AUSTIN, TEXAS, January 22, 2018—Alex Gonzales and Pierre Hubert have joined Duane Morris LLP’s Austin, Texas office as partners in the firm’s Corporate and Intellectual Property practice groups, respectively. Gonzales and Hubert further enhance the firm’s corporate insurance law and intellectual property litigation capabilities in Texas and throughout the United States. Prior to joining Duane Morris, Gonzales was a shareholder at Winstead PC and served as chair of its Insurance Industry Group. Hubert was a principal at McKool Smith.
Duane Morris opened its Austin, Texas office in October 2017 with the addition of IP partner Bert Greene and energy sector and Trial partner Brad Thompson.
“When we opened our Austin office in October, we set a goal to expand quickly with additional top-notch attorneys,” said Matthew A. Taylor, Duane Morris Chairman and CEO. “Alex and Pierre more than fit that requirement and will be a great asset to our clients in Texas and throughout the country.”
“We’re thrilled to welcome Alex and Pierre and to continue the expansion of our Austin office,” said Thomas Sankey, managing partner of the Duane Morris offices in Austin and Houston. “They will be a high quality addition to our Texas presence and to our firm.”
For more than 30 years, Gonzales has represented insurance companies and other financial institutions in corporate compliance and regulatory matters, including government enforcement actions, mergers and acquisitions, corporate financing, reinsurance and licensing. Gonzales’ client base includes many of the nation’s top insurance companies and financial institutions. He has represented insurers and acquiring parties in acquisitions and other corporate regulatory matters before insurance departments in Texas, New York, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Missouri, Michigan and Arizona. Gonzales is a former Associate Commissioner of Insurance at the Texas Department of Insurance. While at the department, he developed the concept of and drafted the initial legislation for the Insurance Fraud Bureau.
Gonzales is a 1983 graduate of the University of Texas School of Law. He earned an MBA from the University of California at Berkeley in 1987 and his bachelor’s degree from St. Edward’s University in 1980.
Hubert’s practice focuses on intellectual property litigation, including patent infringement matters in complex electrical- and computer-related technology. He is a former judicial clerk of the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. He has experience in many federal district courts across the country, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), the International Trade Commission (ITC) and the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Hubert is former president of the Austin Intellectual Property Law Association.
Hubert is a 1997 graduate of New York University School of Law. He earned a master’s degree (engineering) in 1993 from the University of Texas at Austin and a bachelor’s degree, cum laude, from Rice University in 1992.
About the Duane Morris Insurance – Corporate and Regulatory Practice
The Duane Morris inter-disciplinary insurance industry practice includes more than 100 lawyers in 25 offices and handles complex corporate, M&A transactional, regulatory and litigation matters in all sectors of the insurance industry in the U.S., London and Asia. Duane Morris attorneys handle property and casualty, life, health, workers’ compensation and reinsurance matters. Duane Morris lawyers also advise on related areas of law, such as tax, antitrust, SEC, market-conduct and internal investigation issues, including international investigations. The practice group includes former general counsel and executives of major international insurance and reinsurance companies, including both mutual and stock companies. Duane Morris has worked successfully with federal and state regulators nationwide on many diverse matters ranging from routine insurance regulatory problems, to multi-state M&A transactions, and complex market-conduct examinations, including the critical type of issues raised in the investigations of alleged insurer/broker bid-rigging in 2008-2009.
About the Duane Morris IP Practice Group
Duane Morris is one of the most active law firms in the United States in all aspects of intellectual property litigation. Duane Morris LLP has been ranked among the leading law firms handling patents, trademarks, copyrights and related IP litigation by national publications, including U.S. News & World Report. Duane Morris intellectual property litigators have been involved in many of the cases that have defined the scope of intellectual property rights. These cases resulted in decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States or of the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the special appeals court for patent cases. Our IP attorneys focus on leveraging clients’ valuable intellectual property to help them achieve success in the marketplace, offering portfolio management and strategic advice on obtaining and protecting IP—from patents, including patent litigation, to trademarks and copyrights, to licensing and technology transfers, to IP audits and IP asset due diligence.
About the Duane Morris Austin Office
Duane Morris attorneys have longstanding ties to the Texas legal and business communities and have been practicing law in the state for many years. The opening of the firm’s Austin office in October, 2017 further aligns Duane Morris’ domestic footprint with the robust high-technology and energy sectors in Texas. Clients benefit from our presence in the Texas capital and in Houston, along with the firm’s global breadth of services and experience representing public entities, large corporations, middle-market companies, emerging-growth companies and entrepreneurs.
About Duane Morris
Duane Morris LLP provides innovative solutions to today’s multifaceted legal and business challenges through the collegial and collaborative culture of its more than 800 attorneys in offices across the United States and internationally. The firm represents a broad array of clients, spanning all major practices and industries.
