Fenwick’s Technology Team Named a Law360 “Practice Group of the Year”

Fenwick's strategic focus and history of guiding bleeding-edge clients at the forefront of technological innovation in their most transformative deals, disputes, and transactions has earned the firm recognition among Law360’s 2024 Technology Groups of the Year.

Corporate chair Alan Smith and patent litigation co-lead Saina Shamilov sat down with Law360 to discuss the firm’s technology team and their achievements over this past year.

"Fenwick is technology," Shamilov said, adding that "everyone at the firm is a technologist."

Law360 highlighted the depth of Fenwick’s industry expertise and longstanding client relationships, featuring the firm's representation of Smartsheet, a client Smith has worked with since the company’s inception in 2005, in its $8.4 billion take-private acquisition by Blackstone and Vista Equity Partners.

"Fenwick has taken that company through its whole life cycle and saw it through this massive exit," Smith said, who also credited Fenwick’s antitrust team for a smooth completion, emphasizing the firm’s investment in antitrust, trade regulation, and government contracts and payments capabilities.

Fenwick’s litigation team also demonstrated their legal prowess by successfully representing Amazon in multiple patent cases. Notably, they secured a significant victory in the Western District of Texas and before the Federal Circuit, while also defeating a U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) case threatening to block imports of Amazon products.

"ITC matters can be particularly dangerous for respondents," Shamilov told the publication, "because the impact of precluding business activities can be far greater than any monetary damages."

The team’s litigation victories extend into the blockchain sector, securing a $1.6 million win for Yuga Labs in a case over copycat NFTs, along with a $7 million attorney fees award.

Additional Fenwick successes that made an impression on Law360 include:

• Led Databricks, a client since 2013, in its $1.3 billion purchase of MosaicML, subsequent acquisitions of Arcion, Einblick, and Tabular, and record-breaking $10 billion Series J financing, considered the largest venture capital financing round of all time.

• A hat trick of billion-dollar VC fundraisings—a $1.1 billion Series C for AI-focused cloud software provider CoreWeave, $1 billion fundraising round for cloud security company Wiz, and represented Fidelity in its $6 billion investment in xAI’s Series B.

• Successfully enforced Lashify’s patented DIY eyelash extension technology, securing a $30.5 million victory in a rare IP enforcement win in an industry flooded with duplicate products.

Read the full profile on Law360.

About Fenwick

Fenwick is a leading law firm, purpose-built to guide visionary tech and life sciences companies and their investors through every stage of growth, from startups securing their first round of funding to leading publicly traded global enterprises. As one of Silicon Valley’s original legal practices, today we have over 600 lawyers, patent agents, engineers, and scientists serving clients all over the world. Named 2024 Practice Group of the Year for both Life Sciences and Technology by Law360, we are consistently ranked a Chambers first-tier firm for delivering the deep experience and technical skill that help innovators at the forefront of their industries shatter boundaries and redefine what’s possible. Visit www.fenwick.com to learn more.