HOUSTON – June 15, 2015 – Ira R. Hatton, Annapoorni Sankaran, and Jennifer Tomsen, attorneys with the international law firm, Greenberg Traurig, LLP, have been elected to membership as Fellows of the Texas Bar Foundation. Fellows are selected for their outstanding personal achievements and their demonstrated commitment to the improvement of the justice system throughout the State of Texas, according to the Foundation’s website. Each year, only one-third of 1 percent of state bar members are invited to become Fellows.
Hatton focuses his practice on intellectual property matters and is actively involved in local legal organizations, including the Houston Bar Association and the Houston Lawyers Association. He represents clients in patent and trade secret litigation, and counsels clients in all aspects of the acquisition, enforcement, and licensing of intellectual property rights, including patents, copyrights, and trademarks. Hatton has handled matters involving a wide range of technologies, software and business methods, medical devices, energy industry technologies, including seismic imaging and data acquisition systems, oil-field production equipment, reservoir modeling and behavioral data processing, and down-hole drilling technologies, and other electrical and optical technologies.
Sankaran is an experienced trial lawyer and appellate advocate who makes substantial contributions to the legal profession through mentoring and service to the bar. Sankaran was appointed as minority director on the State Bar of Texas board of directors and holds leadership and committee positions in several local, state, and national legal organizations, including the Texas Minority Counsel Program and the South Asian Bar Association, one of six national affinity bar organizations in the United States. Sankaran is a commercial litigator with a subspecialty in bankruptcy litigation. She handles trial and appellate matters before federal and state courts across the United States, and has wide-ranging experience with multidistrict litigation and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act compliance matters.
Tomsen has an active commercial and securities litigation practice while continuing to serve the community and pro bono clients. She serves on the advisory boards of several public interest organizations, including Tahirih Justice Center and Kids in Need of Defense , and she delivers significant pro bono legal services covering a wide range of needs, including immigration, child welfare, asylum, and other matters. Tomsen is experienced in handling matters in state and federal courts and securities arbitrations before the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. She represents broker-dealers in customer and employment disputes and regulatory matters and represents clients in a wide variety of business litigation.
The Texas Bar Foundation is the largest charitably-funded bar foundation in the country. Founded in 1965 by lawyers determined to assist the public and improve the profession of law, the Texas Bar Foundation has maintained its mission of using the financial contributions of its membership to build a strong justice system for all Texans. To date, the Texas Bar Foundation has distributed more than $15 million throughout Texas to assist nonprofit organizations with a wide range of justice-related programs and services.