Eastern District of Texas Federal Judge Leonard Davis to Join Fish & Richardson

DALLAS, TX and TYLER, TX--(Marketwired - Mar 30, 2015) - Fish & Richardson announced today that Judge Leonard Davis, former Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, will join the firm in May. He will provide the firm's clients around the world with strategic consulting in patent litigation and complex commercial litigation.

"Judge Davis is a perfect match for Fish because we are involved in more patent litigation than any other law firm in the country and Judge Davis manages one of the nation's busiest patent dockets," said Ann Cathcart Chaplin, Litigation Practice Group Leader at Fish & Richardson. "We are so pleased he chose us."

Judge Davis has served on the Eastern District bench since 2002, serving as Chief Judge from 2012 until early 2015. During that time, he handled more than 1,700 individual cases involving intellectual property law. Prior to his service on the bench, Judge Davis maintained a successful private practice as a trial lawyer for 23 years.

"Since announcing that I would be retiring from the bench, I have considered several options for the next chapter of my career," said Judge Davis. "I am excited about this opportunity with Fish & Richardson. I have seen them in court for years exhibit the highest caliber of ethics and legal representation of their clients. I believe they are a great fit for me, and I look forward to working with them."

Judge Davis will join the firm as Of Counsel on May 18, 2015. He will provide strategic counseling to clients in intellectual property matters as well as handle case evaluations; settlement strategies for both plaintiffs and defendants; and mock trials and mock Markman hearings.

"Judge Davis is one of the nation's most knowledgeable jurists in terms of patent law and commercial litigation generally. He certainly had plenty of options, which is why we are extremely proud that he has made the decision to join Fish," said Thomas M. Melsheimer, Managing Partner of the firm's Dallas office.

During Judge Davis' tenure on the federal bench, the Eastern District's patent docket has grown from fewer than 10 cases in 2002 to more than 1,000 pending actions in 2015. He personally has presided over as many as 11 patent jury trials in a 12-month period. He has sat by designation on both the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and the 5^th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. In private practice, he tried as many as nine jury trials to verdict in a single calendar year.

Fish & Richardson is a global patent, intellectual property (IP) litigation, and commercial litigation law firm with more than 400 attorneys and technology specialists across the U.S. and Europe. Fish has been named the #1 patent litigation firm in the U.S. for 11 consecutive years. Fish has been winning cases worth billions in controversy -- often by making new law -- for the most innovative clients and influential industry leaders since 1878. For more information, visit www.fr.com.