Metropolitan News-Enterprise

 

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

 

Page 3

 

Dykema, DLA Piper Add New Attorneys to Their Los Angeles Offices

 

By a MetNews Staff Writer

 

DLA Piper and Dykema yesterday each announced the addition of new members to their Los Angeles offices.

William L. Androlia, formerly of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP, joined DLA Pieper’s Intellectual Property and Technology practice as senior counsel, while litigator Christopher M. Stevens moved from Ohio to become of counsel to Dykema, the firms said in their press releases.

Androlia’s practice focuses on U.S.-Japan patent, trademark, and copyright applications, searches, infringement analyses, licensing, and litigation, according to a DLA Piper spokesperson.

The spokesperson said Androlia will be working together with Henry Koda, another Quinn Emanuel attorney who joined DLA Piper’s Tokyo office yesterday as manager of that location’s Intellectual Property Group.

Koda and Androlia were partners in a small intellectual property firm bearing their names before they joined Quinn Emanuel.

J. Terence O’Malley, DLA Piper’s U.S. Managing Partner said that Koda and Androlia “have built a thriving patent litigation, prosecution and counseling practice over the 30 years they have worked together,” and predicted “their unrivaled knowledge and experience will greatly benefit our clients in U.S.-Japan patent matters.”

O’Malley added that the arrival of the two attorneys “underscores that DLA Piper is one of few firms that can offer clients world-class lawyers nearly anywhere in the world where they do business, and provide practitioners the resources they need to seamlessly serve their multi-national clients.”

Alastair Da Costa, managing director of DLA Piper’s Asia practice, remarked that the firm is “committed to further developing our Japan practice,” and that the addition of Koda and Androlia “is an important part of our strategy as IPT issues are so vital for Japanese companies particularly those operating internationally and seeking growth opportunities in emerging markets.”

Androlia is a former electronic engineer who worked on communication satellites and deep space vehicles at Philco-Ford Space and Reentry Systems, the DLA Piper spokesperson said. He also served as an officer in the U.S. Army Signal Corps and worked on the General Staff at Redstone Arsenal managing Army Missile Systems.

The U.C. Berkeley graduate attended Loyola Law School before being admitted to practice in 1973.

The attorney is a member of the American Bar Association, the Los Angeles County Patent Law Association and the U.S. Patent Bar. He also teaches patent law as an adjunct professor at Pepperdine Law School.

Stevens came to Dykema from Calfee, Halter & Griswold LLP in Ohio, where he was a senior attorney. He had been a partner in the Los Angeles office of Meserve, Mumper & Hughes LLP prior to joining Calfee.

Rex Schlaybaugh, Dykema’s chairman and chief executive officer, said “[a]dding strength and depth to our leading litigation practice is key to the strategic growth and direction of our firm,” opining that the arrival of Stevens “represents a significant addition to our Los Angeles office as well as our national litigation practice, particularly in the areas of toxic tort, product liability and commercial litigation.”

Most of Stevens’ practice is focused on representing defendant manufacturers in multi-party toxic tort and product liability litigation, a Dykema spokesperson said. Stevens also represents clients in commercial litigation involving allegations of fraud and misrepresentation, breach of duty, and violation of public policy or industry procedure.

He attended Boston University and the Syracuse University College of Law before being admitted to practice in California in 1991.

 

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