Fish & Richardson Principal Craig Countryman named Rising Star by Appellate Law360

Fish & Richardson litigator Craig Countryman has been named a Rising Star by Appellate Law360 placing him among the top appellate lawyers in the United States under the age of 40. Countryman was one of only six attorneys nationally selected for this prestigious list. According to Law360, Countryman "pushed appellate courts into new territory, persuading the Federal Circuit to set precedent for patent reviews and winning certiorari at the U.S. Supreme Court..." on the standard for enhanced damages in patent cases.

Countryman, who is 34 years old, is co-chair of Fish's appellate practice and is based in the firm's San Diego/Southern California office. He has led the briefing in over 30 Federal Circuit, Ninth Circuit and Supreme Court appeals and has argued several of them. In 2015 alone, he received favorable decisions in four appeals. He also writes frequently on a variety of patent law topics and has published over 25 articles and dozens of posts on Fish's litigation blog.

"I knew we had someone special when we hired Craig as a summer associate several years ago as even then, his ability to cut through the clutter and get to the core of an argument surpassed that of lawyers many years his senior," says Roger Denning, Fish's Southern California office managing partner who has worked closely with Countryman for several years. "Combine that with his natural gift for clear and persuasive writing and oral advocacy, and Craig is a tough act to beat."

Before attending law school, Countryman was a chemist and developed a new stereoselective synthesis of a pain-killing drug using an organocatalytic cycloaddition. He received his law degree from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law in 2006, and his B.S. in chemistry, with honors, from the California Institute of Technology in 2003.