Los Angeles-based litigation firm Stris & Maher announced on Monday its expansion to Dallas with a team of intellectual property lawyers from Skiermont Derby.
Sarah Spires, Steven Hartsell, and Jamie Olin open Stris’ fifth outpost; they are also joined by Los Angeles-based partner Mieke Malmberg.
The firm’s announcement says the group has won appeals before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, represented patent owners and challengers in well over 100 inter partes review and ex parte reexamination proceedings, and handled Hatch-Waxman litigation for both branded and generic pharmaceutical companies.
“This move is a significant expansion of our already strong patent and complex technical litigation practice,” Elizabeth Brannen, Stris’ managing partner and chair of its intellectual property litigation practice, said in a statement.
“Mieke, Sarah, Steven, and Jaime are exceptional trial lawyers. They are also a natural fit with our firm, bring unparalleled technical expertise, and give us significantly more firepower — particularly in life sciences and Patent Office proceedings.”
The firm also highlighted the team’s technical expertise: Malmberg has a background in biochemistry and cell biology; Spires studied biology at MIT and conducted research at MIT’s Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research; Hartsell is a former research and applications engineer with a degree in materials science and engineering from Georgia Tech; and Olin studied biology and cognitive science.
Stris has tapped Dallas for talent before — U.S. Supreme Court advocate Daniel Geyser practiced at the firm from 2015-2018. Geyser departed Haynes Boone this summer for Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer.
Stris, which has 33 lawyers firmwide, also has offices in Orange County, Washington, D.C., and Montpelier, Vermont.