​Orrick announced today that James Pooley, a world-renowned intellectual property lawyer and authority in the area of trade secrets law, has joined the firm as senior counsel. He will be based in the Silicon Valley office.

As a pioneer in intellectual property law for more than three decades, Jim adds to Orrick’s top-ranking IP bench a seasoned first-chair trial lawyer, scholar, author and global diplomat. In April, he was the only American to be inducted this year into the IP Hall of Fame. Jim’s leadership in the IP bar included a five-year term as Deputy Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization in Geneva, where he served as the senior American officer and managed the international patent system.

Jim literally wrote the book on trade secrets law. His Trade Secrets treatise, originally published in 1997, is now the standard canon for any IP practitioner, and continues to be updated each year. On returning to Silicon Valley in 2015 after his tenure with WIPO, Jim established his own law office and authored another widely-acclaimed book, Secrets: Managing Information Assets in the Age of Cyberespionage.

“In considering law firms, I looked for a distinguished and growing team with a comprehensive global platform for clients, and with a collaborative culture,” Jim said. “Orrick was the obvious choice. And I am excited to work with my new colleagues to build on their extraordinary record.”

Jim joins an Orrick IP team that the American Lawyer named as 2016 Intellectual Property Litigation Department of the Year. His unique blend of expertise in cybersecurity, trade secrets law, patent law and international arbitration gives Orrick a high-profile leader to help serve the demands of clients in an increasingly complex, tech-driven world.

“We are ecstatic that Jim has joined Orrick,” said Denise Mingrone, chair of the firm’s intellectual property practice. “He will be a unique resource for our clients given his diplomatic experience, his academic credentials, his prodigious scholarly output and his leadership in global IP platforms. He is truly one of the profession’s innovators in IP, particularly trade secrets law.”

Added Neel Chatterjee, one of Orrick’s senior intellectual property litigators: “I have known Jim since I was a law clerk over 20 years ago and started working with him when I joined Orrick and admired his leadership in IP. We are very fortunate to have him join our team.”

In addition to his lengthy career in private practice, Jim has served as president of the American Intellectual Property Law Association and chairman of the National Inventors Hall of Fame. He also has worked with the Federal Judicial Center in Washington, D.C., where he scripted a video shown to jurors in patent cases, provided instruction to federal judges on IP law, and co-authored the Patent Case Management Judicial Guide. His congressional testimony was credited by one Senator as “instrumental” in the recent passage of the Defend Trade Secrets Act. He also has taught trade secret law as an adjunct professor at Santa Clara University and UC Berkeley School of Law.

He has been a prolific author of books and articles, including a monthly newsletter available through his website: Pooley.com.

Jim graduated from Columbia Law School in 1973 as a Harlan Fiske Stone scholar. He received his bachelor’s degree in international affairs from Lafayette College.

www.orrick.com