Mid-Level Litigation Associate

Fenwick & West leads honours at Managing IP Americas Awards. April 10 2026 The 2026 Americas ceremony recognised outstanding firms and practitioners, along with highlighting impact cases of the year. Managing IP celebrated the best of the best last night, April 9, at its Americas Awards ceremony at Guastavino's in New York City. The ceremony drew more than 300 guests with expertise across all sectors of IP. From artificial intelligence (AI) to break-out cases involving the US International Trade Commission (ITC), law firms strived to solve some of the most challenging IP questions last year. Back for its 21st year, the Managing IP Americas Awards recognised firms and practitioners for their outstanding IP achievements over the previous 12 months. Co-hosted by Chris Adams, Americas head of research for Managing IP's accreditation title IP STARS, and Managing IP's senior reporter Sanjana Mishra, last night's Americas ceremony covered jurisdictional awards and impact cases. This year's ceremony also included several new categories including US Firm of the Year, Design Patent Firm of the Year, and Latin America Firm to Watch. Heavy hitters. Fenwick & West was the top winner last night, taking home seven awards, including US Firm of the Year. Managing IP presented this award for the first time ever, for overall IP excellence in the country. "We are thankful to Managing IP for these recognitions, and to our clients for the trust they place in us every day," said Jennifer Stanley, Fenwick's IP chair. "Being honoured across such a wide range of IP disciplines reflects the scale and capabilities we've developed to help clients protect, defend and build on their innovations over the long term." Gibson Dunn & Crutcher also struck gold at the ceremony, winning five awards, including US Patent Disputes Firm of the Year. "We are very honoured to receive this recognition from Managing IP of our work for our clients over the past year. Our success has come from the hard work of our incredible and growing team of top trial lawyers in patent litigation," said Brian Rosenthal, partner at Gibson Dunn. Finnegan Henderson Farabow Garrett & Dunner snagged one of Managing IP's most highly sought-after awards, Americas Firm of the Year, in addition to three other prizes. IP boutiques were also recognised at the ceremony, with Knobbe Martens winning US IP Boutique Firm of the Year. "We are thrilled and grateful to be recognised once again as a standout firm at the Managing IP Awards," said Steven Nataupsky, managing partner at Knobbe Martens. "These honours reflect the momentum we've seen across all our practice areas over the last year, and the results we have consistently delivered for innovative clients in complex, high-stakes matters." Outside of the US, several firms in Canada and Latin America were commended for their work. According to partner Daniel Glover, this recognition pushes the firm to continue improving its IP practice, particularly in the copyright sector. "Our group is deeply gratified at receiving this recognition from Managing IP. It reflects more than two decades of our team members participating in the highest-stakes copyright cases in Canada with enough rigour and creativity to achieve results that no one believed were possible. We look forward to comparable challenges in years to come." In Latin America, Olivares stood out, also winning three awards. Speaking to Managing IP, Sergio Olivares said that a strong team and dedication to technological expansion allowed the firm to flourish. "Olivares has grown thanks to the talent, commitment, and shared vision of generations of partners, as well as the dedication of our entire team. Their collective effort has been essential in building a firm that is not only technically strong, but also deeply cohesive and aligned in purpose," he said. He added: "The firm has embraced technological development as a key component of its evolution, integrating new tools and systems to enhance efficiency, communication, and the quality of our services." Aside from his firm's wins, Olivares himself received this year's Lifetime Achievement Award. He said that the recognition was both an honour and a deeply emotional moment for him. Olivares dedicated his award to his father, who originally founded the firm. "Ultimately, this award represents not only a personal milestone but a reflection of a lifetime of collective effort - beginning with my family, my wife and children, and continuing with my partners, colleagues, mentors, and clients, who have all played a meaningful role in this journey," he said. "I receive it with gratitude, humility, and a renewed commitment to continue contributing to the development of IP law in Mexico." Impact cases. Elsewhere, AI dominated several prominent matters last year, a theme reflected in the impact cases awarded last night. Angela Dunning, partner at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, represented Meta in Kadrey v Meta, earning her recognition as Copyright Practitioner of the Year in the West. "I am honoured to receive this award, but the credit is not mine alone. I was so grateful to partner with a great team of lawyers - both in-house at Meta and amazing colleagues at other firms - to help deliver this important fair use win for Meta at summary judgment in one of the bellwether AI copyright cases." She added: "Much work remains to be done, but I remain optimistic that the courts will ultimately resolve these critical issues in a manner that furthers the Copyright Act's core purposes of promoting the progress of science and the creation of new expression." Ranjini Acharya, partner at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, was also recognised as Patent Litigator of the Year in the West, acting for client Fox Corporation in a landmark AI patent case, Recentive Analytics v Fox Corp. "Recentive Analytics was a particularly significant matter given that it was one of the earliest cases exploring the intersection of patents and machine learning technologies," said Acharya. "Being part of a case that is at the forefront of the developing body of law was both challenging and meaningful." Along with AI, the ITC drew significant attention from attorneys, particularly after the Lashify v ITC case. Saina Shamilov, partner at Fenwick & West, secured a landmark victory for Lashify, earning her Managing IP's ITC Practitioner of the Year award. "I'm honoured to receive the recognition. This country is built on innovation, perseverance, and hard work, and I'm proud to have played a role in helping make ITC protections more accessible for homegrown small businesses," she said. The full list of winners can be found here. You can read more about the Managing IP Awards here.

Fenwick expands corporate practice with Alexander Rea in NY. March 25, 2026, 7:27 AM PDT Bloomberg Law Automation Alexander Rea joined Fenwick as a corporate partner in the startup and venture capital practice in New York, the firm announced Wednesday. Rea represents emerging and growth-stage technology companies and their investors across the corporate lifecycle, from financings and recapitalizations to entity formation and corporate governance. He advises across industries including AI, digital health, fintech, blockchain and cryptocurrency, and enterprise software, the firm said. This story was produced by Bloomberg Law Automation. Bloomberg Law provides trusted coverage of current events enhanced with legal analysis.