WilmerHale has been recognized among Law360's Appellate and IP Groups of the Year. This marks the fourth consecutive year that WilmerHale's appellate practice has been honored and is the third recognition for the firm's IP practice. The annual rankings identify a handful of law firms per practice area that earned outstanding results in the past year, "sealing the big deals and winning the high-stakes suits" for their clients.
Law360 praised WilmerHale's Appellate and Supreme Court Litigation Group for "another strong year in 2014," citing monumental victories for clients such as Pom Wonderful LLC in its false-labeling suit against Coca-Cola. Other notable wins highlighted by Law360 include Medtronic Inc. v. Mirowski Family Ventures LLC and Heimeshoff v. Hartford Life & Accident Insurance Co., two high-profile cases that received unanimous rulings from the US Supreme Court.
"In recent years we've argued in about 10 percent of the cases the Supreme Court takes; four different lawyers argued seven cases last term, and five lawyers will argue eight this term," said Partner Seth Waxman, a former Solicitor General who leads the Appellate and Supreme Court Litigation Group. "It is a testament to the team we've built, which is as collegial, integrated, and powerful as any group I've ever worked with."
The firm was also recognized for its strength in the IP realm, with Law360 pointing to WilmerHale's successes for clients including Apple, Intel, Becton Dickinson, GlaxoSmithKline and more. Law360 calls out the firm's impressive tally of 15 appellate victories at the Federal Circuit in patent matters, and its notable record of success at trial.
"In each of our offices, we have a tremendous amount of first-chair IP litigation talent," said Mark Selwyn, co-chair of the firm's IP Litigation Group. "Across those offices, we work as one team, allowing us to bring in the right resources to best serve a client's needs."
Law360 also notes the group's preeminence in the realm of post-grant patent proceedings at the US Patent and Trademark Office where WilmerHale is credited as being the first general practice firm to file 100 inter partes review petitions.
A committee of Law360 editors reviewed more than 680 submissions from law firms this year, selecting 159 winners across the 26 practice areas that were considered. Winners were selected based on the significance of the litigation wins or deals worked on, the size and complexity of those litigation wins or deals, and the number of significant, large or complex deals the practice worked on or lawsuits the practice won in 2014.