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Best Lawyers Names Five MoFo Attorneys "Lawyers of the Year"

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Morrison & Foerster was recognized in the 2020 edition of Best Lawyers in America, with 95 lawyers receiving 156 individual recognitions across various practices and offices in the United States.

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Morrison & Foerster was recognized in the 2020 edition of Best Lawyers in America, with 95 lawyers receiving 156 individual recognitions across various practices and offices in the United States. Among the firm’s ranked lawyers, five were named “Lawyers of the Year,” including:<ul><li>Dennis L. Jenkins, Securitization and Structured Finance Law, Boston</li><li>G. Brian Busey, Litigation – Patent, Washington, D.C.</li><li>Jay de Groot, Venture Capital Law, San Diego</li><li>Michael R. Ward, Biotechnology and Life Sciences Practice, San Francisco</li><li>Tom E. Wilson, Litigation - Labor and Employment, Palo Alto</li></ul>Established in 1983, Best Lawyers is one of the oldest peer-review publications in the legal profession. Additional recognitions are also awarded to individual lawyers with the highest overall peer-feedback for a specific practice area and geographic region. Only one lawyer is recognized as the "Lawyer of the Year" for each specialty and location.The complete list of this year’s rankings can be found <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bestlawyers.com/united-states">here</a>.

Best Lawyers Names Five MoFo Attorneys "Lawyers of the Year"

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Brian Busey is a Senior Counsel in the firm’s Intellectual Property Group. Brian’s practice focuses on complex intellectual property matters—particularly those before the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC). Brian has litigated more than seventy section 337 cases before the ITC and has served as the president of the ITC’s Trial Lawyers Association.In addition to his active ITC practice, Brian has handled cross-border patent, trademark, and trade secret disputes in federal district court and before alternative dispute resolution tribunals. Brian also has counseled clients concerning intellectual property licensing issues and represented airports and airport proprietors in major administrative and court litigation.Brian is a frequent speaker and author, both in the U.S. and in Asia, on ITC practice and procedure. Brian has been recognized as a leader in the ITC and intellectual property litigation practice by Chambers USA (2013-2017, 2021-2023), Chambers Global (2014-2018), Legal 500 US (2011-2018, 2022-2023), Best Lawyers in America (2010-2021, 2023), and IAM Patent 1000 (2014-2016). He was recognized as the top lawyer in Washington, D.C. for intellectual property by the Washington Business Journal (2009). For his work in ITC and intellectual property litigation, Brian is an inaugural inductee into the Legal 500 2017, 2022, and 2023 Hall of Fame, along with fewer than 500 other outstanding U.S. partners who have been recommended as “Leading Lawyers” for the last six years consecutively.Brian holds a B.A. and M.A. from Georgetown University and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center. While earning his law degree, Brian was an editor of the Georgetown Law Journal. He was a law clerk to Judge John H. Pratt of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

G. Brian Busey

Senior Of Counsel

Jay de Groot

Senior Counsel

Michael (Mike) Ward is global head of the Life Sciences + Healthcare Group, head of the Patent Group, co-chair of the firm’s Intellectual Property Group, and co-chair of our global Food + Agriculture Group.As head of the Patent Group, Mike manages a team that includes 80+ Ph.D.s and 100+ attorneys and others with advanced scientific degrees in life sciences and related engineering disciplines. From small molecules and antibodies to gene editing, artificial intelligence, and machine learning, MoFo has deep experience protecting some of the most important innovations in the life sciences and food and agriculture sectors.Recognized as “one of the world’s foremost plant and agriculture IP lawyers,” Mike manages a wide range of intellectual property issues related to plants and plant products. He and his team advise clients on plant and plant utility patents; licensing agreements for plant IP; litigation in U.S. state and federal court and before the International Trade Commission; and regulatory approvals from the USDA, FDA, and EPA for gene edited and genetically engineered plants.Mike is a Legal 500 US Hall of Fame lawyer for patent prosecution and is consistently named one of the leading IP lawyers by Managing Intellectual Property, Chambers USA and Chambers Global, and IAM Patent 1000. For his work across the life sciences sector, Mike was named San Francisco Biotechnology Lawyer of the Year by Best Lawyers in America in 2020 and is recommended for his patent strategy and prosecution practice in LMG Life Sciences. He also led the team that was named 2022 Patent Management and Strategy Firm of the Year at the 2022 LMG Life Sciences Americas Awards.Mike works closely with many clients to develop and manage their patent portfolios. He helps clients identify, monitor, and assess the infringement risks of third-party patents. He also assists clients in preparing both offensive and defensive patent portfolios, with a particular emphasis on drafting patent applications that will be utilized in licensing and in litigation efforts. His representative clients include:<ul><li>The California Table Grape Commission</li><li>Inari</li><li>Verinomics</li><li>Amycel</li><li>Driscoll’s</li><li>Terviva</li><li>Dole Fresh Foods</li></ul>For venture capitalists seeking to invest in early- and mid-stage companies, underwriters involved in IPOs, and companies seeking to acquire or merge with other companies, Mike has managed extensive IP diligence. His work includes assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of patent portfolios, evaluation of freedom to operate issues, and strategic recommendations for maximizing the value of patent portfolios going forward.Mike also works closely with the IP Litigation Group on various litigation matters including patent interferences to determine the first-to-invent and patent re-examination work and actively participates in both mediation and arbitration proceedings on behalf of clients in the life sciences and food and agriculture areas.Mike holds a Ph.D. in plant physiology (biochemistry) and an M.S. in agronomy from the University of California, Davis; a B.S. in biology from the University of California, Berkeley; and a J.D. from Golden Gate University School of Law. He was a post-doctoral fellow in plant molecular biology at the Harvard Medical School and the Department of Molecular Biology at Massachusetts General Hospital, where he worked on the Arabidopsis genome project.He is a frequent lecturer and speaker. Among numerous speaking engagements, Mike is the IP instructor at the UC Davis Licensing Academy and founded Morrison Foerster’s annual Harvard Biotechnology Club Fall Patent Law Course.