Kilpatrick Stockton LLP
01 April 2007
Kilpatrick Stockton LLP traces its lineage back to Atlanta. The predecessor firms of Kilpatrick & Cody, founded in 1874 in Atlanta, and North Carolina’s Petree Stockton, founded in 1918, merged in early 1997 to form Kilpatrick Stockton LLP. Building on the foundations of the first overseas office, opened in 1980, the firm has become an international entity, with offices in London and Stockholm, as well as seven domestic offices around the United States.
Kilpatrick Stockton LLP in Who's Who Legal: Georgia
Kilpatrick Stockton has long been part of the business fabric in Atlanta; the firm and its predecessors were the first in-house counsel for Coca-Cola, and as early as 1893 it secured a federal registration of the Coca-Cola trademark, and later successfully counselled Northwestern Bank in its merger with First Union National Bank in 1978. Today, the firm’s clients include Office Depot, Krispy Kreme Doughnut, Adidas and Sara Lee.
Lawyers from the firm’s Atlanta office performed extremely well in the research: in the final reckoning 45 of its partners garnered enough votes to be included in 17 practice areas, with a particularly strong presence in the Litigation, Labour and Employment, Patents and Real Estate chapters. The firm has more experts listed in commercial arbitration than any other, the three lawyers including Stephens Clay, one of only two practitioners to feature in three chapters. However, its main strength is found in the Trademarks chapter, where seven of its partners appear (including the four most nominated individuals) far and away the highest contingent. Among this group is Miles Alexander, a 2002 recipient of the International Trademark Association’s highest honour, the President’s Award, and Jerre Swann, who received INTA’s volunteer service award for the advancement of trademark law in the same year. Our findings are summed up by the words of one corporate interviewee: “Kilpatrick Stockton lawyers consistently appear among the best in any area you care to mention – [it is] a very fine firm.”
To see more profiled firms from Georgia, vist the Firm Profiles page in the Georgia Special Report