Five Finnegan Partners Named 2024 Leading Litigators in America by Lawdragon

Lawdragon recognized Finnegan partners Bryan Diner, Jerry Ivey, Mike Jakes, Charles Lipsey, and Anand Sharma as Leading Litigators in America in their 2024 guide. The list highlights top talent among those who represent corporations and other large entities in litigation involving antitrust; financial and securities litigation; intellectual property; commercial; real estate; M&A and Chancery; cybersecurity and data privacy; and white collar and investigations. Attorneys on the list have decades of experience in leading roles in state or federal courts, before government agencies, and international adjudicatory entities. Firm leadership within their practice and bar organization and premier trial lawyer invite-only organization membership is also a factor.

Bryan C. Diner practices all aspects of intellectual property law, including district court litigation, Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) proceedings at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), strategic patent portfolio management, prosecution, opinion preparation, and due diligence investigations. Bryan’s litigation practice involves diverse technical areas, ranging from protecting the rights of innovative pharmaceutical companies in Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) litigations to defending clients’ right to use certain medical devices. He also has extensive experience in conducting IP due diligence investigations for all types of transactions. Strategic portfolio management and litigation counseling for European clients is also an important part of Bryan’s practice. Bryan served as managing partner of the firm’s Brussels office for six years and during his tenure, he learned about the European legal system, from the European Patent Convention (EPC) to the diversity of laws and practice among the European national systems. His knowledge of the European legal system and how it differs from that in the United States allows Bryan to counsel both European and domestic clients on a full range of IP issues and to find cohesive solutions tailored to the needs of companies with global interests.

Gerald (Jerry) F. Ivey has extensive experience in the areas of civil litigation and trial advocacy. He concentrates his practice primarily on jury trial patent cases involving Internet, computer software and hardware issues, biotechnology, medical devices, and mechanical products. He has tried more than 75 cases to juries in federal and state courts and is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation. Jerry has acted as lead trial counsel in jury cases involving computer software; optical character recognition technology; parental controls; hardware and software boot-up security; graphic user interface technologies; VOIP technologies; automated key duplication machinery; cases involving self-balancing vehicles; wind and jet engine turbines; cases for biomechanical devices including cardiovascular stents; diagnostic test kits; and pharmaceutical products, such as glaucoma, arthritis, and autoimmune medications. Jerry has been recognized by The Legal 500 U.S. for patent litigation and voted by his peers for inclusion in the Top IP Lawyers by Washingtonian Magazine. He received the Honorable William J. Brennan, Jr. Award for Outstanding Trial Advocacy Skills.

J. Michael Jakes concentrates his practice on patent litigation and related counseling. He serves as lead counsel in federal district courts and the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), before arbitration panels, and on appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Mike has vast experience at the Federal Circuit, having argued more than 50 appeals and prepared and filed briefs in many more. He served as a law clerk to the Honorable Giles S. Rich at the Federal Circuit and was also a member of the Federal Circuit’s Advisory Council. Mike has served as both a special master and technical advisor to various U.S. district courts, assisting with claim construction and summary judgment motions on patents covering a wide variety of subjects. He is also a trained mediator, having completed the American Arbitration Association’s mediator training course. Mike’s technical expertise is in the high-tech space, dealing primarily with computer, electronics, semiconductor, software, and medical device technologies. He has served on the firm’s compensation and management committees, and previously led the firm’s appellate section.

Charles E. Lipsey, named as the 2013, 2017, and 2018 “Outstanding IP Litigator of the Year (Virginia)” at the Managing Intellectual Property Americas IP Awards, focuses his practice on intellectual property litigation, particularly patent infringement litigation. Charles has handled cases covering a diverse spectrum of mechanical, chemical, and electrical technologies, with an emphasis on cases involving biotechnology and pharmaceutical chemistry. Since joining Finnegan in 1978, Charles has amassed a wealth of experience in patent infringement litigation, patent arbitration proceedings, and patent interferences. He is a Fellow of American College of Trial Lawyers. The Legal 500 U.S. has recognized Charles’s distinguished career over the years, naming him one of the leading lawyers in patent litigation and inducting him into the patent litigation Hall of Fame. He has also been recognized by Intellectual Asset Management as a leading patent litigator in the Washington, DC area, and for his practice before the Federal Circuit. Charles was also inducted into LMG Life Sciences’ Hall of Fame and recognized as “Hatch-Waxman (Branded) Litigator of the Year,” at the LMG Life Sciences Awards in 2013 and again in 2018. He has been ranked among top U.S. patent lawyers in Legal Media Group’s Guide to the World’s Leading Patent Law Practitioners since 2011. World IP Review recognized him as a WIPR Leader for patents in the United States.

Anand K. Sharma currently serves as Finnegan’s chair and is the firm’s former managing partner. He tries cases before judges and juries across the country and manages patent portfolios for several multi-billion dollar companies. A former NASA software engineer, Anand comfortably handles complex technologies, including data storage and software solutions, telecom, medical devices, automotive systems, polymer films, industrial manufacturing, and consumer appliances and electronics. Anand leads teams of Finnegan attorneys in litigation and strategic patent planning, working in all areas of patent law, from litigation in U.S. district courts and ITC to strategic client counseling at the USPTO. Whether managing patent litigations or patent portfolios, Anand develops client-specific strategies and leads experienced teams to implement them. He is a first-chair litigator, with experience in jury and bench trials. He has examined dozens of witnesses at trial, argued key motions, and successfully led clients through complex settlement negotiations and numerous mediations. Anand has held several leadership and management roles at the firm. He served as Finnegan’s first chair of its diversity and inclusion committee, and as leader of the mechanical practice group. He was a member of the management committee, served as managing partner, and co-leads the firm’s India practice.