Dewey & LeBoeuf Boosts Silicon Valley Presence with High Profile Intellectual Property and Biotechnology Team

SILICON VALLEY, Calif., May 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP is pleased to announce that Barbara A. Caulfield, Michael J. Malecek and Peter E. Root are joining the firm as partners, while Dr. Stephen C. Holmes is joining as counsel in the firm's Silicon Valley office.

The team comes to Dewey & LeBoeuf from Affymetrix, Inc., a leading Silicon Valley biotechnology company. They will focus on intellectual property and technology litigation with an emphasis on life sciences, as well as provide corporate advice on intellectual property strategy. The team will also advise clients on corporate governance matters and related investigations and litigation, bringing to bear their unique combination of experience as in-house counsel at a publicly traded company, government service as a former Federal District Court Judge and a former AUSA, and at private law firms.

"Many of the world's largest and fastest growing life science and technology companies are located in the Silicon Valley, and increasing our presence in the region enhances our ability to serve them on a global basis," said Dewey & LeBoeuf Chairman Steven H. Davis. "The unique experience of this talented group of attorneys will be a great complement to our work in this area and will anchor our strategy to grow this office. Silicon Valley is a key priority for our firm's growth strategy."

Over the past five years at Affymetrix, the team successfully represented the company in several patent infringement cases (as both the patentee and the accused infringer), winning jury verdicts and motions for summary judgment in the company's favor in the United States District Courts in Delaware, California, and New York. The team also successfully litigated commercial and licensing issues for the company in international (ICC) and US (AAA) arbitrations and supervised European counsel representing the company in UK and German courts. During this five year period, Affymetrix successfully reinvigorated its licensing program generating over $200 million in licensing revenue and defended against all attempts to force the company to take a license to third parties' intellectual property.

Prior to joining the firm, Ms. Caulfield served as Executive Vice President and General Counsel at Affymetrix. She also served as United States District Judge for the Northern District of California from 1991 until 1994. Ms. Caulfield has been trying cases since 1972, representing such companies as Microsoft, Hoffman-La Roche, Eaton Corporation and Mobil Oil Corporation while in private practice. She will serve as the co-chair of Dewey & LeBoeuf's intellectual property litigation group and managing partner of the Silicon Valley office.

Commenting on the team's move, Ms. Caulfield said, "Dewey & LeBoeuf is a world-class law firm with a global footprint and breadth of legal platforms. We are very excited to be joining the firm and look forward to contributing to its dynamic growth."

Mr. Malecek most recently held the position of Chief Advocacy Counsel at Affymetrix, where he led the in-house team handling the company's strategic litigation as lead trial counsel. Mr. Malecek has tried 10 jury cases, including a five patent case to a jury verdict of infringement in Delaware District Court, which resulted in a $90 million settlement payment to Affymetrix. He also served as Assistant US Attorney in the Eastern and Northern Districts of California, in the Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property Section. He investigated and prosecuted federal crimes, with an emphasis on white collar and technology-related matters. Prior to this role, Mr. Malecek was a member of the Litigation Department at Latham & Watkins. Mr. Malecek clerked for the United States District Judge Robert Doumar in the Eastern District of Virginia after graduating from the University of Virginia Law School.

While at Affymetrix, Inc., Mr. Root was Associate General Counsel where he was the lead attorney handling litigation involving claims of stock options backdating, including three shareholder derivative suits and an informal inquiry by the Securities and Exchange Commission. He also served as the company's Chief Compliance Officer. Prior to this role, he was a partner in the litigation department at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, where he focused on securities litigation and complex business and commercial litigation. Mr. Root graduated from University of California, Berkeley School of Law and, before entering private practice, served as a judicial clerk to the Hon. John T. Noonan, Jr., on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Also from Affymetrix, Dr. Holmes served as Assistant General Counsel and was a member of the in-house litigation team, where his experience included the cross-examination of the accused infringer's Chief Scientific Officer in a jury trial and argument of Markman hearings and motions for summary judgment. Prior to joining Affymetrix, Dr. Holmes litigated cases involving patents, trade secrets, trademarks, copyrights and antitrust issues, both in the US and UK, where he is also admitted to practice law. He is a registered patent attorney and has a Ph.D. in engineering from the University of Cambridge.

About Dewey & LeBoeuf:

Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP is a full-service law firm, providing legal counsel throughout the United States, Russia/the CIS, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Africa. With over 1,400 attorneys in virtually every major capital market, the firm represents national and international corporations, financial institutions and government agencies in their most complex legal matters. For more information, visit our Web site at www.dl.com.

Source: Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP

CONTACT: Angelo Kakolyris of Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP, +1-212-424-8187,
akakolyris@dl.com

Web site: http://www.dl.com/

2008-05-27 18:25:44 0371118 PRNEWSWIRE