Chris First - Lawyer in Houston, TX

Chris First is an experiencedlitigator with a practice that focuses on patent infringement disputes infederal trial and appellate venues, post-grant inter partes review challengesat the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board, and patent-related antitrustlitigation. With deep legal, high-tech and engineering expertise, Mr. First is ableto work in multiple fields of technology. He is often consulted for his abilityto combine outside-the-box thinking with a unique breadth of knowledge oftechnology, procedure, and local practice. Clients look to Mr. First for hisability to distil complex technological concepts into terms that lay jurors canunderstand.

Mr. First previously clerked forU.S. District Judge Roy S. Payne of the U.S. District Court for the EasternDistrict of Texas in Marshall, Texas? the busiest and most important patentlitigation venue in the United States at that time. During his clerkship, Mr. First also served as an acting law clerk to District Judge Rodney Gilstrap andthen-Chief Judge Leonard Davis. In addition to his law degree, he holds a bachelors degree incomputer engineering.

Apartner at Houston-based Heim, Payne Chorush, Mr. First has securedsignificant litigation victories for businesses across sectors, including electronics, software, pharmaceuticals,oilfield technology and semiconductor processing. In addition to patentlitigation, he represents clients in patent-related antitrust litigationagainst pharmaceutical companies engaging in anticompetitive behavior relatedto controversial reverse payments to generic suppliers. He is part of a Heim,Payne Chorush team that has successfully represented numerous clients inantitrust litigation targeting pharmaceutical companies for stiflingcompetition by preventing or delaying others from entering the market.

Mr. First obtained a breadth of experience prior to earning his law degree, spending ayear as the only undergraduate research assistant in a groundbreaking searchand rescue robotics lab, serving on the Board of Directors of a majorentertainment venue, and working for two years as a management intern for theStanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning.