Brown Rudnick today announced its largest group hire in the firm’s history, bringing onboard a 34-Lawyer intellectual property litigation group to the firm and launching a Silicon Valley office. This addition is the largest group hire in Brown Rudnick’s history, and cements Brown Rudnick as a market leader in technology, life sciences, and global litigation. The team of highly accomplished IP trial litigators and patent prosecutors brings decades of experience. The team includes Silicon Valley partners Paul Andre, Lisa Kobialka, James Hannah, Kristopher Kastens, and Michael Lee, and New York partners Jonathan Caplan and Aaron Frankel. The team was previously with HSF Kramer.
“We are excited to welcome this exceptional team of intellectual property litigators to our firm,” said Vince Guglielmotti, CEO and chairman of Brown Rudnick. “Their stellar reputation in the market for providing sophisticated IP counsel and their deep industry experience strengthens our position as a market leader in technology, life sciences and global litigation. Their arrival underscores Brown Rudnick’s appeal to top-tier lateral partners who want an entrepreneurial platform where they can make an impact.”
Paul Andre said: “Brown Rudnick shares our team’s vision for building a globally prominent IP practice. We were attracted to Brown Rudnick’s boutique approach to client service – with partners who know each other, and an entrepreneurial spirit and innovative approach to litigation funding – where our team can make a strong impact.”
Brown Rudnick has operated in California for over a decade, with an office in Orange County, and welcomed a four-partner team to its new office in Los Angeles in 2025.
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Paul J. Andre is a prominent trial lawyer who focuses on high‑stakes intellectual property disputes involving complex technologies, with significant experience in life sciences, computer science, and electrical engineering. With experience in over 200 patent trials and litigations, Paul represents patent owners seeking to enforce their rights and companies defending against infringement allegations.
Lisa Kobialka is one of the nation’s most accomplished trial lawyers in complex IP and business disputes, and has participated in more than 250 litigations and over 45 trials and hearings. Lisa represents both plaintiffs and defendants in patent infringement, trade secret misappropriation, copyright infringement, unfair competition, trademark disputes, and complex commercial litigation.
James Hannah is trial litigator who represents clients in high‑stakes patent, trade secret, and technology‑driven commercial disputes in federal and state courts, and before the PTAB and the ITC. James has significant experience handling inter partes review (IPR) proceedings, where he has successfully handled hundreds of trials on behalf of both petitioners and patent owners.
Kristopher B. Kastens represents clients in complex patent litigation, trade secret disputes, and technology‑driven matters. He has represented clients in matters involving computer security, cryptography, artificial intelligence, distributed systems, and network infrastructure. Kris also counsels clients on the legal issues arising from the development and deployment of blockchain technologies.
Michael H. Lee represents clients in complex patent litigation, trade secret disputes, and technology‑focused commercial matters. His practice spans a broad range of technologies, including computer software, network infrastructure, computer security and wireless networks. Michael also has more than 10 years of practical engineering experience in the computer industry.
Jonathan S. Caplan’s practice spans patent litigation, post-grant proceedings, IP counseling, prosecution strategy, and intellectual property aspects of corporate and transactional matters, with a particular focus on technology- driven businesses. Jonathan regularly counsels clients on freedom-to-operate analyses, global patent portfolio development, and patent prosecution strategy in the United States and abroad.
Aaron Frankel represents clients in complex patent, trademark and trade secret litigation. Aaron’s practice spans a wide range of technologies, including semiconductor and light-emitting diode (LED) devices, computer security and networking, video games, cellular networks, consumer electronic devices, among others.
Source: brownrudnick.com
