Cozen O’Connor has expanded its intellectual property practice and New York presence with the addition of 19 lawyers from Cohen Pontani Lieberman & Pavane LLP, an internationally recognized New York-based intellectual property law firm. The Cohen Pontani team will join Cozen O’Connor on July 1, 2011.
The second acquisition of lawyers in a strategic geographic market for Cozen O’Connor in two months and the third in the past year, the Cohen Pontani team adds prowess and a pool of major clients to Cozen O’Connor’s international intellectual property practice and to the firm’s business law practice in New York.
Cohen Pontani is a recognized leader in intellectual property law. The firm represents domestic and foreign clients across a broad range of industries, including biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, automotive and telecommunications, on all global intellectual property protection matters, from patent prosecution to licensing to litigation.
“The addition of Cohen Pontani’s excellent group of attorneys marks another successful milestone in Cozen O’Connor’s strategic geographically focused growth over the past two years,” said Tad Decker, President and CEO of Cozen O’Connor. “Adding this talented group helps us fulfill our strategy of building a topnotch team to serve our national and international clients. We have made great strides in continuing our growth in New York, and the team from Cohen Pontani is yet another example of our commitment to strategically grow in response to our clients’ needs.”
Abby Wenzel, managing partner of Cozen O’Connor’s midtown New York office, and Camille Miller, chair of Cozen O’Connor’s Intellectual Property Group added “the Cohen Pontani lawyers joining the firm's IP practice in New York represent many leading companies that complement Cozen O'Connor's client base. The 19 attorneys’ extensive experience in all aspects of intellectual property law will add to the full range of corporate legal services currently offered firm-wide and in the midtown New York office.”
“We are very happy to be joining Cozen O’Connor and to become a part of its Intellectual Property Group,” said Thomas Pontani, a founding partner of Cohen Pontani. “Cozen O’Connor’s litigation strengths and its national and international footprint will better enable us to serve our growing list of clients.”
Martin Pavane, Cohen Pontani’s Managing Partner, stated, “Joining Cozen O’Connor offers an exciting opportunity to provide a full range of corporate and litigation services to our clients, as well as to broaden Cozen O’Connor’s first-rate intellectual property practice.”
Cohen Pontani’s most senior partners Thomas Pontani, Martin Pavane, Thomas Langer, Lance Lieberman and Edward Weisz will join Cozen O’Connor as members (brief biographies are included below), and with them will come seven additional members, one of counsel, and six associates.
Today’s addition of 19 Cohen Pontani attorneys in New York is preceded by an announcement last month of the addition of 14 labor and employment and commercial litigation lawyers from Epstein Becker Green Wickliff & Hall, which was led by Martin Wickliff Jr. and Alton Hall Jr. in the firm’s Houston office. In September 2010, the firm added 15 lawyers and government affairs professionals from Sher & Blackwell, LLP to its Washington, D.C., office.