Manish Mehta

At just 35, Manish Mehta has earned a reputation as one of the top intellectual property lawyers in Chicago. It’s why this young partner with Chicago’s Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP has such a long list of dedicated clients, clients who return to him each time they face an intellectual property challenge.

Tom Burton, in-house counsel for Park City, Utah-based headphone and earbuds maker Skullcandy, knows just how talented Mehta is. He worked with Mehta when both were at Brinks, Gilson & Lione, and saw firsthand just how devoted Mehta was to protecting the interests of his clients.

Now that Burton works with Skullcandy, he has turned to the intellectual property specialist to handle his company’s patent litigation issues. Mehta has handled two such litigation cases for Skullcandy, one at the International Trade Commission and another in the District Court of Delaware. Burton said that Mehta played a key role in negotiating a fast and favorable exit in both cases.

Burton refers to Mehta as his go-to counsel to assess potential patent issues that arise during Skullcandy’s day-to-day business activities.

“I take comfort in knowing that I can reach out to Manish at any time of the day and receive timely and effective counsel,” Burton said.

Karina Yuen Wong said that she is not surprised that Manish has carved such a long list of repeat clients. Wong, corporate patent counsel with Deerfield, Illinois-based Textura Corporation, said that Mehta can handle intellectual property issues in a broad range of technologies and industries, everything from medical devices and electronic and medical technologies to trademark and trade dress litigation.

“His legal and technical expertise and the time and effort he takes to understand each client’s unique business objectives are all apparent in his ability to develop successful litigation strategies that best suit each client’s needs,” Wong said. “He handles every matter with diligence and integrity, never losing focus of the client’s best interest.”

Mehta has also been a leader when it comes to generating new business for his law firm. He founded and chaired the India practice group at his former firm and successfully built a practice focusing on Indian companies. Mehta’s foresight gave his firm an advantage in drawing new business when other Chicago law firms were ignoring the Indian market. At Sheppard Mullin, Manish is part of the South Asian practice group and, as co-chair of the firms Hatch-Waxman group, leads efforts to develop an Indian-based practice at the firm, specifically in the pharmaceutical space.

Outside the courtroom, Mehta is activity involved in both his profession and community. He has long been a leader with the Indian American Bar Association of Chicago (“IABA”). By 2010, he rose to become one of youngest presidents of this association. He is currently on the Advisory Counsel for IABA and on the Board for the Asian American Bar Association of Chicago.

“He is an excellent lawyer, and, at a level far beyond his years, exudes a keen sense of the balance required to provide clients with first-rate results and service,” said Michael Chu, partner with the Chicago office of McDermott, Will & Emery. “He has a terrific work ethic, is a creative thinker and real team player. He is also very much a self-starter who can bring his innovative ideas to fruition in a driven yet respectful manner.”