Haynes and Boone Loses IP Trial Trio to Thompson & Knight in Dallas
Phillip Philbin, who practiced at Haynes and Boone for 30 years, made a lateral move to Dallas rival Thompson & Knight along with partners Jamie McDole and Michael Karson.
April 07, 2020 at 03:23 PM
4 minute read
Michael Karson, Jamie McDole and Phillip Philbin of Thompson & Knight in Dallas.
Thompson & Knight has expanded its intellectual property trial bench in Dallas by hiring three partners from Haynes and Boone in the latest move for the two Texas-based firms, each of which has seen some significant partner hires and losses this year.
Phillip Philbin, Jamie McDole and Michael Karson are now partners at Thompson & Knight. Bruce Sostek, the leader of Thompson & Knight's Dallas office, knows Philbin well—for the last several years they have co-taught a patent litigation course at SMU Dedman School of Law—and they have long talked about practicing together.
"When you can add really capable, highly skilled lawyers, it allows you to take on more good cases at once," Sostek said.
Philbin, who spent 30 years at Haynes and Boone, said he and his group will be able to "leverage" their trial successes at Thompson & Knight by working with its "outstanding" IP litigation group.
Over his career, Philbin has tried suits in courts from coast to coast, but he sees great opportunity for more IP litigation in Texas, partly because of the appointment of former IP trial lawyer Alan Albright as a federal judge in Waco. That city has become a hot spot for IP trials.
Among high-profile matters, Philbin and Karson were on the trial team for ZeniMax Media, which won a $500 million verdict in 2017 against Facebook-owned Oculus. U.S. District Judge Ed Kinkeade in Dallas later halved that verdict. Philbin and McDole worked together on infringement litigation for TransData.
"We are a trial-tested trio," Philbin said.
Philbin said he and Karson joined Thompson & Knight on Friday, and McDole a couple days earlier. They joined the firm's Intellectual Property Group.
When asked to respond to the departures, Tim Powers, managing partner of Haynes and Boone, said in a statement: "We value the lawyers' contributions to Haynes and Boone and our clients and wish them well at their new firm."
Both firms, like others in Texas, have been targets of out-of-state firms moving into the market and hiring laterals over the last several years.
Earlier this year, Thompson & Knight lost two M&A and private equity partners to Shearman & Sterling in Dallas, and three of its litigation partners moved to Midwest firm Thomspon Coburn to help launch its Dallas office.
At Haynes and Boone, the head of the M&A practice and a co-head of the capital markets and securities practice moved to Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld's Dallas office, and Reed Smith picked up a Latin America energy partner in Houston. But the firm recently grew in Silicon Valley, where corporate and tax lawyer Roger Royse and seven lawyers from his midsize firm moved to the Palo Alto office.
Haynes and Boone posted a flat 2019, according to reporting for the Am Law 200 report, as gross revenue declined by 1%, while revenue per lawyer increased 2.2% on slimmer head count. At Thompson & Knight, revenue slipped 3.8% and RPL was down 2.2% in 2019, compared with 2018.
Read More
Looking to Grow in Dallas, Akin Gump Nabs 2 Practice Leaders From Haynes and Boone
Reed Smith's Houston Office Takes Latin America Energy Partner From Haynes and Boone
As Oil Prices Slip, Texas Firms Are Adding Bankruptcy Lawyers
As Startup Clients Outgrow Midsize Firm, Silicon Valley Group Jumps to Haynes and Boone
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