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AmLaw Litigation Daily: Litigator of the Week Runners-Up and Shout-Outs

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Daralyn Durie, Aaron Fountain, Matthew Kreeger, Matthew Stephens, Annie Lee, Hui Zhao, Charles Provine, Jack Haisman, Eric...

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Daralyn Durie, Aaron Fountain, Matthew Kreeger, Matthew Stephens, Annie Lee, Hui Zhao, Charles Provine, Jack Haisman, Eric Nikolaides, Kira Davis, Nina Reed and Kelsey Roberts Kingman were featured as Litigators of The Week in The AmLaw Litigation Daily for securing a summary judgment win in the Middle District of North Carolina on behalf of NeoGenomics, Inc., a leading provider of oncology diagnostic solutions that enable precision medicine. Read the <a href="https://www.law.com/litigationdaily/2025/09/05/litigator-of-the-week-runners-up-and-shout-outs/?slreturn=20250905100628" target="_blank">full article</a> (subscription may be required).

AmLaw Litigation Daily: Litigator of the Week Runners-Up and Shout-Outs

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Daralyn Durie is among the top trial lawyers in the country, acting as go-to trial counsel for both plaintiffs and defendants. Daralyn’s exceptional track record has earned her consistent recognition from leading national publications. Chambers has listed her among the top 10 intellectual property lawyers in the U.S. and Law360 has recognized her as an “Icon of IP” and an MVP. Benchmark Litigation reported that “going against her was like going against a boxer in which you know you’re going to get hurt.” She’s a fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers, a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates, and an inductee into the California Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame.Daralyn’s legal career began at Berkeley Law, followed by a clerkship for the Honorable Douglas Ginsburg on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. She became a partner at a litigation boutique in 1999 and, in 2009, co-founded Durie Tangri, a premier litigation boutique that later combined with Morrison Foerster in 2023.In addition to her courtroom successes, Daralyn is actively involved in the legal community. She is a board member of the National Women’s Law Center, a past president of the Northern California Association of Business Trial Lawyers, and served as an adjunct professor at Berkeley Law, where she taught civil trial advocacy.Life SciencesDaralyn has decades of experience in the life sciences sector. She spearheaded the enforcement of Genentech’s Cabilly family of patents, which generated billions of dollars in licensing revenue. She served as lead counsel in the Herceptin biosimilar litigation and recently achieved a plaintiff-side jury verdict of $178 million in a patent infringement case involving melanoma therapy.TechnologyIn the tech sector, Daralyn recently won defense jury verdicts for Aptiv (USB hubs), Activision (in the Eastern District of Texas), and Redbubble. She served as lead counsel for Google, defending Google Books from copyright infringement claims. Following extensive litigation on copyright and antitrust issues, Google prevailed on summary judgment, resulting in Daralyn being named an Attorney of the Year by California Lawyer magazine.

Daralyn Durie

Partner

Aaron is an experienced courtroom lawyer who partners with his clients to protect their intellectual property. He frequently serves as lead counsel in the most important patent venues in the nation, including the Western and Eastern Districts of Texas, the District of Delaware, the International Trade Commission, and the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.Leveraging his background as a research scientist, Aaron crafts accurate, effective strategies involving complex innovations. He has represented clients in disputes before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, including inter partes review proceedings before the PTAB, and he has counseled clients on patent portfolio management and strategy. Aaron has litigated matters across a diverse mix of industries, including:<ul><li>Specialty chemicals</li><li>Medical devices</li><li>Molecular diagnostics</li><li>Sportswear</li><li>Consumer electronics</li><li>Topical pharmaceuticals</li><li>Software</li><li>Telecom infrastructure</li><li>Oil field services</li><li>Automotive</li><li>Semiconductors</li></ul>Prior to his legal career, Aaron was a research scientist focusing on instrumentation design and method development for proteomics research. Additionally, he previously served as a law clerk to the Honorable Arthur J. Gajarsa for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and as a law clerk to the Honorable Harry Lee Hudspeth for the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas. Aaron was also a judicial intern to the Honorable Ewing Werlein, Jr. for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas.Aaron has been recognized in leading publications for intellectual property, including Chambers USA, Law360, Super Lawyers, and The Legal 500 US.Aaron’s pro bono activities include successfully serving as lead appellate counsel representing veterans before the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims and lawful permanent residents before the Board of Immigration Appeals. He is a member of the Federal Circuit Bar Association, the Austin Intellectual Property Lawyers Association, and the American Intellectual Property Lawyers Association.

Aaron Fountain

Matt has over two decades of experience representing clients in intellectual property cases. He has represented numerous clients in the pharmaceutical, biotech and medical device industries, in cases involving technologies such as antibody therapeutics and diagnostics, nucleic acid testing, vaccines, and small molecules. Matt also works for clients in information technology, leveraging his software experience. In one case for a computer networking company, Matt persuaded the court to issue an early favorable claim construction for an encryption patent, resulting in summary judgment in the client’s favor. In another case involving hybridization assays, Matt was part of the trial team in a successful arbitration establishing infringement of the client’s patent. Matt is a member of MoFo’s PTAB Litigation Group, representing clients in inter partes review, post-grant review, covered business method and derivation proceedings under the America Invents Act. Matt has served as lead counsel on more than forty such proceedings. In one case for an early stage medical device client, Matt filed an inter partes review petition that persuaded the opposing party to license the patent on favorable terms. In addition, Matt has served as lead or co-lead counsel in more than twenty patent interferences, including one ground-breaking interference confirming that the client was the first to invent a test to screen for HIV antibodies used in blood banks throughout the world.Matt has more than ten years of experience as a consultant in software design and development. He has programmed in C, C++, Pascal, and assembly language, and has developed data analysis and instrument control programs for chemical instrumentation companies.

Matthew I. Kreeger

Senior Counsel

Matthew Stephens is a partner in the Intellectual Property Litigation group, based in the San Diego office. Matt has experience across a range of IP matters, including patent, trademark, copyright, and trade secret litigation in district court, the Federal Circuit, and before the International Trade Commission. Outside of the courtroom, he advises clients on IP protection and how to avoid litigation. He has advised clients across a diverse mix of fields, including medical device, telehealth, drones, cellular technologies, financial technologies, and data software.Before joining private practice, Matt clerked for the Honorable Christopher B. Latham in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of California. Matt obtained his J.D. cum laude from the University of San Diego School of Law, where he served on the San Diego Law Review and was on the Moot Court Executive Board. During law school, Matt was also a judicial extern for the Honorable Ruben B. Brooks at the U.S. District Court in San Diego. He holds a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Southern California.Matthew is a member of the Texas and California Bars.

Matthew Stephens

Hugh Zhao is an associate in Morrison Foerster’s Intellectual Property Litigation Group in the Austin office. Hugh leverages his Ph.D. in organic chemistry and extensive research experience to inform his patent practice strategies. He regularly advises clients in the pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, medical device, and clean energy industries. Hugh’s extensive litigation experience includes pre-litigation due diligence, managing all phases of party and third-party discovery, motion practices, orchestrating complex claim construction briefing and hearing, taking and defending fact and expert depositions, and preparing expert reports.Hugh has handled numerous IP due diligence projects in connection with venture capital, private and public financing, mergers and acquisitions that were driving primarily by the IP assets of the target.Hugh maintains an active pro bono practice, focusing on immigration matters.

Hui (Hugh) Zhao

Associate

Charles Provine is an associate in the Intellectual Property Litigation Group based in Morrison Foerster’s Washington, D.C. office.Charles received his J.D., cum laude, from Duke University School of Law, where he served as the special projects editor for the Duke Law & Technology Review. While at Duke Law, he spent two semesters working in the Health Justice Clinic to serve the unmet legal needs of underserved members of the community facing serious illness. Charles also concurrently received an M.A. in bioethics and science policy from Duke University Graduate School. Prior to law and graduate school, Charles was a communications and policy intern for the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.Charles received a B.S., summa cum laude, in biochemistry and molecular biology from Mississippi State University.

Charles Provine

Jack Haisman is an associate in Morrison Foerster’s Litigation Group and based in the San Francisco office, where his practice encompasses intellectual property counseling and litigation, internal investigations, mass torts and consumer class actions.Before joining the firm, Jack was a summer associate at Morrison Foerster. He earned his J.D., cum laude, from the University of California, Hastings College of Law and his B.A. in biological sciences from the University of Southern California. During law school, Jack served as a senior production editor of the Hastings Law Journal and as a board member of the Moot Court Team. He also was a student associate in the patent module for the Startup Legal Garage Clinic, assisting emerging biotech startups with freedom-to-operate analyses.

Jack Haisman

Eric Nikolaides is an associate in the Intellectual Property Litigation Group of Morrison Foerster’s New York office.Eric’s practice focuses on the intersection of intellectual property law and innovative technologies, including generative artificial intelligence. He has litigated on behalf of and advised clients facing copyright, trademark, patent, and First Amendment issues relating to technology and the internet. Eric received a J.D., Order of the Coif, from the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law. During law school, he worked with the Samuelson Law, Technology & Public Policy Clinic and served as a supervising editor of the Berkeley Journal of Criminal Law. Eric received Jurisprudence Awards in Business Associations, Criminal Law, First Amendment, and Music Law Practice, and served as a judicial extern for Judge Nathanael Cousins at the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.Eric received a B.A. with high honors from the University of Texas at Austin in Spanish and government. Before attending law school, he worked as a professional guitarist.

Eric Nikolaides

Kira is an experienced courtroom lawyer who assists life sciences companies in high-stakes patent litigation.Kira is the head of Morrison Foerster’s Los Angeles Litigation Department, a partner in the IP Litigation Group, and a member of the firm-wide Life Sciences + Healthcare Leadership Team. She regularly serves as counsel in intellectual property lawsuits involving cutting-edge technology, including foundational antibody technology, antibody cancer immunotherapies, fusion proteins, small-molecule therapeutics, transcatheter heart valve repair and replacement devices, and genetic testing and genomics technology. Kira litigates on behalf of both patentees and defendants and has significant experience representing innovators in disputes arising out of proposed generic and biosimilar launches.    Kira has been recognized by a number of regional and national publications, including as a Litigator of the Week by The American Lawyer. In 2023, she was named a Top Healthcare Lawyer by the Daily Journal.   Kira’s approach is to gain a deep understanding not only of the technology at issue, but also of her clients’ business objectives and goals, and to work closely with her clients to build litigation and pre-litigation strategies that match those goals. As a trial lawyer, Kira is known for her levelheaded and trustworthy style, allowing client witnesses to shine through on direct examination and cutting through the noise on cross-examination.In addition to U.S. district court litigation, Kira regularly advises clients on proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, both in matters with co-pending litigation and in stand-alone PTAB proceedings. She also often coordinates global patent litigation strategy across multiple jurisdictions, including England, Ireland, Germany, and Switzerland.Kira also has experience representing clients in connection with other types of litigation and investigative matters, including antitrust litigation, contract disputes, white-collar criminal matters, complex commercial disputes, sports-related matters, and internal investigations.Kira began her legal career as a law clerk to the Honorable John M. Rogers in the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Prior to joining the firm, Kira was a partner at Durie Tangri, a premier litigation boutique.Kira received her J.D. summa cum laude from Cornell Law School. She received her B.A. in classics from Ohio Wesleyan University.She is admitted to practice in California and New York.

Kira Davis

Nina Reed is an associate in Morrison Foerster’s Intellectual Property Litigation Group based in the firm’s Austin office.Nina’s practice focuses on patent litigation.Before joining Morrison Foerster, Nina served as a federal judicial intern to the Honorable Judge Alan D Albright of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas.Nina received her J.D. from the University of Texas School of Law, where she served as staff editor on the Texas Intellectual Property Law Journal. Nina received her B.S.A. in Biology with a minor in Philosophy from the University of Texas at Austin.

Nina Reed

Kelsey Roberts Kingman is an associate in Morrison Foerster’s Intellectual Property Litigation Group.Kelsey has experience with litigation and pre-suit analysis for a wide range of life sciences and technology cases. She is driven to understand new technologies and how to convey complicated technical details to a lay audience. Her practice also includes litigating important Internet copyright disputes for online platforms.Kelsey’s technical experience ranges from cases related to biologics, nucleic acid-based technologies, and diagnostics to wide area networking and computer security technologies. Before becoming an associate, Kelsey worked for five years as a patent agent at Morrison & Foerster, where she developed a strong understanding of patent prosecution and post-grant proceedings that informs her litigation practice. She has experience working with technical experts at all stages of expert discovery, as well as experience with inter partes review and ex parte reexamination proceedings.Kelsey earned her J.D. from Harvard Law School, where she served as an Articles Editor for the Journal of Law and Technology. Kelsey also has nine years of research experience in the life sciences, which she applies to help understand and translate clients’ technologies. She earned her Ph.D. in Developmental Biology from Stanford University School of Medicine, where she studied biochemical mechanisms for cellular communication during cancer. She received a B.A. in biology, magna cum laude, from Columbia University, where her research focused on genetics and microbiology.