Community News-June 2013

Erwin  J. Shustak and Jennifer S. Hegemier have been selected by San Diego Magazine as “Top Lawyers in San Diego.”   Erwin was honored for  his  excellence  in  Securities, Finance and Complex Business Litigation  and  highlighted  as  one of San Diego’s “Top Attorneys That You Need to Know.” As the founding and managing partner of Shustak & Partners, Erwin’s trial and arbitration experience includes business, securities, and financial fraud; breach of  contract;  real  estate  transactions and disputes; employment disputes; unfair competition, non-compete and restrictive covenant cases; probate and estate disputes and intellectual property disputes including copyright and trademark infringement.

Jennifer  Hegemier  was  honored for her excellence in Civil Appeals and Writs. Jennifer heads the firm’s Appellate Practice Group with 18 years of expertise in a wide variety of issues on appeal, including Complex Business Litigation; Real Estate and Land Use; Bankruptcy; Civil Procedure; Civil Rights; Commercial Contracts;      Constitutional       Law;     Environmental      Law; Governmental Agencies: Construction Defect; Anti-SLAPP; Personal Injury; Premises Liability; Animal Law; Family Law; Insurance  /  Bad  Faith;  Labor  and  Employment; Products Liability; Intellectual Property; Professional Malpractice and many others.

John H. Gomez, Founding Partner  and  Lead  Trial  Attorney for Gomez Iagmin Trial Attorneys, has  been  selected  as  a  member  of the Summit Council, an exclusive group comprised of top civil justice attorneys in the United States. Summit Council members are nationally recognized by their peers as top civil justice advocates. All members have obtained at least one $10 million dollar jury verdict and at least three jury verdicts in excess of $1 million dollars as lead counsel in jury trials, have served as the President or Chair of a state or national civil justice association, or have served as Chair of a plaintiff’s steering committee for a major mass tort or class action litigation.  Gomez Iagmin Trial Attorneys is a plaintiff’s law firm specializing in serious personal injury, wrongful death, complex product liability and mass torts.

Fish  &  Richardson  has  been named to The National Law Journal’s (NLJ) “2013 Intellectual Property Hot   List”   as   one   of   20   firms “that have demonstrated creative, formidable talent in litigation, patent prosecution and deal- making” in cases that “often have billions at stake.”  This is the second year that Fish has been named to the NLJ “IP Hot List,” which the publication started in 2012.

“We are honored to once again be recognized as one of the best IP firms in the country,” said Ann Cathcart Chaplin, Litigation Practice Group Leader at Fish & Richardson.

The NLJ noted that Fish retained its long-held title for filing more patent litigation than any firm nationwide and played a leading role in a number of precedent-setting intellectual property cases in 2012. Fish’s 2012 wins include: a landmark victory for Mayo Clinic at the U.S. Supreme Court, an en banc Federal Circuit win for W.L. Gore that clarified a two-prong test for establishing willful infringement, and a Federal Circuit win for Cephalon that protects their $140 million a year AMRIX drug until 2024 and set a new legal standard for proving patent invalidity in Hatch-Waxman cases.

Klinedinst PC is pleased to announce the addition of Jamie M. Ritterbeck  and  Floyd  A.  Brown  to the San Diego office of Klinedinst PC. Ms. Ritterbeck joins the business litigation team, and will work primarily   with   Shareholder   James D. Crosby on complex and general business litigation cases. Prior to joining Klinedinst, Ms. Ritterbeck worked for a busy litigation defense firm in Newport Beach where she handled all phases of litigation, from discovery and depositions to settlement negotiations and court appearances.

Ms. Ritterbeck earned her law degree from the University of San Diego School of Law and her undergraduate degree from Florida State University. While in law school, Ms. Ritterbeck interned   at   the USD School of Law’s Appellate Clinic, where she successfully represented her client before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and the Board of Immigration Appeals, resulting in her client’s release from federal custody. As a result of her outstanding work, Ms. Ritterbeck was honored as the Outstanding Clinic Intern.

Floyd Brown will work primarily with the employment law, construction, and real estate practice groups. Mr. Brown has a wide range of litigation experience, including law and motions, drafting and responding to discovery, meeting and conferring with both counsel and clients, and managing client communications. Before being elevated to an attorney, Mr. Brown worked as a litigation paralegal with Klinedinst, supporting all phases of litigation, from legal research, document review/management to witness interviews, and trial support.

Mr.  Brown  graduated  law  school  from  Thomas Jefferson School of Law. Prior to law school, Mr. Brown served in the United States Air Force for 23 years, retiring as a Technical Sergeant. While in the Air Force, Mr. Brown served as a non-commissioned officer, and defense paralegal in the Air Force JAG Corp. Mr. Brown served in locations around the world, including Germany, Cuba, England, Bosnia, and is a Gulf War Veteran.