A $120 million jury verdict for Apple Inc. would mark the climactic moment for most intellectual property practices. But the 2014 story of Morrison & Foerster's IP team had multiple plot lines. In addition to successfully casting Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. as a thieving antagonist in the smartphone and tablet saga that drew damages of more than $1 billion (before Samsung eked out posttrial reductions), Morrison was in courts around the globe protecting clients' valuable inventions.

The firm extracted punishing damages in competitor suits, crippled nonpracticing entities in patent infringement cases for clients including Yahoo Inc., and led for Internet service providers Cox Enterprises Inc., Verizon Communications Inc. and Bright House Networks LLC won a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit lambasting controversial plaintiff AF Holdings in the so-called “porno trolling” cases.

“When we start a case, we are thinking, 'How are we going to win this case and do it at the least cost to the client and most consistent with the client's business goals,' ” said Rachel Krevans, intellectual property litigation group chairwoman. Krevans has played leading roles for Apple in recent years.