Fish & Richardson Elevates 15 Attorneys to Principal in Class Distinguished by Diversity of Background and Experience

Fish & Richardson is proud to announce the elevation of 15 attorneys to principals at the firm, effective January 1, 2023. The new principals are Ashley Bolt (Atlanta), Chet Campbell (Boston), Rae Crisler (Dallas), Sara Fish (Atlanta), Jared Hartzman (Washington, D.C.), Joel Henry (Washington, D.C.), Lawrence Jarvis (Atlanta), Joy Kete (Boston), April Park (Washington, D.C.), Eric Peng (Shenzhen), Liz Ranks (Boston), Oliver Richards (San Diego), Jared Smith (San Diego), Karrie Wheatley (Houston), and Chris Wright (Atlanta).

This class represents a broad range of interdisciplinary expertise, legal acumen, and experience of perspective and background. Notably, the majority of this class started at Fish as first-year or summer associates and includes 10 women and people of color, which underscores Fish’s commitment to hire, advance, and retain a diverse team and foster an inclusive and equitable environment.

With deep expertise in litigation and patent prosecution and counseling, the attorneys represent clients across a range of industries and in various legal venues. Nearly every attorney has an education in STEM, and several either practiced their trade or conducted academic research before entering the legal field. In addition, five attorneys served as judicial law clerks or interns.

“This class of principals is distinguished by its diversity and brings a roster of talent and commitment to client success,” said John Adkisson, president and chief executive officer of Fish. “Beyond that, these attorneys – many of whom are proudly homegrown – are colleagues who embody the qualities that compose the fabric of our firm and set Fish apart: creativity, innovation, collaboration, and excellence.”

“Our 2023 principal class represents the breadth of talent and diversity that we strive for at Fish,” said Kristine McKinney, chief operating officer of Fish. “Individually, each has impressive backgrounds that include clerkships, military service, academic research, and industry experience that inform their practice, and collectively, they exemplify the creativity and expertise that affirms the future of Fish is indeed bright.”

Newly promoted principals for 2023 are:

Ashley Bolt has experience handling complex patent and intellectual property litigation in U.S. District Court, before the U.S. International Trade Commission, and before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Ashley litigates disputes across a wide range of technologies, including consumer electronics, software applications, semiconductors, and medical devices. From 2019 to 2020, Ashley served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Kimberly A. Moore of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Ashley received her J.D. with honors from Emory University, where she was the articles editor of the Emory Law Journal. She graduated summa cum laude from the University of Alabama with a B.S. in electrical engineering and a minor in mathematics.

Chet Campbell focuses his practice on patent litigation at the U.S. International Trade Commission and in U.S. District Courts. His experience encompasses a range of technologies, including mobile electronic devices, semiconductors, optical fibers and software, among others. Chet interned for the Honorable Haldane R. Mayer of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Chet also makes time for pro bono work and has been recognized for his contributions by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. Chet received his J.D. in 2013 from the University of Virginia School of Law and was a member of the Virginia Journal of Law and Technology. He graduated with high honors with a B.S.  in mechanical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Rae Crisler is a patent litigator whose experience spans a wide range of technologies, including pharmaceuticals in Hatch-Waxman cases, biologics, medical devices, and technologies related to power management features of systems-on-a-chip as well as network and data processing optimization. From 2015 through 2017, Rae served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Gloria M. Navarro of the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada. She received her J.D. magna cum laude, Order of the Coif, from Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law, where she was editor-in-chief of the Journal of Air Law and Commerce and a member of the SMU Law Review Association. In 2010, Rae graduated from the University of Texas with a B.S. in biology.

Sara Fish works closely with clients on all aspects of IP litigation and has experience in consumer products, medical devices, pharmaceuticals, consumer electronics, software applications, and various other technologies. Sara’s IP litigation experience includes both patent litigation and trade secret misappropriation litigation, which often also include various associated breach of contract and business torts. Sara received her J.D. from the University of Georgia School of Law and was the senior notes editor of the Journal of Intellectual Property Law. In 2008, she graduated summa cum laude from the University of Georgia with a B.A. in English.

Jared Hartzman has broad patent litigation experience representing both plaintiffs and defendants in complex patent litigation across a range of technical areas, including the electronics, telecommunications, and automotive industries. In addition to his patent litigation practice, Jared dedicates time to pro bono matters, including asylum, immigration, and LGBTQ cases. Jared received his J.D. from The George Washington University Law School in 2015. During law school, he was an editor of the American Intellectual Property Law Association Quarterly Journal and served as an officer for the university's Student Intellectual Property Law Association. Jared received a B.A. from Cornell University in 2012, double majoring in chemistry and science and technology studies.

Joel Henry helps his clients obtain patent protection for their intellectual property assets. His experience lies primarily in the electrical, IT/computing, and mechanical fields. Before joining Fish, Joel worked for several years as an engineer for an aerospace engineering company, where he gained acumen in multiple engineering disciplines. In addition to his legal and engineering experience, Joel is a veteran and Air Force cyberspace operations officer currently serving as a reserve officer in the Tactical Warfighter Communications division (A2/6CW) at the Pentagon. Joel received his J.D., with a patent law concentration with intellectual property certificate, from the University of Connecticut School of Law in 2013. While there, he was a member of the IP and Technology Law Society, Military Law Society, and National Black Law Students Association. In 2006, he graduated from the University of Connecticut with a B.S. in electrical engineering.

Lawrence Jarvis concentrates his practice on patent litigation in U.S. District Courts and at the U.S. International Trade Commission in the areas of electrical engineering and computer science regularly involving consumer electronics, wireless networks, networking, content security, and video processing and delivery. As a patent attorney registered to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Lawrence has also assisted clients with patent due diligence, patent prosecution, and other non-litigation patent analysis, including IP licensing. Prior to joining Fish, Lawrence worked for several years as a software engineer at a Fortune 100 company where he developed products for network management and networking and video streaming and playback. Lawrence received his J.D. cum laude from Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law in 2015 and was the executive online editor of the Journal of Technology and Intellectual Property. In 2010, he graduated from the Georgia Institute of Technology with a B.S. with high honors in computer science.

Joy Kete litigates multimillion-dollar global patent disputes in U.S. District Courts and at the U.S. International Trade Commission. Her stand-up experience includes conducting direct and cross examinations at jury and bench trials, taking and defending dozens of depositions, and arguing dispositive and other substantive motions. In 2015, Joy received her J.D. summa cum laude from Suffolk University Law School, and in 2012 she graduated from Vassar College with a B.A. in history.

April Park assists her clients with all aspects of patent infringement matters before the U.S. District Courts and at the U.S. International Trade Commission. Representative technologies April has worked on include semiconductor devices, smartphones and smartwatches, pharmaceuticals, solar cells, and lithium-ion batteries. April received her J.D. from George Washington University Law School in 2015 and was a member of The American Intellectual Property Law Association Quarterly Journal. She graduated from the University of Virginia, where she was an Echols Scholar, with a B.S. in biochemistry and a B.A. in economics.

Eric Peng concentrates his practice on patent prosecution and litigation in the areas of wireless communications, computer network, semiconductor, blockchain, and artificial intelligence. He has represented companies, universities, and research institutions in numerous high-profile patent prosecution and litigation cases, and supported them for patent portfolio acquisition, management, licensing, development, and monetization. In addition, Eric has been heavily involved with and managed Fish's client relationship and development in China and helped found Fish’s first China office in Shenzhen in 2018. Eric received his J.D. from Southern Methodist University in 2015 and his Ph.D. in electrical engineering in 2010.

Liz Ranks concentrates her practice in patent litigation, as well as trademark, trade secret, copyright, and commercial litigation. Liz’s patent litigation work has included a variety of technologies, from network switches to oscilloscopes, digital cameras, and software. Prior to joining Fish, Liz was a judicial extern to the Honorable Judge William G. Young in the U.S. Federal Court for the District of Massachusetts. Before law school, Liz worked as a biochemist, identifying novel gene mutations and studying glucose transport systems. Liz is also passionate about her pro bono work and has represented clients facing eviction. Liz received her J.D. magna cum laude from the University of New Hampshire Franklin Pierce School of Law in 2015. While there she was the managing editor of IDEA: The Intellectual Property Review. She graduated from the University of New Hampshire in 2004 with a B.S. in biological chemistry.

Oliver Richards has experience in cases involving integrated circuit design and fabrication, wireless standards, graphical user interfaces, and encryption technologies. Beyond these technologies, Oliver’s focus is on complex legal analysis and writing, and one of his primary strengths is efficiently drafting effective briefs before a wide variety of tribunals. Prior to joining Fish, Oliver served as a law clerk for the Honorable Timothy B. Dyk of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. In 2015, he received his J.D. magna cum laude, Order of the Coif, from New York University School of Law, where he was the development editor of the NYU Annual Survey of American Law. Oliver graduated from Millsaps College in 2007 with a B.S. magna cum laude in mathematics.

Jared Smith has extensive experience in intellectual property litigation with an emphasis on patent litigation in the consumer electronics sector. Jared was recognized for his pro bono service by the San Diego Volunteer Lawyer Program in 2018 with its Pro Bono Publico Award (i.e., lawyer of the year). Before joining Fish, Jared was a senior systems engineer at Raytheon and then Northrop Grumman for a total of eight years. He helped develop the Ship Self Defense System for U.S. aircraft carriers and the IP-based communications system for the U.S. Navy’s Triton unmanned aerial vehicle. In 2015, Jared received his J.D. cum laude from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, where he was a staff editor of the Hastings Science & Technology Law Journal. Jared also has an M.S. in systems architecture and engineering from the University of Southern California and a B.S. and B.A. magna cum laude in industrial and system engineering and liberal arts, respectively, from the University of San Diego.

Karrie Wheatley tackles complex issues across a wide range of industries and is frequently sought out for her insights into technical matters that are unique, uncommon, or that raise novel questions of law. She has extensive experience with consumer electronics, hydraulic fracturing, medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and personalized medicine in cancer treatment. With a Ph.D. in nutritional sciences, Karrie’s technical background runs particularly deep. Karrie also maintains an active pro bono practice, representing clients facing removal proceedings in the Houston Immigration Court. Karrie received her J.D. in 2015 from the University of Houston Law Center, her Ph.D. in nutritional sciences from the University of Texas at Austin, and a B.A. in humanities from the same institution.

Chris Wright prosecutes patent applications for individual inventors and helps companies of all sizes build and manage strategic global patent portfolios. His practice emphasizes patent preparation and prosecution in the electrical, computer, and mechanical arts. He has significant experience advising on strategic patent portfolio growth for larger companies, harvesting patentable innovations for early-stage companies, and building patent portfolios from the ground up. Chris counsels clients regarding international patent protection and has significant experience preparing patent applications that result in valuable protection in Europe and other jurisdictions worldwide. Chris also prepares and prosecutes patent applications for pro bono clients. Chris received his J.D. cum laude from Georgia State University College of Law in 2016 and a B.S. with honors in electrical engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology.