Thirteen Partners Join New Orrick Houston Office

The international law firm Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe announced 13 partners have joined the firm’s new Houston office. Orrick announced the opening of its Houston office – its 25^th worldwide – on January 19 to focus on four areas that complement Orrick’s global strengths: Energy & Infrastructure, Latin America, Litigation and Intellectual Property, and Public Finance. The founding lawyers, all native Texan practitioners, hail from six prominent law firms. The office will serve clients in the energy & infrastructure, technology and finance sectors – the sectors for which Orrick is a leading global advisor.

“Houston is a vitally important market for our clients and a key hub for the energy and infrastructure and Latin American markets,” said Orrick Chairman Mitch Zuklie. “We are delighted to enter this market with a world-class, diversified team that complements Orrick’s strengths across our global platform. This team will add enormous talent to our firm and give us a tremendous foundation in Texas on which to build. We look forward to announcing additional Houston office members in the near future. We are committed to continuing to grow these teams and adding capabilities in areas such as private equity and energy technology that address our clients’ needs and are a strategic fit with our strengths.”

The firm expects to announce seven more partners, at least five of whom are expected to join later this month.

Litigation: Commercial, IP, and Appellate

The litigation team combines top Texas trial, IP and appellate talent with Orrick’s global litigation platform. Last month, The American Lawyer named Orrick among the top 10 firms nationwide on its 2016 Litigation Power Rankings and selected the firm as IP Litigation Department of the Year and as one of six finalists nationwide for Litigation Department of the Year. Orrick’s Texas litigation team brings proven trial and appellate skills in complex commercial, intellectual property and antitrust matters for leading energy and technology companies. The team has prevailed in IP matters in all forums, from inter partes reviews, to trials in the Eastern District of Texas, to Section 337 cases before the International Trade Commission and Federal Circuit reviews.

“Orrick is a firm known for trying cases – and winning them – in Texas and in jurisdictions worldwide,” said Claudia Wilson Frost, a distinguished IP and commercial trial and appellate practitioner who joins the team. “The firm also has a formidable international litigation, arbitration and IP platform. I have long admired this team and am thrilled to join them. I look forward to working with Orrick colleagues around the world to grow our team in Texas to offer clients world-class litigation advice.” Claudia and Orrick’s IP Business Unit Leader Denise Mingrone are two of the 20 “Most Influential Women in IP,” according to Law360 in its recent list of leading U.S. practitioners.

In addition, deepening Orrick’s litigation bench are Katherine Ginzburg Treistman and Jeffrey Johnson. Katherine is a seasoned trial lawyer who has practiced for her 20-year career with Susman Godfrey. She brings extensive experience in high-stakes trials and arbitrations in the oil and gas industry and has helped resolve a wide range of other claims, including IP matters in the Eastern District of Texas.

Jeffrey focuses on complex litigation, particularly patent litigation in federal district courts and inter partes reviews. He has extensive experience handling patent infringement cases in the Eastern District of Texas and other jurisdictions across the country. Jeffrey primarily advises clients in the energy, oil and gas, life sciences and tech sectors. With a doctorate degree in chemistry and engineering, he has a proven ability to engage with the technical aspects of cases.

Litigation & IP Team

Claudia Wilson Frost, formerly co-chair of DLA Piper’s Global and U.S. Patent Litigation Practices, has handled more than 40 jury trials in state and federal courts in her 30-plus year career as a trial lawyer, appellate advocate and strategist. Her experience has been wide-ranging and includes commercial and intellectual property litigation in oil and gas and energy, products liability, telecommunications, technology and financial services.

In IP, she has been lead or co-lead counsel in over 50 patent infringement cases in courts throughout the country; has argued Markman hearings; has tried patent infringement cases to verdict; has represented parties in Section 337 actions in the ITC; and has argued significant cases in the Federal Circuit. While most of her patent litigation experience has been in the areas of oil and gas/energy and telecommunications, she has also handled patent cases in the financial services and retail sectors. Claudia also advises clients on international patent acquisition and enforcement strategies, either as part of ongoing litigation or independently as a business advisor.

Claudia has been extensively recognized for her practice. Chambers USA notes: “Clients admired [this] ‘highly responsive and fabulous strategist’ for her powers of ‘brilliant analysis.’ She has a trial background and a depth of appellate experience, with a particular niche in patent infringement.” The Legal 500 has called her “One of Best Known Names in the Field.” Claudia was recently named one of Law360’s “Influential Woman in IP Law,” an honor bestowed on only 20 women IP lawyers in the country. She has been named to Managing Intellectual Property’s annual list of “Top 250 Women in IP,” which recognizes the top female intellectual property lawyers in the United States, and has been repeatedly recognized as an “IP Star.” She is also recognized in Euromoney’s Guide to Leading US Litigators, Guide to Leading World Litigators and Guide to the World’s Leading Women in Business Law. Claudia began her career as a trial lawyer at Baker Botts, where she ultimately founded and headed the firm’s appellate practice.

Claudia is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates, a Fellow in the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers, and is certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization in both Civil Trial Law and in Civil Appellate Law. She is also a founder of the Center for Women in Law at the University of Texas Law School, where she is on the executive committee.

Jeffrey Johnson, Ph.D., formerly a partner at DLA Piper, helps clients with complex litigation, particularly patent litigation in federal district courts and inter partes reviews. He has extensive experience handling patent infringement cases in the Eastern District of Texas and other jurisdictions across the country, and has been lead counsel on many IPR and CBM actions. Jeffrey has also handled IP cases involving trademark infringement, copyright infringement, trade secret misappropriation and unfair competition. In addition, he has experience in antitrust, business torts, and other commercial claims. Jeffrey primarily advises clients in the energy, oil and gas, life sciences and tech sectors, including networks, Internet, wireless and distributed systems. With a doctorate degree in chemistry and engineering and prior work experience as a scientist, he has a proven ability to engage with the technical aspects of cases. He is an adjunct research professor at the University of Houston Law Center.

Katherine Ginzburg Treistman was formerly a partner with Susman Godfrey, where she spent her entire 20-year career. Katherine is an experienced trial lawyer who handles matters in state and federal courts nationwide and in arbitrations. Her practice focuses on disputes in the energy sector, antitrust, intellectual property, auditor liability, employment and other commercial claims. In the energy sector, in addition to handling numerous complex contractual and other disputes, Katherine recently successfully defended the former CEO of a global oilfield services company in a multimillion-dollar fraud claim against him and the company’s other officers, brought by a leading investment management firm that loaned money to the company prior to its bankruptcy filing. She also represented a global oil and oilfield services company in various court proceedings and in a high-profile arbitration in various disputes related to the sales of gas compressors and related contracts. In the intellectual property area, Katherine has secured for her clients settlements in patent infringement cases against major global entities in the Eastern District of Texas. She is a Fellow of the Texas Bar Association, and a member of the Association of Women Attorneys and the Houston Trial Lawyers Association. Katherine is fluent in Russian and proficient in Spanish.

About Orrick

Orrick is an AmLaw 50 firm focused on serving the energy & infrastructure, technology and finance sectors. The firm’s practice is evenly balanced between transactional work and litigation and IP advice. Founded more than 150 years ago in San Francisco, the firm today has offices in major markets worldwide. Approximately a quarter of Orrick’s practice is outside the United States, led from offices in the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium, Russia, China and Japan, as well as an affiliated office in Côte d’lvoire. In-house counsel elected the firm to BTI’s 2016 Client Service A-Team for the second year in a row. The firm ranks in the top 10 on The American Lawyer’s 2015 A-List, reflecting its leadership in client service, associate satisfaction, diversity and pro bono legal service. Financial Times has selected Orrick as one of the most innovative firms in North America in each of the past five years, and the firm is rated across 45 practice areas by Chambers Global 2015.