Brazos River Bridge in Waco, Texas. (Photo: Hundley Photography/Shutterstock.com)

Even before Alan Albright was sworn in as a federal judge in Waco, Mann Tindel Thompson, an East Texas firm known as MT2 Law Group, knew the Western District of Texas was about to become an IP destination. So the firm opened an office in Waco in a joint venture with Waco firm Haley & Olson.

MT2 Law Group's newest location, across the street from the federal courthouse in Waco, is further evidence the Western District of Texas is becoming a Texas patent litigation hot spot, like the Eastern District of Texas has been for years.

Mark Mann, a partner in MT2 Law Group in Henderson who does commercial litigation including IP suits, said the firm anticipated that Albright, a well-known Texas patent litigator, would take the bench in Waco, so it looked to secure space there. Haley & Olson has a headquarters elsewhere in Waco, but the 15-lawyer firm wanted a location closer to the courthouse, so it joined with MT2 to launch the new office.

In the six months since Albright took the bench, Mann said his firm has already filed four patent lawsuits in Waco, and he expects to sign on as defense counsel in another one.

The five-lawyer firm also has offices in Henderson, Tyler and Marshall in the Eastern District.

Mann characterized the Waco office as kind of a “war room” that allows lawyers from his firm and from Haley & Olson to work close to the courthouse where Albright sits on the bench.

MT2 Law Group isn't the only Texas firm with an IP practice to open in Waco because of Albright. Patterson + Sheridan opened its office in January, and Gray Reed & McGraw shortly afterward announced its plans for an office in Waco. And other Texas firms are considering expansion to Waco.

Mann said lawyers practicing in the Eastern District have been fortunate over the last few years that several judges are very skilled at handling patent litigation. He said he's confident Albright will do the same.

“The judge has to work extra hard. Their staff has to work extra hard,” Mann said.

Patent case filings are up in the Western District of Texas. According to a DLA Piper IP and technology alert released on March 11, only five patent cases were filed in Waco in 2016 and 2017. But 47 patent cases were filed since January 2018, including 25 in 2019.

“It's a good area. It's an educated jury panel, a hardworking judge and clerks,” Mann said.

Mann said he and Haley & Olson partner Herb Bristow were roommates at Baylor Law School—both graduated in 1981—and they have tried some litigation together over the years, which did not happen to be IP cases. Mann said he looks forward to partnering more.

Bristow said the office near the courthouse is “handy” for all work the firm's lawyers do in federal court in Waco, not just IP suits. It will be interesting to watch the volume of patent litigation increase in Waco, he added.

Albright, who had been a partner at Bracewell in Austin and is a former U.S. magistrate judge, replaced U.S. District Judge Walter Smith on the bench in Waco. Smith retired in 2016 after the Judicial Counsel for the Fifth Circuit concluded he sexually harassed women inside the Waco courthouse.

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