James Barney, a patent litigator and appellate strategist, has been named Finnegan’s newest Managing Partner. On July 1, James will succeed Erika Harmon Arner, who will transition to chair of the firm. James spoke with The National Law Journal about his new role and what he hopes to accomplish.
“We have fairly recently opened a Munich office as well as expanded our London office. We see a lot of growth in our European practice,” said James. “What we're seeing is tremendous growth, and we're very excited about where we are at this point. One of my priorities is to make sure that momentum continues in Europe. Also, in terms of subject matter, our litigation practice, our appellate practice—all of that is going strong.”
He added that the firm is committed to investing and growing its work within artificial intelligence.
"There are companies very quickly moving into AI, incorporating AI into their products, and that is, in turn, creating a demand for high quality and very sophisticated intellectual property advice, and so we are well positioned to provide that,” said James. “We're looking forward to continuing to grow our AI practice. That practice not only involves our traditional sort of patent counseling and litigation, but also pulls in our privacy practice and our copyright practice as well.”