Overview
BOSTON AND MIAMI (September 22, 2016) – McDermott Will & Emery is pleased to announce that partners Sarah Chapin Columbia and Anthony Upshaw have been named Fellows of the American College of Trial Lawyers, one of the premier legal associations in North America.
Ms. Columbia, who serves as McDermott’s Global Head of Intellectual Property, has come to be recognized as an exceptional trial attorney through numerous high-profile patent litigation wins. She has led 12 patent infringement trials over the past nine years. In 2016, Ms. Columbia co-led McDermott’s trial teams that captured district court wins on behalf of Amgen (March 2016) and BlackBerry (July 2016).
As an accomplished trial lawyer, Mr. Upshaw, currently the Head of the Miami Trial Practice Group, has tried more than 30 civil jury trials to verdict over the course of his 26-year career, including noteworthy wins for the tobacco, asbestos and pharma industries. So far this year, Mr. Upshaw has led two multi-firm trial teams to significant victories on behalf of Monsanto and Pharmacia. Mr. Upshaw and Ms. Columbia are also both members of the firm’s Management Committee.
The induction ceremony at which Ms. Columbia and Mr. Upshaw became Fellows took place recently before an audience of approximately 800 persons during the recent 2016 Annual Meeting of the College in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
“We congratulate Sarah and Tony on this well-deserved recognition,” said McDermott co-chair, Jeffrey E. Stone. “Selection to the College is a true honor, reserved for those at the top of our profession.”
“It is truly gratifying to see our partners honored among such a renowned group,” said McDermott co-chair Peter J. Sacripanti. “Both Sarah and Tony are exceptional role models within the firm and throughout the profession more broadly. We are certainly a stronger firm because of their extraordinary work.”
Founded in 1950, the College is composed of the best of the trial bar from the United States and Canada. Fellowship in the College is extended by invitation only and only after careful investigation, to those experienced trial lawyers of diverse backgrounds, who have mastered the art of advocacy and whose professional careers have been marked by the highest standards of ethical conduct, professionalism, civility and collegiality. Lawyers must have a minimum of 15 years trial experience before they can be considered for Fellowship.Membership in the College cannot exceed one percent of the total lawyer population of any state or province. There are currently approximately 5800 members in the United States and Canada, including active Fellows, Emeritus Fellows, Judicial Fellows (those who ascended to the bench after their induction) and Honorary Fellows. The College strongly supports the independence of the judiciary, trial by jury, respect for the rule of law, access to justice, and fair and just representation of all parties to legal proceedings. The College is thus able to speak with a balanced voice on important issues affecting the legal profession and the administration of justice.
Ms. Columbia and Mr. Upshaw join McDermott co-chair Jeffrey E. Stone, and McDermott partners Steven P. Handler and Michael A. Pope as Fellows of the American College of Trial Lawyers.
About McDermott Will & Emery
McDermott Will & Emery is a premier international law firm with a diversified business practice. Numbering more than 1,000 lawyers, we have offices in Boston, Brussels, Chicago, Dallas, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Houston, London, Los Angeles, Miami, Milan, Munich, New York, Orange County, Paris, Rome, Seoul, Silicon Valley and Washington, DC. Further extending our reach into Asia, we have a strategic alliance with MWE China Law Offices in Shanghai.
