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Our History

The Padda team has represented both plaintiffs and defendants in large and small cases in nearly all technology areas, including mechanical, pharmaceutical, and computer software and hardware cases.   The team has handled all areas of technology disputes, including patent, copyright, and trademark infringement lawsuits, breach of contract, and misappropriation of trade secret cases.

Because the team has worked at firms of different sizes with different client bases, they have been in the unique position of representing the full spectrum of clients in technology-related cases.  For example, while at Dorsey, the client base was largely fortune 500 and above companies that hired the team to defend against claims of infringement, breach of contract, misappropriation of trade secrets, etc.  When the team at Dorsey was hired to represent plaintiffs, the goal was typically not to monetize a portfolio, but to control the market.   Accordingly, the goal of the plaintiff-side clients at Dorsey was not to obtain large monetary damage awards, but more typically to get competitors out of the market through licensing, injunctions, or settlements structured to achieve the plaintiff’s goals.

When the team moved from the large international law firm platform provided at Dorsey to the mid-size local law firm platform provided at Winthrop, the client base changed significantly.  In addition to the change in client-base, the legal market was still reeling from the impact of the 2008 recession.  The result was that the team no longer routinely defended large multi-national corporations in technology lawsuits, though the team did continue some of that work while at Winthrop by leveraging its contacts with previous clients.  Primarily, however, the Winthrop client base consisted of mid to small sized companies that owned technology that it wanted to monetize.  From this base, the team began its contingent and investor-funded fee-arrangement offerings in earnest.   The years spent at Winthrop represented a shift in the legal market and a shift in practice-focus for the team.  Through its experiences at Dorsey and Winthrop and in reaction to a changing legal market, the team realized that it could better provide plaintiffs with contingent and investor-funded opportunities at a stand-alone niche firm, as opposed to a general practice law firm.  With that goal in mind, the team started Padmanabhan & Dawson.

At Padda, the team has focused largely, though not exclusively, on plaintiff-side alternative fee cases, where the plaintiff is usually a medium to small sized company.  In such cases, the goal for the plaintiff and its funding partners is to achieve the best monetary outcome possible.  In most cases the defendant is a large fortune 500 or higher company.  Given the team’s experience representing such companies on the defendant side, the team is well aware of how large firms run cases such as the ones the Padda team currently has.  The team has benefited from its diverse experience representing the range of clients in the full spectrum of circumstances.

Attorneys

Padda Founders

Padda Partners

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Britta Loftus

PARTNER

Photo of Sri Sankaran

Sri Sankaran

PARTNER

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Mariah Reynolds

PARTNER