Stephen J. Akerley Joins as a Member in San Francisco

Mintz, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C. has bolstered its nationally recognized, bicoastal Intellectual Property practice with the addition of veteran Silicon Valley attorney Stephen J. Akerley, who will serve as a Member in the San Francisco office. Mr. Akerley advises clients on the full range of intellectual property litigation matters, serving as trial counsel in jurisdictions throughout the United States as well as before the International Trade Commission and international tribunals. He focuses his practice on company-critical patent and trade secrets matters, frequently representing clients in cases involving threats of injunctive relief and hundreds of millions of dollars in claimed damages.

Mr. Akerley joins Mintz from the Silicon Valley office of Dechert.

“Steve is a first chair trial lawyer with extraordinary experience representing many of Silicon Valley’s best known companies in high-stakes IP disputes,” said Paul Churchill, Managing Member of the San Francisco office.  “As we continue to expand and strengthen our West Coast presence, we are delighted to welcome Steve to Mintz and to the San Francisco office.

“We are excited to bring another high-caliber litigator onto our team. Steve further strengthens our national bench of attorneys who have achieved successes in District Courts and at the International Trade Commission on behalf of accused infringers and patent owners asserting their exclusive rights,” added Michael Renaud, Division Head for the Intellectual Property Section and a member of the firm’s Policy Committee.  

Mr. Akerley has represented and defended clients against some of the biggest technology companies in the world. Among others, he was global lead counsel in patent infringement cases against Hewlett-Packard venued in California, Texas and Germany culminating in a US$141 million settlement.  Mr. Akerley also has a perfect record representing respondents before the International Trade Commission, obtaining invalidity or non-infringement findings in multiple investigations.

He has been listed among the top IP litigators in Silicon Valley by The Legal 500 and has also been recognized multiple times as one of the Top 50 IP litigators in California by the Daily Journal. He was also previously recognized by the National Law Journal as one of the top “40 Under 40” litigators in the country. Mr. Akerley holds a B.S. in electrical engineering from Cornell University and a J.D. from University of San Francisco School of Law.