Describing WilmerHale Partner Mark Fleming’s first week of November as “busy” would be a major understatement.
That week Mr. Fleming, Boston-based vice chair of WilmerHale’s Appellate and Supreme Court Practice, had three, yes, three oral arguments in unrelated cases before the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington DC. Saying he argued three cases in the same week actually inflates the time frame; he really argued three cases in four days, to be precise.
On Monday of that week, he argued for the appellee in Verinata Health Inc. v. Ariosa Diagnostics Inc., et al. in a patent fight over prenatal DNA testing technology.
On Wednesday, he represented the appellant in Warsaw Orthopedic, Inc. v. Sasso, et al., arguing in a fight over jurisdiction that the proper venue for the underlying patent royalty dispute is federal court, not Indiana state court.
The following day, he concluded his litigation triathlon by arguing for the appellee in Crane Security Technologies v. Rolling Optics AB. The appellate, Rolling Optics, was trying to overturn a lower court verdict against it. On November 12, Mr. Fleming learned that he won the case for Crane, when the Federal Circuit summarily affirmed the judgment in Crane’s favor.
Mr. Fleming’s trio of appellate arguments in the same week was so unusual, Litigation Daily columnist Jenna Greene previewed it for her readers:
He got word of the calendaring on Sept. 20. When notice of the first date came in around 2 pm, he shrugged. “OK, that was about what I expected,” he recalled thinking. But 30 minutes later came the second notice, and then the third—with each case set for the first week of November.
So … how did he feel? “Shock,” he said…
… What about his clients—what was their reaction?
“One laughed out loud,” Fleming said. “Another said, ‘That’s what happens when you’re good at your job.’”
Including Mr. Fleming’s arguments that first week of November, WilmerHale had five Federal Circuit arguments all told. Partner Michael Summersgill argued, and prevailed, for the appellee in R2 Semiconductor Inc. v. Intel Corp.
As of November 15, WilmerHale lawyers have argued 19 cases in 2019 before the Federal Circuit, underscoring the firm’s position as a leader in this specialized area of appellate law. While Mr. Fleming’s week of three arguments in the circuit was extraordinary, it was in keeping with the kind of prowess that has earned the firm recognition for its appellate work, including its annual spot on Law360’s list of firms with the most dominant Federal Circuit practices.