June 4, 2007

THE DAILY JOURNAL

By Peter B. Matuszak

LOS ANGELES – After finishing his work as second chair to Kenneth Starr, arguing Morse v. Frederick before the U.S. Supreme Court, Eric Hagen packed up his desk at Kirkland Ellis and accepted a new position with McDermott Will & Emery on Friday.

Hagen joined McDermott’s Los Angeles office as a new partner on the intellectual property litigation team. According to sources, at least five major firms were competing for Hagen, who has been on the market since he hired placement firm Watanabe Nason in February to facilitate a move.

“I think we brought the breadth and depth of our IP practice in California to the table,” said managing partner Mark Wine.

Wine said that senior intellectual property partner Terry McMahon personally took on the task of recruiting Hagen.

Hagen said that the idea of moving had been brewing for some time but that he acted to separate from Kirkland only recently.

“My clients were telling me repeatedly, and sending me cases, that Kirkland couldn’t take because of conflicts of interest,” he said. “It totaled at least $10 million in work lost over the last five years.”

He said he remained at Kirkland for two years after agreeing in May 2006 to help Starr with Morse v. Frederick. In a March 19 hearing before the high court, Starr, Hagen and other Kirkland attorneys represented administrators at a Juneau, Alaska, high school, which the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled had violated a student’s free-speech protections.

In 2002, Juneau-Douglas High School student Joseph Morse unfurled a large banner with the message “Bong Hits 4 Jesus,” as the student body was exiting the school to view the Olympic Torch. Frederick sued the school for disciplinary action that was taken after the incident. The Supreme Court’s opinion is pending.

However, now that the pleadings are through, Hagen said, he felt comfortable continuing his job search. Throughout his eight-year career in litigation, he has represented clients in the television, technology, financial services, sports and entertainment industries.

Before joining Kirkland, the 37-year-old attorney worked at Baker & McKenzie’s San Diego office.