Vorys to Welcome Experienced Patent Team; Continues Strategic Growth in Houston
Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP announced that a team of four AmLaw 50 patent lawyers and their staff have joined the firm’s Houston office. Carey Jordan, Iona Kaiser and Jeremy Harrison will join as partners and Donna Haynes will join as of counsel.
These additions solidify Vorys’ distinguished approach to patent services, a strategic practice area of the firm. Jordan, Kaiser, Harrison and Haynes will help the firm focus on patent processes and appropriate staffing, which, in turn, will allow Vorys to provide cost-effective IP services to its clients. These priorities mixed with Vorys’ size and regional footprint will allow the Vorys’ team to provide high quality patent services at mid-sized, Midwest-based law firm rates.
“We are excited about joining Vorys’ IP team as we think the firm, with lawyers who previously served as in-house IP counsel and U.S. patent examiners, is uniquely suited to serve our clients,” said Jordan. “Additionally, the full-service approach of the firm, combined with its more regional footprint and costs, will also enable us to offer our clients additional services at a tremendous value and savings. This is a win-win-win for our clients, our team, and Vorys.”
These patent lawyers, who were attorneys in the Houston office of McDermott, Will & Emery, will join 16 attorneys in the Vorys Houston office. The Vorys Houston office opened in 2009 and includes lawyers who practice in litigation, energy, health care, corporate finance, labor and employment and bankruptcy, among other areas. Vorys has nearly 375 attorneys nationwide.
“We continue to focus on strategic growth in the Houston market, and we’re excited to have found the right team to bring intellectual property experience to this office,” said Steve Browning, managing partner of the Vorys Houston office. “Carey, Iona, Jeremy and Donna are widely respected in the Houston legal community and in their field nationally. Their technical skills and legal experience will be an asset to clients in Houston and across the U.S.”
The Vorys IP team, which includes 19 professionals across the firm, provides our clients with diversified technical capabilities. With this team, Vorys represents all facets of technical areas encompassing chemical, pharmaceutical, mechanical, business methods, electrical, computer, software, and biotech. This allows the firm to provide across-the-board support to a diversified group of clients from a wide variety of industries.
“Nearly all of our patent professionals have advanced degrees in their focus area. Carey, Iona, Jeremy and Donna each bring advanced degrees and high level expertise in specific patent areas that will further enhance our group,” said Whitney Gibson, chair of the Vorys technology and intellectual property group. “Our platform, combined with their technical experience and management of large-scale patent portfolios will be invaluable in delivering cost-effective and efficient patent services to our clients.”
Jordan has nearly two decades of experience advising large-scale clients on patent prosecution and global intellectual property portfolio management, agreements (technology transfer, joint development and other research agreements), licenses, transactions and risk consulting in the chemicals, energy and materials science arenas. In addition, she has experience handling complex post-grant review procedures for U.S. patents at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, including inter partes review proceedings. Jordan is a member of the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA), where she serves as the chairperson of its Mergers and Acquisitions Committee. She is the former chairperson of the AIPLA’s Women in IP Law Committee. Jordan has been recognized as a leader in the World Intellectual Property Review, The Best Lawyers in America, Chambers and Partners, IAM’s World’s Leading Patent Practioners, and others. Jordan received her J.D. magna cum laude from the University of Houston Law Center. She received her M.S. and BS magna cum laude from Clemson University.
“Vorys has a unique focus on intellectual property law for a law firm of its size and scope,” said Kaiser. “The experience that our team brings will complement the Vorys team, while at the same time allowing us to better serve our clients.”
Kaiser’s practice is focused on advising clients on transactional patent matters, including prosecution, counseling and licensing, and patent litigation. She has experience in all aspects of patent-related intellectual property law, with an emphasis on chemical patent prosecution and litigation. Kaiser has worked extensively on patent disputes as well as disputes involving business interruption at industrial facilities. She also has experience counseling clients on patentability studies, infringement analyses and invalidity analyses. Kaiser received her J.D. magna cum laude from the University of Houston Law Center. She received her B.S. in chemical engineering from the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.
“Vorys is known for its commitment to teamwork, high quality legal work and client service,” said Harrison. “It will be a great fit for us as those are all qualities that we focus on when working with our clients.”
Harrison advises clients on intellectual property matters, including patent and trademark law. He has experience preparing and prosecuting foreign and domestic patent applications in the mechanical, electrical, computer and chemical fields. In addition, he has extensive experience with foreign and domestic trademark prosecution and procurement. Harrison received his J.D. cum laude from Franklin Pierce Law Center, where he was a senior articles editor for the Pierce Law Review. He received his B.S. in mechanical engineering from Brigham Young University.
Haynes has significant experience with preparation and prosecution of patents. She also routinely advises clients on transactional patent matters. Before attending law school, Haynes spent several years working in the biomedical and biotechnological industry. She received her J.D. magna cum laude from the University of Houston Law Center, where she was the chief articles editor for The Houston Journal of Health Law & Policy. She has an Advanced Certificate in Biomedical Quality Systems from San Diego State University and received her B.S. in human biology from the University of Texas at Austin.
In addition, Valerie Moore, PhD, will join Vorys as a patent agent. Kaylen Gonzalez and Wendy Netherton will join the firm as paralegals. Abby Derrickson and Leandrea Mossbarger will join the firm as patent prosecution administrative assistants.
About Vorys: Vorys was established in 1909 and has grown to be one of the largest law firms with nearly 375 attorneys in seven offices in Houston; Columbus, Cincinnati, Cleveland and Akron, Ohio; Washington, D.C.; and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Vorys currently ranks as one of the 200 largest law firms in the United States according to American Lawyer magazine. To learn more about the Vorys Houston office, visit vorys.com/houston-office.
