Ethical, Tenacious, Outcome-Driven Litigation.

HARDER.

We try harder, because we believe in what we do.  Fighting the right battles the right way, a good, ethical lawyer can deliver higher rates of return than any other asset you have.  Or save you more money in an afternoon than an army of consultants by warning you off a counterproductive course of action.  We know the difference between a pineapple and a hornet’s nest.  We’ll warn you which to pick and which to avoid.

BETTER.

What would the ideal law firm be like?  That’s what I asked myself as a client, managing litigation for the largest cell-phone manufacturer in the world.  This firm is my answer, built from the ground up for optimal performance, taking the best from other firms and always remembering the mission: To deliver better client outcomes at lower cost through strategic focus and operational excellence.

FASTER.

Clients don’t need more lawyers.  They need better lawyers, who listen to their clients, think before they act, and know what they’re doing.  For bet-the-company, multi-forum telecom patent litigation, sure:  We’ll bring an army.  But for most cases, minimizing the overall cost to the client means assessing the most efficient path forward, targeting only the issues that advance the client’s interests, and staffing leanly to focus on those.

STRONGER.

Winning means efficiently achieving the best outcome possible for the client’s business and brand.  That can mean total war against a dangerous competitor, adroitly protecting your interests without upsetting customers, or showing suppliers  their interests are aligned with yours.  It can mean protecting trade secrets according to your philosophy, budget, and business environment.  The strongest representation is the one that helps you the most.

Serious Litigation

An unprepared case always costs more than it saves.  We manage and prepare every case for trial because that is the only way to protect our clients’ businesses, livelihoods, and liberty.  To do this, we serve sincere, committed clients who take their cases, and the matters at issue in them, as seriously as we do.

Client Focus

We can’t make litigation easy.  But we can and will answer your questions, listen to your concerns, explain what to expect, help you make the right decisions for your own situation and goals, and give you the expertise and support you need to protect your rights with confidence. 

Accountability

Law is more than a service industry, it’s a professional calling.  We measure our own performance by how well we did, compared to other law firms you could have hired, and we strive for excellence.  We’re happy when we help people better than any other law firm could have.

“Strategy Without Tactics is the Slowest Route to Victory. Tactics Without Strategy is the Noise Before Defeat." Anonymous

Often attributed to Sun Tzu, this quote may be a summary of his ideas first used at the U.S. Military Academy

Dr. Everett Upshaw

26 Years of Efficient, Creative, Relentless Litigation Experience in Federal Courts.

Everett Upshaw spent twenty-five years as outside and in-house counsel focusing on patent infringement litigation before expanding his practice to include civil rights.  He has experience in a wide range of complex commercial litigation in state and federal courts, particularly antitrust, business tort, securities, and license litigation. He has successfully handled everything from sole responsibility for cases from first filing through final appeal, to cooperatively managing massive multinational bet-the-company conflicts involving dozens of simultaneous litigation, arbitration, investigative, mediation, contract, patent office, customs, and other administrative matters, handled directly and by multiple law firms and vendors.  Before opening his innovative law office in 2012, he was Senior Litigation Counsel at Nokia, where in addition to managing litigation, his responsibilities included developing litigation and discovery policies, procedures, and platforms; advising on licensing and other transactions; budgeting; and managing outside counsel.  As a member of Jones Day’s award-winning litigation group, he handled numerous cases on his own as part of an industry-leading training and apprenticeship program in addition to acting as primary associate on large patent litigation matters.  As an associate professor of economics, Everett taught courses in statistics, applied microeconomics, and the economics of regulation; and was recognized as an expert in several cases where he offered testimony on damages.

Dr. Everett Upshaw, Managing Attorney of Upshaw PLLC

DOWNLOAD DETAILED CV

Education

J.D. University of Texas at Austin School of Law, December 1999

Ph.D. University of Texas at Austin, May 1991

Admissions

State Bar of Texas

U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Fifth, Tenth, and Federal Circuits

U.S. Court of Federal Claims

U.S. District Courts for the Northern, Southern, Eastern, and Western Districts of Texas

U.S. District Courts for the Northern, Eastern, and Western Districts of Oklahoma

Selected Cases

Network System Technologies, LLC v. Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. et al., Case No. 2:22-cv-00481-JRG (J. Gilstrap, E.D. Tex.—Marshall).  Saved litigation costs and took significant settlement pressure off defendant One Plus by staying case pending resolution of plaintiff’s slower case against Qualcomm, under the customer-suit exception, where plaintiff had attempted to structure the case to foreclose this possibility, in a jurisdiction generally disfavoring stays.

Buffalo Patents, LLC v. ZTE Corp., Case No. W-21-CV-01065-ADA (W.D. Tex.).  Cooperatively argued and briefed motion achieving rare dismissal for improper service and lack of jurisdiction against foreign defendant in court disfavoring dismissals.

TriOptima AB v. Quantile Technologies Ltd., Case No. 2:19-CV-00390-JRG (E.D. Tex.).  Cooperatively argued and briefed motion achieving rare dismissal for lack of jurisdiction against foreign defendant in jurisdiction disfavoring dismissals.

AGIS Software Development, LLC v. ZTE Corp. et al., Case No. 2:17-CV-00517-JRG (E.D. Tex.), In re ZTE (USA) Inc., 890 F.3d 1008 (Fed. Cir. 2018), et al.  Helped coordinate and participated in argument and briefing across several cases establishing applicability of TC Heartland venue standard in patent cases and ending years of litigation against ZTE (USA) Inc. in the Eastern District of Texas.

Nokia Corp. v. Apple Inc., C.A. No. 09-791-GMS (D. Del.); Certain Electronic Devices, Including Mobile Phones, Portable Music Players, and Computers, Inv. 337-2702 (U.S. International Trade Commission et al.), et al.  One of several internal counsel managing forty cases around the world, constituting “the most bitterly contested patent dispute that this industry has seen to date” (New York Times) involving essential and nonessential patents, materially benefitting Nokia’s operating margin and increasing Nokia’s stock price (as disclosed in SEC filings).

Terrence Gore v. Experian Information Solutions, Inc., 3:03-cv-02949 (N.D. Tex.).  Obtained summary judgment from a federal court in a case of first impression recognizing limitations on the enforceability of certain state court judgments under Texas law.