Tell us about your top U.S. Supreme Court or federal appeals court victory over the past year and how you and your team achieved the win.

[The U.S. Court of Appeals for] the Federal Circuit unanimously affirmed our posttrial success vacating a $200 million jury verdict against our client Gilead Sciences in a patent infringement case with Merck involving Gilead's blockbuster Sovaldi and Harvoni hepatitis C drugs. After a jury awarded Merck $200 million in damages, amounting to one-tenth of Merck's $2 billion claim, the district court erased the verdict, finding Merck had forfeited its right to assert its patents against Gilead because of litigation and business misconduct constituting unclean hands. Our strong writ[ing] and oral advocacy convinced the Federal Circuit to affirm both that result and the $14 million legal fee award to Gilead. The Supreme [Court] denied certiorari.

How did your firm approach appellate success over the past year?

We focus on brief writing, where most appeals are won or lost, and then select the right person to argue each appeal, whether that is an appellate specialist new to the case or the trial attorney who lived the case.

What is the most satisfying element of appellate practice in your opinion?

Patent appeals present a mix of complex facts and technology and demand both procedural rigor and a command of nuanced law. It's exciting to frame these issues into novel winning arguments, which often redefine patent law.

What's the most valuable lesson you learned as a young lawyer?

A lawyer's credibility is one of his or her greatest assets with courts, clients and colleagues.

Submitted by Kurt Glitzenstein, litigation practice group leader at Fish & Richardson.