Akerman LLP, a top 100 U.S. law firm serving clients across the Americas, today announced its expansion in Texas with the addition of Ryan Beard, a first-chair patent litigator. Beard broadens Akerman’s intellectual property offering with experience in the areas of medical devices, mechanical devices, automotive products, computer equipment, other technology related to the internet and data, and copyrights and trademarks.
Beard regularly counsels clients to obtain protection and registration in the areas of trademarks and copyrights and also assists clients in the evaluation of patent portfolios for businesses and due diligence evaluation. With respect to patent portfolio management, Beard uses his experience in litigation to help clients obtain patents that will not only protect their products, but that will allow their enforcement at trial to be effective and understandable to a jury. In addition, he has experience with general business practices, trade secret protections, and confidentiality agreements.
Since 2016, Akerman’s headcount has more than doubled in Texas to 66 lawyers and business professionals in Austin, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio. Recent additions in Texas include real estate partners Mark McElree and Kacy Whitehead, and insurance litigation partner Elliot Strader in Dallas. In Houston, a four-member team led by partners David Clark and Kristen McDanald joined Akerman to enhance the capabilities of the national Litigation Practice Group in the area of insurance litigation.
Source: www.akerman.com
