December 26, 2007 (Mountain View and San Francisco, CA; Boise, ID) – Fenwick & West LLP announced that it has elected six associates to join the Firm's partnership, effective January 1, 2008. The new equity partners are Dr. Narinder Banait, Michael Blum, Bill Hughes, Andrew Kim, Felix Lee and Ilana Rubel.
"We are honored to welcome our newest partners," commented Gordon K. Davidson, Chairman. "They are exemplary attorneys who are dedicated to our clients and the firm. They are invaluable counselors to their clients, and their continued contributions will further strengthen and grow the firm."
Narinder S. Banait, Ph.D. is a partner in Fenwick's Intellectual Property Group. He is a patent attorney with significant experience in the chemical, pharmaceutical and biotechnology fields. His practice focuses on patent prosecution and counseling for clients in the small molecule, biotechnology and genomics fields, and he has experience developing patent portfolios, rendering patent validity and non-infringement opinions, conducing due diligence, and litigation. Dr. Banait worked as a research scientist at Syntex and Roche, where he primarily focused on 5-HT3 antagonists for the treatment of emesis and anxiety disorders. He has published over a dozen scientific papers in peer reviewed journals. He graduated from Santa Clara University School of Law, and has a Ph.D. in organic chemistry and a M.S. in synthetic chemistry from the University of Toronto.
Michael R. Blum is a partner in Fenwick's Intellectual Property Group. He is an intellectual property strategist. He focuses on structuring and negotiating relationships to maximize clients' revenue from their technology and patents. Mr. Blum also heads the firm's transactional privacy and data security practice. He helps clients confront and manage the international risks associated with handling consumer and employee information. Mr. Blum recently presented on corporate privacy, data protection and security issues at the 24th annual Santa Clara Computer and High Tech Law Journal Symposium, "Privacy in the Information Age." Mr. Blum received his J.D. from Stanford Law School, where he was a co-founder of the Stanford Technology Law Review. He also has a B.S.E. in computer engineering, magna cum laude from University of Michigan.
William L. Hughes is a member of Fenwick's Corporate Group. His practice focuses on public and private offerings of securities and counseling public companies in the areas of corporate and securities laws and related regulatory requirements. He received his J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law (Boalt Hall), and B.A., magna cum laude, from the University of California, Berkeley, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.
Andrew J. Kim is a member of Fenwick's Tax Group. He represents a wide variety of public and private companies in international and domestic tax matters, including both tax planning and tax controversy. Mr. Kim has significant experience in representing clients with respect to cross-border transactions, corporate restructurings, international joint ventures, and transfer pricing issues. He has published articles on international tax issues and developments in the Journalof Taxation and the Euromoney Corporate Tax Handbook. Mr. Kim frequently speaks on international tax issues at meetings for professional tax groups, including the Tax Executives Institute, the Alliance for Tax Legal and Accounting Seminars and the Council for International Tax Education. Fenwick's tax practice has earned a reputation as one of the nation's leading domestic and international tax practices, and was awarded "Tax Litigation Firm of the Year for the Americas," and "Tax Firm of the Year for the San Francisco Bay Area" by International Tax Review. Mr. Kim received his J.D.,cum laude, from Harvard Law School, and B.S. in Psychology with highest honors from the University of Illinois. Mr. Kim is a member of the State Bars of California and Illinois.
Felix S. Lee is a partner in Fenwick's Litigation Group. His practice is focused on securities litigation and representation of companies, officers, directors, and financial institutions in securities class actions, regulatory proceedings, derivative lawsuits, merger litigation, and other complex commercial litigation. He also advises companies on corporate governance and disclosure issues, as well as serving as counsel on internal investigations and shareholder demands. Mr. Lee received his J.D. from Harvard Law School, and a B.A. in Political Science and Economics from Stanford University.
Ilana S. Rubel's practice is primarily focused on complex business and intellectual property litigation involving technology companies. Ms. Rubel also advises and represents companies in connection with shareholder class actions, derivative suits, corporate governance matters and internal investigations. She was recently part of the team that won summary judgment in a fraud, breach of contract and copyright case for a major software company. Prior to that, she served as trial counsel for Compuware Corporation in a trade secret, copyright and antitrust case which settled in Compuware's favor for $400 million after five weeks of jury trial. Ms. Rubel has published numerous articles on intellectual property issues, and is a member of the leadership of the American Bar Association's Section of Litigation. Ms. Rubel received her J.D., cum laude, from Harvard Law School, and her B.A. from Georgetown University, magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa.
Established in 1972, Fenwick & West works closely with technology and life sciences companies that are changing the world through innovation, and the investors that finance them. The firm has more than 30 years of experience crafting innovative solutions to the business challenges that arise at the intersection of technology and the law. Fenwick & West clients, who range from start-up ventures to global enterprises, value our attorneys' deep industry experience and understanding of their technologies.