Litigation Department of the Year (Intellectual Property) Finalist: Kirkland & Ellis
Kirkland was named as a finalist for the “Department of the Year: Intellectual Property” award as part of New York Law Journal’s New York Legal Awards. Ryan Kane participated in this Q&A.
What are some of the department's most satisfying successes of the past year and why?
My colleagues at Kirkland consistently perform at a such a high-level it can be difficult to choose, but three successes from the past year stand out in my mind. In the first, Samsung, a long-time Kirkland client, was sued by a non-practicing entity in the Eastern District of Texas seeking half-a-billion dollars in damages. Over the course of the case, the Kirkland team exposed shocking misconduct by the plaintiff, including secret moles inside Samsung, concealed audio recordings and widespread theft of Samsung’s privileged documents. After Kirkland’s trial presentation, the case was dismissed with prejudice due to the plaintiff’s unclean hands. In the second, a Kirkland team won summary judgment in a case of first impression involving AI, with the court holding that the defendant’s use of our client’s copyrighted material as training data was not fair use. Finally, a Kirkland team prevailed at trial in Delaware, with a jury finding willful infringement of three of our client’s patents and awarding lost profits of nearly two-times the defendant’s sales. The team did so while also dealing with a hostile inventor who switched sides in the middle of the case. Based on what the Kirkland team uncovered, the court threatened to exclude all testimony from the hostile inventor, and the defendant dropped him as a witness before trial.
A prospective client in crisis calls and asks why your team should be retained. What is your answer?
Kirkland is a place where attorneys are dedicated to their clients. What that means is we always give 100% – whether it is a letter to an adversary or a critical summary judgment brief. On top of that, we have an amazingly deep bench of lawyers. Whatever a client is facing, we can bring more talented and experienced lawyers to bear in a multitude of specialties to ensure the client is getting an unmatched quality of service. The size and breadth of our IP group is also a source of strength. We have a truly international IP practice with experience in venues across the US, as well as in Europe and Asia. If Kirkland is hired, we will find a way to maximize our client’s chances of success.
What traits do you respect most in opposing firms and lawyers?
Professionalism. It is always nice to be across from lawyers who care about their clients, advise them frankly on their chances of success, and can keep the adversarial process focused on the merits and not about personal attacks. We can all zealously advocate for our clients, while still laying down our arms at the end of the day to appreciate each other as fellow members of the bar and human beings.
What is the firm doing to ensure that future generations of litigators are ready to take the helm?
Kirkland has a rich culture of giving hard working and talented junior lawyers on-their-feet time. Kirkland associates frequently go toe-to-toe with senior partners from the firms representing our adversaries, and they do a great job! This culture of putting the folks who are in the best position to make an argument up in court is part of what drew me to Kirkland more than 15 years ago, and I do my best to stay true to that tradition of developing the next generation of lawyers. Kirkland, of course, does not simply throw these associates in the deep end without a life preserver. Our yearly Kirkland Institute of Trial Advocacy (“KITA”) training program immerses associates in a mock case over 2-3 days where they live through an entire trial, including openings, directs, crosses, and closings. This program, along with our extensive pro bono program, provide an excellent way for our less experienced lawyers to get more of that invaluable on-your-feet-time that compliments their regular case load.
