Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel said Monday that it has added two partners in New York to its growing intellectual property department.

Brian Slater and Gregory Sephton are both patent litigators who join from Fitzpatrick, Cella, Harper & Scinto, a 150-lawyer IP boutique.

Slater, who sat on the management committee of Fitzpatrick, will chair Kramer Levin’s Levin’s Life Sciences practice. He said Kramer’s “solid and reputable IP presence” and “top-notch reputation” for litigation and trial practice were attractive to him. His practice area has grown more competitive in recent years, Slater explained, as more general practice firms have started competing against “IP boutiques,” such as Fitzpatrick.

“I think in these times, in order to be competitive, in order to satisfy the needs of my clients, I need to present them with litigation and trial capacity,” he told Big Law Business.

Fitzpatrick did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Slater has expertise in the Hatch-Waxman Act and has represented GlaxoSmithKline and Merck. Sephton is also a patent litigator with experience representing biotech and pharmaceutical companies, and whose clients include Emory University and Astra Zeneca.

Jonathan Caplan, co-chair of the IP group at Kramer Levin, explained, “We have a number of clients that want more of our services,” and “when we had the chance to bring Brian and Greg into the department, we saw that as a great opportunity.”

Kramer Levin now counts 18 patent litigators and 40 lawyers in its IP practice group.

The firm hopes to continue expanding if it finds the right people, said Caplan, who added that the high concentration of pharmaceutical companies in nearby northern New Jersey makes life sciences an attractive growth area for Kramer Levin.

“The demand for legal services continues to be very competitive,” Caplan said. “It puts a premium on having the right team.”

 

Source: bna.com