K&L Gates Expands Corporate and Intellectual Property Capabilities With Six-Partner Team Across California and Texas

Global law firm K&L Gates LLP has strengthened its Corporate, Intellectual Property, Litigation, and Labor and Employment practices with the addition of a six-partner team in its San Francisco, Palo Alto, and Houston offices. The lawyers enhance the firm’s corporate, capital markets, transactional, litigation, and intellectual property capabilities, particularly in the technology, artificial intelligence, life sciences, and other innovation-driven sectors. The group joins from Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP.

Collectively, the partners bring substantial experience advising public and private companies, investors, financial institutions, multinational businesses, and technology innovators on capital markets transactions, corporate reorganizations, financings, cross-border transactions and investments, foreign direct investment, complex commercial litigation, labor and employment counseling and litigation, and intellectual property strategy, counseling, and dispute resolution. Their practices further enhance the firm’s ability to support clients operating across key global business and innovation corridors connecting California, Texas, and other strategic US markets with Korea, China, Taiwan, and other Asia-Pacific markets.

Global Managing Partner Stacy Ackermann remarked: “One of the things that makes this group particularly exciting is that they have built strong professional relationships working together and share a highly collaborative approach to serving clients. That collaborative spirit closely reflects how we work at K&L Gates, bringing together talent across practices, offices, and markets to serve clients seamlessly. Their decision to join our firm together underscores this strong cultural alignment, and we are delighted to welcome them to K&L Gates.”

Joining the firm are: 

• Theresa Lee (San Francisco) advises domestic and international clients on complex corporate reorganizations, global integrations, mergers and acquisitions, venture capital financings, commercial transactions, and corporate governance matters. She represents public and private companies across a range of industries, including technology, artificial intelligence, data centers, financial services, life sciences, digital health, and alternative energy. She previously served as co-leader of her prior firm’s Corporate Reorganizations practice.
• Jenny Liu (San Francisco) advises public and private companies, financial institutions, private equity firms, and venture funds on US-China cross-border transactions, equity and debt financings, mergers and acquisitions, and other corporate matters. She has extensive experience helping businesses navigate cross-border opportunities involving the United States and China and serves clients in the technology, telecommunications, energy, education, healthcare, financial services, and consumer sectors. She previously served as co-leader of her prior firm’s Greater China practice.
• Zandir Morton (San Francisco) focuses his practice on intellectual property, employment litigation and counseling, and complex commercial litigation, including trademark, copyright, patent, trade secret, employment, and other business disputes. He represents clients across the technology, life sciences, consumer products, hospitality, and higher education sectors and regularly guides companies through litigation, arbitration, and alternative dispute resolution.
• Julie Park (Palo Alto) advises issuers, financial institutions, public and private companies, startups, and investors on capital markets and securities matters, including IPOs, follow-on offerings, private placements, Exchange Act reporting, stock exchange compliance, and public company governance. Her practice also includes mergers and acquisitions, venture capital financings, and other strategic transactions, particularly in the technology, life sciences, and emerging growth sectors. She previously served as co-leader of her prior firm’s Korea practice.
• David Tsai (San Francisco) is a first-chair trial lawyer whose practice focuses on intellectual property and complex commercial litigation. He represents technology, semiconductor, artificial intelligence, life sciences, and healthcare companies in patent, trade secret, trademark, copyright, and related disputes in courts and arbitration proceedings. He also advises clients on patent counseling, licensing, negotiations, and intellectual property portfolio strategy, with substantial experience representing Taiwanese and other global innovators in US matters. He previously served as co-leader of his prior firm’s Taiwan practice.
• Ziyan “Frank” Xue (Houston) focuses his practice on cross-border transactions and corporate matters. He advises foreign and domestic clients on mergers and acquisitions, foreign direct investment, private equity and venture capital transactions, corporate structuring and governance, commercial agreements, and US market entry strategies. He has significant experience advising companies in the United States and Asia, with a focus on renewable energy, advanced manufacturing, technology, and other emerging industries.

Matt Mangan, office managing partner of K&L Gates’ San Francisco and Palo Alto offices, commented: “California remains one of the world’s most important centers of innovation, investment, and technology development, and we continue to see significant opportunities to expand our capabilities in support of clients operating across those sectors. This team adds substantial depth across our Corporate, Intellectual Property, Litigation, and Labor and Employment practices, bringing highly complementary experience in capital markets, corporate reorganizations, cross-border transactions, mergers and acquisitions, venture financings, employment counseling and litigation, and intellectual property litigation and counseling. Their practices align closely with our strategic focus on technology, artificial intelligence, life sciences, and other innovation-driven industries, while strengthening our ability to serve clients operating across the United States and key markets throughout Asia.”

“Texas continues to be a strategic market for K&L Gates and for the clients we serve across a broad range of industries,” said Anil Patel office managing partner of K&L Gates’ Houston office. “The combined experience of this group enhances our ability to advise clients on increasingly sophisticated transactions, investments, financings, foreign direct investment matters, employment and business disputes, and intellectual property challenges. Their practices align closely with growing client demand for coordinated counsel across Texas, California, and major international markets, particularly throughout the Asia-Pacific region.”

The team’s arrival follows other recent additions in California and Texas, including corporate transactional partner Pat Knapp in Dallas, ETF partner Ed Baer in San Francisco, labor and employment partner Carlos Jimenez in Los Angeles, and public policy partner Kate Goodrich Wright in Austin, and reflects K&L Gates’ continued investment in attracting top talent in strategic markets and industries around the world.

K&L Gates’ Corporate practice is one of the most substantial in the legal industry, with hundreds of lawyers assisting clients in the structuring, financing, and completion of domestic, international, and cross-border transactions. The group serves as counsel to a broad array of Global 500, Fortune 100, FTSE 100 corporations, privately held and venture-backed companies, partnerships, private equity firms, other investment funds, management groups, and entrepreneurs.

K&L Gates’ IP practice boasts more than 215 lawyers and professionals – including more than 110 registered patent lawyers, agents, and technology specialists with technical or advanced science degrees, 20 with doctorates – who devote their practices to helping clients establish, enforce, and leverage their intellectual property rights worldwide. The practice filed more than 5,475 patent applications and 4,020 trademarks worldwide in 2025.