Published on Law360, June 16, 2023.

Sunstein LLP has promoted two veteran intellectual property partners and longtime co-workers to head its semiconductor and microelectronics practice.

Shane Hunter and T.J. Clark, who joined the firm last year after leaving their boutique practice, Hunter Clark PLLC, are expected to grow the firm's presence in the tech world by capitalizing on the incentives of the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act, the firm said Wednesday.

Both attorneys bring hands-on experience to their practice area, having worked in engineering and marketing in the electronics industry.

"We are thrilled to have T.J. and Shane lead this initiative for Sunstein," Kerry L. Timbers, the firm's managing partner, said in a statement. "We have always been deeply engaged with a variety of technologies and industries, and recent events, such as the pandemic and the resulting supply chain shortages, highlight the need for more U.S.-led innovation and manufacturing within the semiconductor and microelectronics ecosystem.

"Providing this additional level of focus and expertise will enable Sunstein's clients to better manage their IP strategies, creating and unlocking value for the next decade and beyond," he added.

Hunter, a graduate of UCLA School of Law, began his career as a commercial and military radar antenna engineer for Hughes Aircraft. He earned his law degree in 1996, according to his LinkedIn profile, and worked for Fish & Richardson PC, Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris Glovsky and Popeo PC, and Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP.

Clark worked in engineering and technical marketing for several Massachusetts technology companies, including semiconductor designer Axcelis Technologies, per his LinkedIn page. After graduating from Suffolk University Law School in 2004, he spent the next six years at Mintz. Clark is also a veteran of the U.S. Navy.

In 2010, Clark and fellow Mintz alumnus Bob Gilman founded Gilman Clark LLC as a Boston-based IP boutique, hiring Hunter the following year to practice in San Diego. Gilman Clark later became Hunter Clark, and the firm operated until the name partners joined Sunstein last year.

Both attorneys' practice areas focus on intellectual property prosecution and counsel for a range of technologies.

John W. Powell, the chair of Sunstein's patent group, said in a statement, "Shane and T.J., with their impressive backgrounds as engineers and skills as attorneys, will greatly complement our firm's commitment to helping our technology clients leverage their IP portfolios during this exciting renewal of domestic innovation within the semiconductor and microelectronics industries. Because of their collective years of experience within the semi and micro ecosystem, they are well qualified to lead this initiative for Sunstein."

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