Dickinson Wright opens San Diego office

Dickinson Wright PLLC announced the opening of an office in San Diego. This expansion marks the firm's second location in the Golden State, following the establishment of its Silicon Valley office in 2018.

The San Diego office, which will be in Del Mar, will focus largely on intellectual property and life sciences. The former lawyers at Sheppard Mullin will staff the office along with three current Dickinson Wright members, and three patent agents.

The new members who joined from Sheppard Mullin are Jing Liu, Paul Chang, and Marc Chatenay-Lapointe. Rounding out the office will be Hector Agdeppa, Melissa Patterson, and Mark Catanese, who joined the firm earlier this year.

"The group of attorneys and patent agents joining the firm is pivotal to San Diego's thriving life sciences sector and aligns with the firm's continued expansion of our intellectual property services," Michael C. Hammer, CEO of Dickinson Wright, said in a statement.

Dickinson Wright, a full-service founded in Detroit, now has 20 offices throughout the United States plus offices in Canada and in Asia. Hammer said the expansion reflects the firm's growing client base in California and the strong performance of its other offices in the American West.

Liu said there are important synergies between Dickinson Wright and her team.

"Given Dickinson Wright's breadth of experience in the intellectual property, life sciences, and other industry sectors, combined with our local and nationwide platform, we are well-positioned to provide value to the market," Liu said.

The office is at 3579 Valley Centre Dr. Suite 100 in Del Mar.