He principally represents clients in patent litigation and patent-related antitrust litigation.
Mr. Lawton’s patent litigation experience includes representing companies in technology and pharmaceutical industries at both the trial level and at the Federal Circuit, as well as before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board in inter partes review and covered business method review proceedings.
Mr. Lawton has significant experience in matters that lie at the intersection of antitrust and patent law, focusing particularly on antitrust challenges to patent litigation settlements and patent enforcement conduct. He is a contributing author of the ABA Antitrust Section’s “Pharmaceutical Industry Antitrust Handbook.”
Mr. Lawton’s pro bono practice focuses primarily on representing clients in the various forums that play a role in the U.S. immigration system, and he has co-chaired the firm’s pro bono immigration program. He has successfully represented clients before U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the immigration courts, the Board of Immigration Appeals and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and he has secured relief including asylum, lawful permanent residence and special immigration juvenile status.
Before joining Munger Tolles, Mr. Lawton served as a law clerk to the Honorable Debra A. Livingston on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Mr. Lawton received his J.D. magna cum laude from Harvard Law School in 2007. While at Harvard, he served as an executive editor of the Harvard Law Review, was a semifinalist in the Ames Moot Court Competition, was on the winning team in the Williston Competition and received the Dean’s Award for Community Leadership.
Mr. Lawton received his B.S. in chemistry in 2001 from Caltech, where he was a member of Tau Beta Pi and Sigma Xi. Earlier in his career, Mr. Lawton worked in the technology sector, where he managed corporate development, intellectual property licensing and patent portfolio development for a venture-backed software company.