Appellate and IP Hires Enhance Pillsbury's Litigation Strength

HOUSTON, March 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Claudia Wilson Frost and Jeremy Gaston, two appellate and IP partners from Mayer Brown, have joined Pillsbury's Houston office as part of the firm's ongoing focus on growing its national litigation practice. Frost will also serve as National Co-Head of the firm's Appellate Litigation practice.

"Pillsbury's litigation group is already the largest practice at the firm with more than 200 lawyers throughout our 14-office network," said New York partner Ken Taber, who co-heads Pillsbury's National Litigation practice with San Francisco partner Kirke Hasson. "And we have been seeking opportunities to expand our IP litigation capabilities, as well as our nationally ranked appellate practice. It's rare to find litigators who have realized as much success in both of these areas as Claudia and Jeremy."

Frost has served as lead counsel on more than 50 appellate cases, including notable U.S. Supreme Court cases such as Mississippi River Transportation Corporation v. Secretary, Louisiana Department of Revenue and Taxation and VM Wheeler III v. Kidder Peabody & Co. Upon receiving her J.D. magna cum laude from the University of Houston Law Center, where she was editor-in-chief of the Houston Law Review, Frost worked at Baker Botts from 1982 to 1998 before forming the litigation firm Slusser & Frost. She joined Mayer Brown's appellate practice in 2003. She has served as lead litigation and appellate counsel on numerous cases, including patent infringement cases on behalf of long-time Pillsbury clients.

"Through our client teams, we work with clients to put together a multidisciplinary team that has the best insights about a client's particular industry, as well as the most experience in the practice areas in which the client has legal needs," said Hasson. "Claudia's significant experience handling appellate and complex litigation enables us to serve these clients even better, and to grow our litigation practice both in Houston and nationally in the IP and appellate areas."

Gaston is an appellate and trial litigation partner. Prior to joining Mayer Brown in 2004, he served as a Law Clerk to Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and, before that, as a Law Clerk to the Honorable Patrick Higginbotham on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. He received his J.D., with high honors from the University of Texas School of Law in 1999, and his B.S., with academic distinction, from Stanford University in 1993. Gaston has worked on a wide range of appeals and trials, including significant matters before the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals, the Texas Supreme Court, and the Texas Appellate Courts.

Frost said that she was attracted to Pillsbury not only for its strong litigation practice, but also because of its top-ranked IP and energy teams. "Pillsbury's Houston office has achieved much in its first five years, particularly when it comes to serving energy giants such as Chevron, Qatar Petroleum and Valero. Being from Texas, it's probably no surprise that I've represented many oil and gas companies over the years. Pillsbury's depth in the energy sector matches well with my own experience," said Frost.

Launched in 2003, Pillsbury's Houston office is the fastest growing office in the firm's US and international network. The office is noted particularly in the areas of energy, project finance and litigation, and is led by Houston managing partner and energy and environmental litigator Sam Stubbs.

About Pillsbury

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP is a dynamic full-service law firm with market-leading strengths in the energy, financial services, real estate and technology sectors. Our lawyers serve clients throughout the U.S. and internationally from key global financial centers including New York, London, Tokyo and Shanghai. Industry-driven client teams and a multidisciplinary approach to crucial business issues of the day ensure our clients receive thorough counsel on all aspects of a matter.

The 2008 Corporate Counsel survey of in-house counsel at Fortune 500 companies named Pillsbury a "Go-To Firm" in six practice areas-corporate transactions, international, IP, litigation, labor and employment and securities.