Dallas law firm Munck Wilson Mandala announced Monday it is expanding its footprint outside of Texas with the launch of an office in Los Angeles.
The tech-focused law firm has merged with the intellectual property and entertainment boutique The Hecker Law Group, adding four attorneys led by Gary Hecker. Munck Wilson now has close to 70 attorneys firmwide, including a bench of 40 registered patent attorneys.
Managing Partner Bill Munck says he and Hecker “hit it off” after being introduced to one another. They started exploring the possibility of combining firms last summer.
“They bring a lot of years of experience in high profile IP litigation, hard core prosecution skills and a real strong entertainment practice,” Munck says. “Our intention is to work with Gary and his team to make them more full service for tech companies. We want to get their office to 15 to 20 lawyers over the next two years.”
One of the key strategic targets for the newly-combined firm, Munck says, is to serve the growing number of California-based companies that are looking to relocate to or expand in Texas.
“We become a no-brainer service provider to those companies,” says Munck, whose firm also has offices in Austin and Marshall.
Hecker, who worked for Steve Jobs and Pixar early in his career, focuses his litigation practice on patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, C-suite counseling and IP licensing. In addition to Apple and Pixar, he has also represented Visa and ADP.
“Our firms really complement each other,” Hecker said in a statement. “They have great depth in patent law. They also have outstanding corporate, employment and litigation practice groups. Combining our firms gives us outstanding advantages geographically and in the scope of legal services we can now provide.”
The Hecker Law Group associates J.D. Sadighi and Chase Covello and of counsel James Slominski are also joining Munck Wilson.