Patent Lit is AT&T Legal Team’s Specialty
Facing a mountain of patent infringement lawsuits, AT&T GC David McAtee created a specialized five lawyer group within the corporate legal department focusing exclusively on patent infringement litigation. The mission was twofold: enhance the ability to defend the company and reduce the attractiveness of AT&T as a target of frivolous lawsuits. The team is witnessing results, including overcoming the hesitancy of outside counsel to work so closely with the in-house team. “An outside lawyer who doesn’t welcome this won’t remain our outside lawyer for very long,” says AT&T Assc. GC Neal Berinhout.