73 Korean-American Lawyers Hired by Apple's Law Firms
An indication of how much the epic patent litigation between Samsung and Apple is likely to heat up is the number of Korean-speaking legal staff recently hired by Apple’s two law firms.
Morrison & Foerster and WilmerHale, Apple’s two leading ligitation law firms, have hired 73 new Korean-American lawyers and an additional 20 non-attorney staff to help review the large-scale production of Korean-language corporate and technical documents through the discovery proceedings in the various lawsuits pending between the two consumer electronics giants.
Documents recently submitted by Apple’s law firms to the International Trade Commission (ITC) revealed that they had contracted with 93 Korean-literate staff to help review the documents provided by Samsung. The firms were required to submit affidavits declaring that the newly added Korea-literate staffers would be bound by the protective order that limits the conditions under which the firms may share the confidential discovery documents with the new staffers.
WilmerHale, retained to defend Apple against Samsung’s patent suits, filed the declarations of 72 Korean-American contract lawyers and 20 document reviewers. Morrison & Forrester, which prosecutes Apple’s suits against Samsung, declared that it was cross-contracting six of the lawyers and two reviewers and, additionally, had hired another Korean-American attorney.
The new staff was added in part to enable Apple to review massive amounts of Korean-language documents produced by Samsung in an untimely manner on the eve of crucial depositions of Samsung witnesses. Apple’s attorneys had complained that they were unable to prepare for the depositions due to the late production of many of the documents and sought an order from Magistrate Judge Paul S. Grewal allowing them to redepose a number of Samsung’s witnesses after they had been able to conduct a more thorough review of the documents.
Last Thursday Grewal granted a part of Apple’s motion for additional depositions of Samsung witnesses who would be examined on Korean-language documents provided ten days prior to witness deposition, and English documents provided five days prior. Apple is allowed a second deposition of up to ten witnesses as long as the depositions occur before the end of March.
“The court strongly encourages Apple to extend the same opportunity to Samsung in those instances in which Apple has produced a substantial volume of documents shortly before, or after, a deposition,” wrote Grewal in his decision on Apple’s motion.