One local law firm has already had a busy 2016 by expanding its offerings and adding a new partner.
Lewis Roca Rothgerber announced a merger with Los Angeles-based intellectual property boutique firm Christie, Parker & Hale on Jan. 1. And on Jan. 11, the new firm, Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie, announced that Glenn Light was elected partner.
Light is in the firm’s gaming practice, focusing on land-based and interactive casinos, horse racing, sports betting, sweepstakes and contests, and guiding clients through the licensing process, according to a press release issued by the firm.
Managing Partner Kenneth Van Winkle Jr. said Light’s promotion to partner and the merger are unrelated.
“Glenn is an outstanding gaming attorney. He has worked very hard and diligently over the years and has met the requirements to become a partner,” Van Winkle said.
As far as the merger, Van Winkle said Lewis Roca Rothgerber wanted to solidify its intellectual property practice. At the same time, Christie Parker & Hale was looking to expand its offering for clients.
“We were approached by Christie Parker & Hale about the time we adopted our strategic plan and they were looking to gain a full-service law firm. Our goal was to expand our intellectual property practice to differentiate ourselves to be known as experts in the area. We thought by adding intellectual property we would differentiate ourselves from other law firms. … And Christie Parker & Hale brought the patent aspects to us.
“Christie Parker & Hale were looking for an opportunity to expand operations to their client base. Before the merger, they could only provide patent services and some litigation services. The merger gives them the opportunity to instill additional services to the patent client and expand the relationships they had with those clients.”
The merger should also have a big impact locally. Lewis Roca Rothgerber has a strong gaming division and represents a number of gaming clients and gaming manufacturers, which are consistently working on patents and needing representation in intellectual property issues.
The firm also represents domestic and international clients across all practice areas and industries organizations ranging in size from individual inventors to start-ups to Fortune 500 corporations, according to a press release announcing the merger of the two firms.
Christie Parker & Hale brings the expertise in intellectual property strategy and portfolio management. The firm has represented a wide range of technologies including biotech, medical devices, pharmaceuticals, chemistry, physics, computer science, electrical and mechanical engineering, Internet law and cyber security. It also brings expertise in U.S. International Trade Commission Section 337 proceedings and Inter Partes Review, a trial procedure for challenging a patent before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, according to the press release.
“The merger provides the client base we have in Nevada, and particularly Las Vegas, to provide additional services, particularly in the patent field,” Van Winkle said. “We do represent a number of gaming clients as well as gaming manufacturing clients, which we believe we can offer the patent practice too. As far as what it means for our office in Las Vegas, it provides our lawyers not in the patent arena to cross-sell their services to the clients of Christie Parker & Hale. We can also take this concept and move it around to any of our offices.”
The merger increases the total number of attorneys at the combined firm to 300 and doubles the firm’s number of dedicated intellectual property attorneys to approximately 80 including litigation expertise, across offices in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada and New Mexico, according to the release.
“Lewis Roca Rothgerber already had a solid reputation in its core practices of intellectual property, litigation, business transactions, government relations and gaming, especially the substantial litigation experience that our clients need,” Greg Lambert, legacy Christie Parker & Hale’s managing partner, said in a press release.
“Both legacy firms share a deep commitment to client service, and this is a seamless fit strategically, culturally and professionally.”
Van Winkle said Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie will now be able to provide top-notch service to all of its combined clients and should be a leader in intellectual property and patent law in the jurisdictions they serve.
“The immediate and foreseeable future is to rely on the vision and strategy we had before the merger and to integrate our firms and expand our services to our clients,” he said. “We believe now that we have first-in-class type lawyers in the jurisdictions that are key to the West and Southwest. We now will focus on providing those services at a value our clients expect.”