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McKool Smith Announces Additions in Washington, DC
Friday, July 10, 2009
Washington, DC -- The national law firm of McKool Smith is announcing the addition of two experienced intellectual property litigators who join the firm’s rapidly growing Washington, D.C., office.
Joining McKool Smith are Dirk D. Thomas and Robert A. Auchter, formerly with the Washington, D.C., office of Dewey & LeBoeuf, where Mr. Thomas served as co-chairman of the firm’s intellectual property litigation group. Like many of the attorneys at McKool Smith, the new firm principals have advanced degrees in engineering.
"It’s not every day that you’re able to bring in such talented attorneys, particularly those with such complete backgrounds in intellectual property litigation," says Mike McKool, co-founder of McKool Smith. "Our clients will benefit from their expertise in district and appellate cases, as well as matters before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and the International Trade Commission."
Mr. Thomas focuses his practice on intellectual property litigation, with an emphasis on cases involving computer technology and medical device patents. In addition to his impressive trial record, Mr. Thomas also represents clients in appellate matters before the Federal Circuit. His significant trial victories include multiple cases on behalf of Medtronic, one of the world’s leading medical device companies and a longtime client of McKool Smith. Mr. Thomas also served as lead trial counsel in a patent case against technology giant Dell on behalf of a small European computer company, Tulip Computers. That case, tried to a jury in the District of Delaware, resulted in a $49.5 million recovery for Tulip on a patent that was no longer practiced by either party.
Mr. Auchter handles intellectual property litigation and commercial litigation for a variety of public and private companies and individuals. His work before district and appellate courts and the International Trade Commission includes litigation involving software, semiconductor, electronic, consumer and biomedical products and processes. He also brings extensive experience with administrative proceedings at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
McKool Smith has more than 100 attorneys in Dallas, Austin, Marshall, New York, and Washington D.C., handling commercial, intellectual property and white collar litigation for national and international clients. The firm is recognized as one of the premier trial law firms in the United States, having earned significant courtroom victories for clients such as American Airlines, Ericsson, Electronic Data Systems, Medtronic Inc., and Sony Ericsson. McKool Smith is recognized in The National Law Journal for winning more of the Top 100 Verdicts of 2008 than any firm in the nation.
For more information on McKool Smith’s rapidly growing office in Washington, D.C., please contact Bruce Vincent at 800.559.4534 or bruce@androvett.com.
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