A Tale of Two Law Firms By Todd Stone

In a press release in late January, venerable Manhattan law firm Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft announced the addition to its new IP practice of two specialists in the hot area of ITC litigation. The announcement touted the insider credentials of Kent Stevens, who had worked as a senior investigative attorney at the ITCs Office of Unfair Import Investigations. What the release didn’t mention was that immediately before jumping to Cadwalader, Stevens was a partner at IP boutique Morgan & Finnegan. A Cadwalader spokeswoman says that Kent’s departure from Morgan “was no secret, but we just like to focus on looking forward.” What’s also unsaid is that Stevens is the eighth attorney (and fourth partner) that Cadwalader has snatched from Morgan in just six months.

The lawyer orchestrating the defections is Christopher Hughes, whom Cadwalader brought on board to head up its fledgling IP group in August. Before being wooed away by Cadwalader, Hughes spent more than 30 years at Morgan & Finnegan, representing clients such as IBM Corporation and Eastman Kodak Company. Gregory Markel, chairman of the litigation department at Cadwalader, says the firm spent five years “looking for someone we could build a practice around.” Cadwalader needed a rainmaker who could not just bring in clients, but also assemble an IP team from scratch in a very competitive market for talent.