West Coast Additions Comes on Heels of East Coast Expansion
Spencer Fane LLP is pleased to announce Jennifer Coleman (partner), John Picone (partner), Jeffrey Ratinoff (partner), Gene Cherng (of counsel), Jedidiah Dooley (of counsel), and Elaisha Nandrajog (of counsel), have joined the firm’s San Jose office. Cherng, Coleman, Picone, and Ratinoff join the Intellectual Property practice group, Dooley the Litigation and Dispute Resolution practice group, and Nandrajog the Labor and Employment practice group.
The firm welcomes the West Coast group on the heels of announcing plans last week to establish a presence on the East Coast with three high-stakes patent litigation partners in Washington, D.C. The San Jose additions also represent continued growth in a market Spencer Fane entered in October 2023, when it officially combined with Pahl & McCay. The six attorneys further strengthen the firm’s California bench and underscore the traction its approach is gaining as one of the fastest-growing firms in the country.
“We have been thrilled by the response to our recent combination with Spencer Fane and are excited to continue to grow our footprint with a group of attorneys whose practice complements our own in terms of client service and culture,” said Karen McCay, Office Managing Partner for Spencer Fane in San Jose. “I would be remiss to not also mention the team’s experience further deepens the firm’s intellectual property presence, which has been expanding in multiple markets across the nation, as well as our litigation and labor and employment teams.”
Jennifer Coleman – Partner, Intellectual Property
Coleman is a member of the firm’s Intellectual Property and Labor and Employment practices. At her core, she is a trial lawyer and represents clients in a variety of complex litigation cases ranging from trade secrets, patents (focusing primarily on patent damages), class action wage and hour controversies, unfair competition, and a host of other intellectual property and employment issues in both state and federal courts. In addition, Coleman counsels clients in matters involving diverse technologies such as antipiracy software, artificial intelligence, technology related to financial transactions, geospatial digital controls, and wireless standards and protocols. She also has a sub-specialty in eDiscovery, and counsels clients on complex remediation issues. Coleman earned her Juris Doctor from Creighton University School of Law and her bachelor’s degree from Saint Louis University.
John Picone – Partner, Intellectual Property
Picone is a trial lawyer with a primary focus on complex litigation cases involving patents, trademarks, copyright, trade secrets, and technology-centric civil and criminal litigation. Throughout his career, Picone has gained significant experience with a wide variety of technologies, such as semiconductors, software and programming languages, encryption, cellular/wireless, mining equipment and processes, avionics, optics, and e-commerce. A veteran leader of intellectual property teams, he also has the unique experience of serving as an extern in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, as a member of the San Benito (California) County Panel Public Defender, and as lead special prosecutor with the San Benito County District Attorney’s Office. He continues to serve as Special Counsel for the Santa Clara (California) County Public Defender. His other experience includes decorated military service of more than twenty years as a Naval Aviator stationed at the Naval Air Station, Moffett Field, California, flying the U.S. Navy’s P-3 “Orion” aircraft. Picone earned his Juris Doctor from Santa Clara University. He also earned a master’s degree from San Jose State University and a bachelor’s degree from Trinity College.
Jeffrey Ratinoff – Partner, Intellectual Property
Ratinoff is an intellectual property litigator with 25 years of experience advocating on behalf of clients in technology-driven litigation in state and federal trial and appellate courts and the International Trade Commission. His patent litigation practice includes representing clients in sectors ranging from computer design and data storage to software to smartphone and network security technology to semiconductor and memory chip fabrication. His practice also focuses on protecting and defending clients’ intellectual property rights in trade secret misappropriation, trademark infringement, unfair competition, false advertising, trade libel, and copyright infringement matters. Ratinoff earned his Juris Doctor from Vanderbilt Law School and his bachelor’s degree from University of California-San Diego.
Gene Cherng – Of Counsel, Intellectual Property
Cherng is active with both the firm’s Intellectual Property and Litigation and Dispute Resolution practices. Admitted to the patent bar, he has successfully represented patent owners and accused infringers alike in district courts and the U.S. Patent Office in cases involving technologies in software, electrical, and mechanical arts. He has also represented clients in trade secret, copyright, and trademark cases and, prior to joining the firm, he worked as a bioanalyst in a major pharmaceutical company. Cherng earned his Juris Doctor from Washington University School of Law and his bachelor’s degree from Duke University.
Jedidiah “Jed” Dooley – Of Counsel, Litigation and Dispute Resolution
Dooley focuses his practice on business litigation and routinely assists clients in handling an array of business issues including landlord tenant issues, brokerage commission disputes, partnership and shareholder dissolutions, trade secret protection, and licensing and contract disputes. His clients have included a wide variety of entities, from small businesses to Fortune 500 companies. Dooley earned his Juris Doctor from the Seattle University and his bachelor’s degree from the University of Notre Dame.
Elaisha Nandrajog – Of Counsel, Labor and Employment
Nandrajog represents employers in a wide range of matters in state and federal courts as well as before administrative agencies. She has experience defending companies in single-plaintiff and multi-plaintiff cases against claims of wrongful termination, discrimination, harassment, retaliation, and failure to accommodate. Her work also involves complex wage and hour class actions as well as representative actions brought under California’s Private Attorneys General Act. Nandrajog earned her Juris Doctor from the University of California Los Angeles School of Law and obtained her bachelor’s degree from Claremont McKenna College.
