Mintz Levin Continues West Coast Expansion With Addition of Prominent Members in its San Diego Office
9/20/2006
San Diego, CA. -- Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C. - a full-service, 480-lawyer AmLaw 100 firm with offices throughout the U.S. and in the U.K. - announced the expansion of the firm's San Diego office with the addition of two Members, Of Counsel and an associate. Edith Bauer, formerly a Principal of Fish & Richardson P.C., has joined as a Member in the Business and Finance Section; Mitch Danzig, formerly a Partner of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges LLP, has joined as a Member of the Employment, Labor and Benefits Section; and Pedro Suarez, formerly of Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner LLP, has joined the firm as Of Counsel in the Intellectual Property Section. Also joining the Intellectual Property section in the San Diego office is associate Michael Van Loy who most recently was a patent attorney with Skymoon Ventures.
In June, Mintz Levin announced the opening of its San Diego office, anchored by a group of former Fish & Richardson attorneys, including the head of its firm wide Corporate group and the Managing Principal of its San Diego office. The move came on the heels of Mintz Levin?s acquisition of the Reed Intellectual Property Law Group and the opening of a Palo Alto office, which marked the firm's first significant expansion to the West Coast.
"Mintz Levin is committed to quickly creating a strong presence in San Diego and on the West Coast generally, building on our firm-wide strengths in business and finance, intellectual property and litigation, among other areas, and our extensive experience working with companies in the life sciences, biotechnology, technology and other fast growing industries," said Craig Hunsaker, Managing Member of the San Diego office. "Edye, Mitch Pedro and Michael are terrific lawyers, and have outstanding backgrounds working with local and national technology companies. We are pleased that they have joined our growing San Diego office."
Ms. Bauer, a corporate and securities attorney, specializes in a variety of corporate and securities matters, ranging from general business counseling for public and private companies to corporate formation, corporate governance, mergers and acquisitions, emerging growth companies, venture financing, technology transfer and licensing. She has particular experience representing companies in the healthcare, biotechnology, pharmaceutical, medical device, software, telecommunications and information technology industries.
Prior to joining Mintz Levin, Ms. Bauer was a principal in the San Diego office of Fish & Richardson P.C. where she was a member of the Corporate and Securities Group. Ms. Bauer is admitted to the California bar and earned her B.A. summa cum laude from the University of Southern California and her J.D. from Stanford Law School. She is also a member of the American Bar Association and the San Diego County Bar Association.
Throughout his career, Mr. Danzig has focused on a variety of employment law matters as well as general commercial and intellectual property litigation. His practice has consisted of litigation in the areas of wrongful termination, discrimination, harassment, employee raiding, trade secrets, contracts, defamation, unfair competition, as well as wage and hour and consumer class actions. Additionally, through his counseling practice, Mr. Danzig has performed management training for employers and has provided advice on many employment-related issues including terminating employees, workplace investigations, discrimination, protection of trade secrets, leaves of absence, reductions-in-force and compliance with wage and hour laws.
Before joining Mintz Levin, Mr. Danzig was a partner in the San Diego office of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges LLP. He is admitted to the California bar and earned his B.A. summa cum laude from Hunter College and his J.D. cum laude from The University of Arizona College of Law. He is a frequent speaker on a variety of employment related topics and has served as Vice President, Professional Issues for the San Diego Chapter of the National Human Resources Association (NHRA) and served as the author of News From National, the NHRA labor and employment law quarterly. Prior to practicing as an attorney, Mr. Danzig was a police officer with the New York City Police Department and a recipient of the NYPD Police Commissioner's Award.
Mr. Suarez, a patent attorney, specializes in all aspects of patent law, including the preparation and prosecution of patent applications, rendering opinions, licensing, due diligence investigations, and client counseling. He has considerable legal and technical expertise in the telecommunications, networking, and wireless fields, having over 20 years of experience as a lawyer and, earlier in his career, as an engineer. Mr. Suarez has prepared and prosecuted patent applications for emerging and high technology companies in a variety of areas including wireless communications, telecommunications, networking, networks security, medical products, software and business methods for the banking and financial industry. In addition, he has litigated patent infringement and validity disputes, drafted and negotiated license agreements, and conducted due diligence in connection with acquisitions.
Prior to joining Mintz Levin, Mr. Suarez served in the Washington D.C. office of Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner LLP. He is admitted to the bar in California and the District of Columbia. A graduate of the United States Air Force Academy with a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering, Mr. Suarez earned an M.S. in electrical engineering from The Air Force Institute of Technology and a J.D. with honors from The George Washington University Law School.
Mintz Levin is one of the leading law firms in the intellectual property and life science areas, with more than 90 attorneys, scientists and other professionals focused on the protection, licensing and enforcement of intellectual property rights. The firm's roster includes more than 400 clients in the life sciences and technology industries, including: Biogen-Idec, NuVasive, Inc., StemCells Inc., Merck, 454 Life Sciences, Neuromolecular Pharmaceuticals Inc., Coley Pharmaceutical Group, Inc., Curagen Corporation, OSI Pharmaceuticals and Qiagen, Inc..
Mintz Levin completed more than $7 billion in corporate transactions on behalf of clients in 2005: over 60 merger and acquisition deals, totaling more than $2.7 billion; more than 20 public securities offerings, totaling nearly $4.4 billion; and 60 venture capital deals, totaling more than $485 million.
Mintz Levin is an AmLaw 100 law firm with offices in the US and the UK. The firm has exceptional depth in a broad range of practice areas, but our clients recognize that what sets us apart from other law firms is our industry focus. By truly understanding business drivers and industry trends, we are able to provide our clients with more than just legal advice. We provide legal solutions to our clients' business issues. Since 1933, our lawyers have represented entrepreneurs, emerging growth companies, government agencies, and leaders in primary industries that include Life Sciences/Biotechnology; Technology & Communications; Financial Services & Insurance; Healthcare; Real Estate, Hospitality & Construction; and Retail & Consumer Products. Our practical knowledge combined with our industry expertise enables us to provide our clients with enterprise legal advice that gives their business a competitive advantage in the marketplace.
