About Us: History Counsel to Trail Blazers
Traditions Of Innovation
Rooted in a rich history — from the 1860s California Gold Rush to today’s global technology era — Kilpatrick attorneys have been at the forefront of the legal profession, committed to the success of our clients and to the wellbeing of our communities.
In 1997, well-established firms Kilpatrick & Cody in Atlanta and Petree Stockton in Winston-Salem merged to form Kilpatrick Stockton. In 2011, Kilpatrick Stockton and Townsend and Townsend and Crew merged to form Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP, expanding our reach in technology and inextricably linking our history with the evolution of technology in the U.S. and around the world. From 2013 to 2017, the firm opened offices in Shanghai, Dallas, and Houston to better align with our clients’ interests and market dynamics, while further solidifying our intellectual property, corporate, and litigation practices.
With an eye towards client service, innovation, and collaboration, for more than 160 years, we have stayed on the cutting edge of new developments affecting our clients’ industries and business strategies, bringing solutions to legal and technical problems that the law could never have anticipated. As such, Kilpatrick has built a premier firm known globally for helping established and emerging entities successfully grow their businesses and become industry leaders.
Looking ahead for more than 160 years
1860
Led by printer and journalist Alfred T. Dewey, San Francisco-based Dewey & Company promoted itself as patent solicitors and publisher of The Mining and Scientific Press, an early predecessor of today's firm
Columbia University, digitized by Google
1873
Assisted tailor Jacob W. Davis and his fabric supplier, Levi Strauss & Company of San Francisco, in the successful award of Patent 139,121 recognizing that the use of metal rivets to secure pockets was a new invention
1874
Firm's first Atlanta office was located at the Kimball House, a hotel that occupied a full block in the commercial center, was close to the courthouse, and was in one of the nation's burgeoning railway hubs
Curt Teich & Co
1888
In an effort to raise professional standards and combat “railroad attorneys and surgeons,” firm was instrumental in the establishment of the Atlanta Bar Association
Library of Congress
1906
Harold Hirsch became a named partner of the firm; went on to revolutionize corporate and trademark law with his work for The Coca-Cola Company and helped instill firm's core values of camaraderie, exceptional legal work, and community service retained today
P. Philips
1919
H. Gardner Hudson launched firm in booming Winston-Salem and expanded to include Hubert Ratcliff and Luther Ferrell; with strong civic spirit, they led and founded roles in organizations throughout the community, a value still alive in the firm today
R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company Office Building, Winston-Salem, N.C. in Durwood Barbour Collection of North Carolina Postcards (P077), North Carolina Collection Photographic Archives, Wilson Library, UNC-Chapel Hill
1930
Won a patent litigation suit worth millions for radio-pioneer, The Magnavox Co., protecting them against infringement on their amplifying receiver patent and two electrodynamic receiver patents
1939
Firm was instrumental in helping the H.W. Lay Company incorporate, handled the merger with the Frito Company in 1961, and advised on the 1965 merger with Pepsi-Cola
1960
Partner Louis Regenstein represented Ebenezer Baptist Church and Rev. Martin Luther King Sr. pro bono when the Georgia Department of Revenue threatened to audit both
Trikosko, Marion S, photographer. Martin Luther King press conference / MST. , 1964. Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/2003688129/.
1974
Prepared patent applications for the Cohen-Boyer recombinant DNA technology, which led to medical advancements including customized insulin and antibiotics, and wrote one of the first patent applications related to gene-splicing technology
1988
Attorneys and professional staff were instrumental in reaching a favorable settlement for Jane Smith, widow of Challenger pilot Michael Smith, against Morton-Thiokol
1996
Represented nearly 500,000 Native Americans in the 14-year-long Cobell v. Salazar matter, eventually securing a $3.4 billion settlement, the largest ever agreed to by the U.S. government
1998
Leaving a mark in Massachusetts, firm was construction counsel on the federally ordered clean-up of Boston Harbor, the renovation of Logan Airport, and the $24 billion Big Dig
2007
As firm continued to grow, adopted a novel leadership arrangement, appointing Bill Dorris and Diane Prucino (the first woman to lead a major firm in the Southeast) as Co-Managing Partners
2008
Won the largest-ever jury trademark infringement award of $305 million, protecting adidas's popular three-stripe athletic shoe against a copycat who offered a nearly identical shoe with four stripes
2011
Kilpatrick Stockton and Townsend and Townsend and Crew merged to form Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP
2017
Firm was chosen to lead the antifraud, ethics, and compliance portion of the Volkswagen AG Monitorship, one of the largest corporate monitorships in history, which stemmed from the company's emissions-cheating scandal
2019
Firm selected by Facebook as the inaugural honoree of its “Law Firm Diversity Champion Award” and by AT&T as the recipient of the "2019 AT&T Legal Department Diversity and Inclusion Progress Award"
2020
Kilpatrick Townsend attorneys successfully argued only patent case heard by the U.S. Supreme Court in the 2019–2020 term, which resulted in the Court handing down a 7-2 decision in favor of long-time client, Thryv, Inc.
2023
Kilpatrick Townsend unveils a new brand identity and shortens the firm name to Kilpatrick
Disclaimer
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