Respected by legal commentators across the board, California-based Irell & Manella is a dominant player in IP litigation. The firm's patent practice is especially well regarded, with competitors citing Morgan Chu as its key litigator. "He's very good," noted one lawyer, while another simply called him "tremendous". Chu is consistently mentioned among such IP greats as WilmerHale's Bill Lee and Weil Gotshal & Manges' Matt Powers. Described by a competitor as "major players where we operate", the firm's copyright lawyers, and Steven Marenberg in particular, were recommended by peers.
Irell won summary judgment of non-infringement for Texas Instruments in a patent infringement suit filed by Microprocessor Enhancement Corporation, a subsidiary of Acacia Research. It was the second time Irell & Manella secured a victory against MEC on summary judgment of non-infringement. On behalf of Tessera, the firm's ITC win was affirmed by the Federal Circuit involving seven companies found to have infringed its patent.