Fish & Richardson Principals Juanita Brooks, Michael Headley Rank Among Daily Journal's "Top IP Attorneys for 2016" List

Redwood, CA, and San Diego, CA, September 20, 2016 - Fish & Richardson principals Juanita Brooks and Michael Headley have topped the Daily Journal's list of California's Top IP Attorneys for their demonstrated commitment to and success in protecting client brands and innovations while helping steer technological advancement.

The publication recognized Headley, managing partner of Fish's Silicon Valley office, and Brooks, based in the firm's San Diego office, for their leading roles in high-stakes, high-dollar patent victories.

Headley, who leads a team of 35 attorneys and oversees the office's long-term strategic planning, along with day-to-day operations, has tried patent, trademark, trade secret and unfair competition cases, among other technology-related issues, in courts from Delaware to San Francisco and China.

The Daily Journal highlighted the part Headley played in obtaining a $105 million jury verdict for San Jose-based client, Power Integrations, Inc. When the award was set aside because of superseding changes in Federal Circuit law, Headley retried the case and again saw a victory for Power Integrations with an even larger verdict $139.8 million for infringement of patents on semiconductor chips that enable highly-efficient power supplies.

"It’s gratifying to see a pioneer (Power Integrations) in the field receive recognition," the Daily Journal quoted Headley. "There are times when the length of litigation is frustrating, but ultimately the system has to be allowed to work through the process."

Brooks, a renowned intellectual property litigator who joined Fish in 2000, is a hard-hitting cross examiner with an intrinsic ability to connect with juries and judges and to decode complex technologies using colloquial language and relatable concepts.

Exhibiting Brooks' courtroom skills, the Daily Journal shared her recent success in protecting Microsoft's computing methods and systems using detached sensors like the software giant's Xbox gaming system.

The publication also highlighted Brooks' work in nullifying a $200 million jury verdict against client Gilead Sciences Inc., the biopharmaceutical company behind two multibillion dollar cures for hepatitis C. Brooks and her Fish colleagues successfully persuaded a U.S. District Court judge that counsel for Merck & Co. acted in bad faith in intentionally falsifying testimony.

In addition to being acknowledged for their high-profile, big-money verdicts, the Daily Journal highlighted Headley and Brooks' work in furthering Fish's efforts to not only empower but also provide next-generation attorneys active litigation opportunities.

"Fish wants to give junior lawyers the ball and let them run with it," Headley said in the feature.

Currently, Headley is supervising a team of associates litigating housing discrimination claims in Federal Court in San Jose, with junior attorneys involved and taking the lead on motions, depositions and settlement discussions. One such pro bono case against the Housing Authority in Santa Clara resulted in a preliminary settlement agreement, moving the housing authority away from discriminatory practices.

"I love a good trial, but it’s also good to resolve things efficiently," he said. "These associates nailed it."

Brooks, too, is passing the torch to younger attorneys taking second chair at trial in the recent infringement case for Microsoft so a younger partner could run the case and also allowing an associate to play a larger role in the Merck & Co. case.

"I’ve been doing this for 39 years now,” Brooks said. "I like to let talented young people have a chance."

Fish & Richardson is a global patent, intellectual property (IP) litigation, and commercial litigation law firm with more than 400 attorneys and technology specialists across the U.S. and Europe. Fish has been named the #1 patent litigation firm in the U.S. for 13 consecutive years and is one of the busiest post-grant firms, representing more petitioners at the PTAB than any other firm. Fish has been winning cases worth billions in controversy - often by making new law - for the most innovative clients and influential industry leaders since 1878. For more information, visit www.fr.com.