Nadia Haghighatian joins Kirkland & Ellis as a partner

Nadia Haghighatian joins Kirkland & Ellis as a partner

She earlier worked with Holland & Knight as intellectual property trial lawyer

Kirkland & Ellis has announced that Nadia Haghighatian has joined the firm as a partner in the Intellectual Property Group in its Austin office.

While moving from Dallas, Haghighatian stated, "Kirkland presented a compelling opportunity to join a vibrant new office and a powerhouse IP group. The firm's IP practice is busy with trials and provides great opportunities for young lawyers to build experience."

Austin is in the Western District of Texas, which has become a hotspot for patent litigation after Alan Albright took the federal bench in Waco.

Jeannie Heffernan, the partner, who moved to Kirkland's Austin office last year from New York to lead the IP practice, said, "Haghighatian brings much to the firm, including experience in IP litigation and excellent technical writing skills. She is a huge champion of diversity that is icing on the cake."

Haghighatian informed that she was interested in helping to recruit talented lawyers, particularly women, people of color, and the LGBTQ community.

"I belong to all three of those groups," she remarked.

Meanwhile, Heffernan is hoping the Austin IP practice to double in size by next year. The team handles litigation in the Western District's hugely busy docket. The office location is seen as an advantage for the IP trial practice, as the clients wished for an office in Austin.

The firm's Austin office was launched last year and its IP trial practice three months later. Several factors drove the firm's IP trial expansion, including many clients in the vicinity, a booming IP jurisdiction, and a strong talent pool.