July 11, 2005

THE LOS ANGELES DAILY JOURNAL

By Kenneth Davis

SAN DIEGO – Intellectual property litigator Stephen Swinton will start today at Latham & Watkins in San Diego after bidding farewell to Cooley Godward.

Swinton brings his extensive experience and expertise in patent litigation to the firm’s litigation department, according to a Latham release announcing the move.

“Steve will greatly expand our capabilities on the technical end of our IP litigation practice,” said Bruce Shepherd, managing partner of Latham & Watkins’ San Diego office.

“He has become a pre-eminent name in IP law, particularly in patents, and will be a great addition to our IP litigation practice,” Shepherd said.
Swinton is the third intellectual property litigator in the past year to leave Cooley Godward.

In February, intellectual property litigators Brandon Baum and William Gaede parted ways with the Palo Alto-based firm. Baum joined Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw, and Gaede went to McDermott Will & Emery.

Cooley Godward does not comment on attorney departures, a representative said.

Michael Weaver, chairman of Latham’s litigation department in San Diego, believes Swinton’s background will be a match for Latham’s attorneys and clients.

“Steve is recognized as one of the top lawyers in commercial and business litigation,” said Weaver, who has known Swinton since the two worked together at Luce, Forward, Hamilton & Scripps 20 years ago.

“And he has been extremely successful in patent litigation,” Weaver said. “He’ll be a terrific addition to the firm.”

Weaver added that he believes Latham’s team mentality is one of the things that attracted Swinton to the firm as well as its strong global platform.
Swinton was with Cooley Godward for 11 years. He chaired the firm’s intellectual property litigation department. While there, he distinguished himself as a business and patent litigator and has significant trial and appellate experience in business and intellectual property matters, according to Latham’s release.

Before joining Cooley Godward in 1994, Swinton worked at Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison.

Swinton was unavailable for comment

Latham has 1,638 attorneys firmwide and 103 in its San Diego office. The firm has 22 offices worldwide including Boston; Brussels, Belgium; Chicago; Frankfurt, Germany; Hamburg, Germany; Hong Kong; London; Los Angeles; Milan, Italy; Moscow; New York; and Paris.

Cooley Godward has 420 attorneys firmwide and 75 in its San Diego office. The firm has two offices in Palo Alto as well as offices in San Diego; San Francisco; Broomfield, Colo.; and Reston, Va.

The deal was brokered by Watanabe Nason & Seltzer.