Lawdragon Recognizes Five Finnegan Partners in Its 2025 Leading Litigators in America Guide

Lawdragon recently released its 2025 Leading Litigators in America guide, recognizing five Finnegan partners for their significant and impactful work in IP litigation. The 2025 Lawdragon 500: Leading Litigators in America highlights the best litigators across the country who specialize in antitrust, intellectual property, white collar and investigations, securities and corporate governance litigation, class action, product liability and other complex civil litigations. The following Finnegan partners made the list:

Bryan C. Diner practices all aspects of intellectual property law, including district court litigation, Patent Trial and Appeal Board proceedings at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, strategic patent portfolio management, prosecution, opinion preparation, and due diligence investigations. His 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. Bryan also has extensive experience in conducting IP due diligence investigations for all types of transactions. Bryan is recognized as a Life Sciences star by LMG Life Sciences in the fields of “Patent Strategy & Management” and “Hatch-Waxman Patent Litigation,” and has previously received LMG Life Sciences’ “U.S. Intellectual Property Life Sciences Rising Star” award.  Intellectual Asset Management and The Legal 500 U.S. have recognized Bryan in the areas of patent litigation and prosecution.

Gerald (Jerry) F. Ivey has extensive experience in the areas of civil litigation and trial advocacy, having tried 79 cases to juries in federal and state courts. He concentrates his practice on jury trial patent cases involving Internet, computer software and hardware issues, biotechnology, medical devices, and mechanical products. Jerry also has extensive experience and expertise in trade secrets litigation and counseling. 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; semiconductors; 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, voted by his peers for inclusion in the Top IP Lawyers by the Washingtonian Magazine, and named a litigation star by Benchmark Litigation. He received the Honorable William J. Brennan, Jr. Award for Outstanding Trial Advocacy Skills. Jerry is also a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation.

J. Michael (Mike) 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, 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. Mike has been described in Chambers USA as “one of the most talented patent lawyers out there,” “an exceptionally talented litigator who is picked by clients when hundreds of millions are at stake,” and “one of the premier appellate litigators for cases involving electronics and medical devices.” Mike has been recognized as a Global Leader, a leading patent litigator in the Washington, DC area, as well as nationally before the Federal Circuit by Intellectual Asset Management and was named one of the top ten business litigators in D.C. by Legal Times. He has ranked among the top U.S. patent lawyers in Legal Media Group’s Guide to the World’s Leading Patent Law Practitioners since 2015 and has been named Lawyer of the Year for Patent Litigation by Best Lawyers. Mike was also recognized by LMG Life Sciences for his contributions in the fields of “Patent Strategy & Management” and “General Patent Litigation”.

Charles E. Lipsey focuses his practice on intellectual property litigation, particularly patent infringement litigation. He has handled cases covering a diverse spectrum of mechanical, chemical, and electrical technologies, with an emphasis on cases involving biotechnology and pharmaceutical chemistry. 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 D.C. 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, and the World IP Review has recognized him as a WIPR Leader for patents in the United States. Charles was recently recognized by Benchmark Litigation as a 2025 National Practice Area Star. He is also a Fellow of American College of Trial Lawyers.

Anand K. Sharma, chair of Finnegan and former managing partner, leads teams of Finnegan attorneys in litigation and strategic patent planning. He works in all areas of patent law, from litigation in U.S. district courts and the U.S. International Trade Commission to strategic client counseling at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. 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.

Each attorney selected for the 2025 Leading Litigators in America guide has at least a decade of litigation experience and just as much involvement leading practice groups within their respective firms and in relevant bar organizations. They must also have qualified experience in leading roles in state or federal courts, before government agencies, and international tribunals. These attorneys are highly regarded by their peers, leaders in their practice areas, and often members of premier trail lawyer invite-only organizations.

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