has more than 800 lawyers and annual revenue of over $1 billion.

Litigation is a team sport, he said, and moving to Quinn Emanuel is "kind of like going to the big leagues."

Chen, 44, has a doctorate in biochemistry from Mount Sinai School of Medicine and said he has an understanding of the business goals of specialty pharmaceutical firms from his time as in-house patent counsel at Par Pharmaceutical. While some lawyers "forget about the ultimate business objective of the client," he said he seeks to work with regulatory and transactional lawyers in his patent-litigation practice.

He said he knew a few people at Quinn Emanuel either through the grapevine or by reputation, including Eric Stops, a college classmate of his, and F. Dominic "Nick" Cerrito, who co-chairs the firm's national life sciences practice. Both are former Jones Day partners. He said there were no conflict issues with joining and that his practice was "100% synergistic" with his new firm's.

Chen, who made the lateral move alone, said the economics of his practice are based on hourly billing and he hasn't worked with litigation funders.

A spokesman for Haug Partners, which was known as Frommer Lawrence & Haug until 2017, didn't respond to a comment request.