Lawrence Hadley of Glaser Weil Fink Howard Avchen & Shapiro.

Glaser Weil Fink Howard Avchen & Shapiro has hired Lawrence “Larry” Hadley from McKool Smith to rebuild its intellectual property practice group.

The Los Angeles-based firm lost its last IP partner, Rex Hwang, to Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell in October. Hwang's departure followed the retirement in September of former IP practice leader Adrian Pruetz and the exit of partners Erica Van Loon and Andrew Choung, who joined Lathrop Gage.

Hadley, who joins Glaser Weil as a partner and chair of the firm's IP department, said he was lured by the opportunity to “lead, grow and further develop the intellectual property practice at Glaser Weil.”

“Glaser Weil is a California-based firm with a very stellar reputation all the way around, particularly in litigation and the entertainment areas,” he said. “I felt like with a strong intellectual property department, I could fulfill existing clients' IP needs.”

Hadley focuses his IP litigation practice on advising clients on patents, copyrights, trademarks and trade secrets. He was most recently a principal at McKool Smith, where he joined in 2011 when the Dallas-based firm merged with Los Angeles litigation and bankruptcy boutique Hennigan Dorman. Before joining Hennigan Dorman to launch its patent practice in 2000, Hadley was at Los Angeles-based O'Melveny & Myers for about nine years.

The veteran litigator has spent 25 years practicing patent litigation in California. Since the U.S. Supreme Court's TC Heartland v. Kraft Foods Group Brands decision, Hadley noted an influx of patent litigation cases have moved from Eastern District of Texas to California, in the Northern, Central and Southern districts.

“I know them well,” Hadley said. “It seems like a really good opportunity to be back at a California-based firm given the amount of IP work that was already here and is moving here.”

Hadley will primarily be based in the firm's Century City and Orange County offices. With his arrival, Glaser Weil now has five attorneys dedicated to IP work, including of counsel Steven Basileo and three associates. Hadley said he plans to strengthen Glaser Weil's IP capabilities in areas involving copyright, patent, trademark and trade secret matters.

“If you have a firm that does a lot of work in Los Angeles and the entertainment community, you almost have to have an IP group,” said Patricia Glaser, chair of the firm's litigation department, stressing that the firm will continue to add talent to its IP group.

“We have managed to pull in somebody who is a wonderful trial lawyer, IP lawyer, and a good guy,” she said. “Larry is a wonderful addition for us.”