Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP announced today the openingof a Silicon Valley office, the firm's eleventh office and eighth in California.  Attorneys in the new office, located in PaloAlto, will include partners Marc A. Sockol, Riaz A. Karamali, Karen Canaan andJames M. Chadwick.

Sockol, managing partner of the new office, joins Sheppard Mullin'sIntellectual Property practice group.  Karamalijoins the firm's Corporate practice group. Both Sockol and Karamali were previously partners at Thelen Reid BrownRaysman & Steiner LLP in Palo Alto, where Sockol headed the office.

Canaan joins Sheppard Mullin's Intellectual Property practice group.  She most recently had an independent lifesciences patent boutique servicing a variety of clients from large corporationsto start-ups.  Prior to running her ownfirm, she was a partner at Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo PC inPalo Alto. 

Chadwick, a member of Sheppard Mullin's Entertainment and Media andBusiness Trials practice groups, has relocated from Sheppard Mullin's SanFrancisco office. 

“Establishing a Silicon Valley presence has been a key stepin the firm's strategic plan.  Itleverages the expansion and success of our Corporate, IP and Entertainmentpractices and helps us serve current and future technology clients.  We are pleased to be opening the office witha solid foundation of talented attorneys having exactly the right combinationof skills.  We are committed to growingthe office to serve companies in Silicon Valley, including those in media,information technology, communications, clean technology, security, health careand biotechnology sectors," said GuyHalgren, chairman of the firm. 

Commented Sockol, "Joining Sheppard Mullin provides an excitingopportunity to lead the firm's new Silicon Valley office.  I was attracted by the firm's commitment toopening in this market, as well as its strong financial performance and successin opening other offices, most recently in Shanghai and New York.  I am also impressed by Sheppard Mullin’sunderstanding of the needs of Silicon Valley clients and its resources tosupport them."

Sockolspecializes in intellectual property rights and applies his technical and legalskills to client counseling, preparation and prosecution of patentapplications, preparation of patentability, invalidity and noninfringementopinions, and the assertion and defense of patent litigation claims. He also has experience in trademarks,copyrights, trade secrets and technology licensing. 

Sockolhas drafted, prosecuted and defended more than 750 patent applications across abroad spectrum of technological areas. Theseareas include computer hardware, computer software, semiconductor design andfabrication, the Internet, networking, wireless systems, satellites, QAM,multimedia distribution systems, e-commerce, business methods, POS hardware andsoftware, network and computer security systems, database structures,application development tools, storage management systems, fault tolerantsystems, QOS monitoring, biometrics, set-top boxes, digital and analogcircuitry, medical devices, solar power, optics, thin films and HVAC. 

Karamali has twenty years of experience in the areas of mergers andacquisitions, licensing and technology transactions, venture capital financing,outsourcing, and domestic and international joint ventures. He represents a broad range of clientsincluding high growth start-ups and Fortune 500 companies, and is currentlyactively involved in venture capital and acquisition transactions related tothe Middle East, India and Pakistan. 

Canaanhas close to ten years of experience preparing and prosecuting patentapplications for clients in the biotechnology, chemical, and medical artsindustries.  As part of her practice, sheprepares patent legal opinions and technology transfer agreements.  In addition, she has assisted her clients in developingtrademark portfolios for their patented products and she has assisted herpharmaceutical clients with their FDA regulatory requirements.

Chadwick's practice focuses on media law and mediadefense litigation, including copyright and trademark litigation, FirstAmendment and privacy law, and access and newsgathering law, as well as generalcivil litigation.  His clients include MediaNews Group, San Jose Mercury News, Inc., Mother Jones Magazine, Salon MediaGroup, Daily News Group and NBC. 

Sockolreceived a J.D. from University of San Francisco School of Law in 1992 and a B.S.in electrical engineering from University of California, Davis in 1989.  Karamali received a J.D. from Columbia Universityin 1988 and a B.A. from Rice University in 1985.  Canaan received a J.D. from Whittier LawSchool in 1997 and a B.A. in biochemistry from University of Texas, Austin in1986.  Chadwickreceived a J.D., summa cum laude, from Santa Clara UniversitySchool of Law in 1991, a M.A. from San Francisco State University in 1985 and aB.A., cum laude, from University of California, Santa Cruz in 1979.

About Sheppard Mullin Richter &Hampton LLP

Sheppard Mullin is a full service AmLaw 100 firm with more than 520attorneys in 11 offices located throughout California and in New York,Washington, D.C. and Shanghai.  Thefirm's California offices are located in Los Angeles, San Francisco, SiliconValley, Santa Barbara, Century City, Orange County, Del Mar Heights and SanDiego.  Foundedin 1927 on the principle that the firm would succeed only if its attorneysdelivered prompt, high quality and cost-effective legal services, SheppardMullin provides legal counsel to U.S. and international clients.  Companies turn toSheppard Mullin to handle a full range of corporate and technology matters,high stakes litigation and complex financial transactions.  In the U.S., the firm's clients include morethan half of the Fortune 100 companies.  Formore information, please visit www.sheppardmullin.com.