MoFo makes hay with Sonnenschein IP trio

Morrison & Foerster (MoFo) has taken on three new intellectual property (IP) partners in the US following a raid on Chicago-based firm Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal.

Alexander Hadjis, Kristin Yohannan and Rudy Kim are joining the firm as partners, with Hadjis and Yohannan set for the Washington DC office and Kim heading for the Paolo Alto arm of the West Coast leader.

All three were partners at Sonnenschein, where Hadjis was firmwide chair of the patent litigation group, representing clients including Intel and Broadcom.

The loss of the team comes as a blow to Sonnenschein, which last month laid off 37 lawyers and more than 75 additional staff members.

Commenting on the appointments, MoFo global litigation chair Steven Kaufmann said: "Our practice continues to gain technical talent and trial prowess with the addition of Alex, Kristin, and Rudy. They provide a complementary addition to our roster of lawyers distinguished for their track record in handling patent litigation and major disputes in all other areas of intellectual property."

He added: "We are particularly excited to further expand our presence in Washington."

The hires come soon after the addition of IP lawyers Mark Ungerman and Yukihiro Terazawa in Washington and Tokyo respectively.

Meanwhile, in May MoFo hired a three-partner team from UK outfit Irwin Mitchell to launch a City litigation practice, bringing in Jonathan Wheeler, Alan Owens and Kevin Roberts from the national firm as equity partners.

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