Law360 quotes Williams & Connolly partner Adam Harber in its recent article discussing the appointment of a new full-time magistrate judge to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas in light of the large influx of patent litigation being brought in that jurisdiction.  The article notes that “[a]bout a quarter of the nation’s patent suits are now filed” in the jurisdiction after Judge Alan Albright, a former patent litigator, “encouraged the intellectual property community to come to him.”  As Adam Harber notes, “[Judge Albright] has been doing a lot of work to keep his schedule moving forward and keep his cases on a fast track, but I think a magistrate would give him some kind of a pressure release valve if he chooses to take it.”  A significant portion of the cases on Judge Albright’s docket were filed within the last 18 months, which Adam notes means that many pretrial disputes will be coming to a head at once.  “It took a little time after the explosive growth in cases last year for more of the court-intensive work to work its way through,” Adam explains.

Adam Harber focuses on representing major technology, pharmaceutical, and medical device companies in patent litigation and technology-related disputes.

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