Large Firms
Aug. 13, 2002
Latham IP Partner Changes Firms
SAN FRANCISCO - Weil, Gotshal & Manges has hired Vernon Winters, a patent litigation partner with the San Francisco office of Latham & Watkins, to add some depth to its busy intellectual property practice.
Winters will begin work in Weil Gotshal's Redwood Shores office today.
"We've known each other for quite a while," said Matthew Powers, managing partner in Redwood Shores and head of the 950-lawyer firm's 100-lawyer patent litigation practice.
"We realized it would be a good fit for both of us," Powers said. "He'll work well with what we're doing in patents and he has experience in trying cases. A lot of people in patents don't know how to try cases."
Winters, a 1987 graduate of Hastings College of the Law, has represented Genentech, Sun Microsystems, National Semiconductor and GenSci Regeneration Sciences.
Lawyers at Latham & Watkins' Bay Area offices did not reply to a request for comment Friday.
Powers said Weil Gotshal hopes to hire more attorneys for key practices such as patent litigation and mergers and acquisitions. Demand, he said, "is more than we can satisfy."
Powers said Weil Gotshal has not approached lawyers at intellectual property boutique Lyon & Lyon. The 70-attorney Los Angeles firm announced it will close its doors Aug. 31.
Powers said Weil Gotshal is faring well compared to other Silcon Valley firms.
"Our corporate and other groups are much busier than at other firms. We're not just a Valley firm," he said, adding that New York-based Weil Gotshal represents Enron, Global Crossing and PG&E.
Weil Gotshal has been on the Peninsula for 10 years. Fifty lawyers practice there today, including from 30 to 35 patent lawyers.
Erik Cummins
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