Goodwin partners Elaine Blais and Brett Schuman have been announced as Law360 MVPs for 2023. Blais was selected in the Intellectual Property category and Schuman was selected in the Cannabis category. Winners were chosen for securing hard-earned successes in high-stakes litigation, complex global matters, and record-breaking deals.
Blais was recently appointed as co-chair of Goodwin’s Intellectual Property group, and serves on the firm’s Executive Committee. She focuses her practice on Intellectual Property Litigation, particularly Patent Litigation, and is known for her first-chair trial skills, strategic instincts, and broad experience in the industry. Blais has particular expertise in fields including biologics, pharmaceuticals, secure financial transactions, light-emitting diodes, and consumer products. She routinely represents clients in arbitration proceedings, and has first-chaired numerous lawsuits and taken cases to trial in federal courts nationwide.
A leader within her practice, the firm, and the legal industry, Blais has served on Goodwin’s Intellectual Property Steering and Attorney Development Committees, and is the co-founder and editor of the firm’s award-winning biosimilars blog, Big Molecule Watch. She co-chairs Goodwin’s Dobbs Task Force, which helps companies navigate the rapidly evolving landscape surrounding the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision. Blais is routinely recognized for excellence by Chambers USA, The Legal 500 US, IAM Patent 1000, Managing IP, Benchmark Litigation, The Best Lawyers in America, LMG Life Sciences, Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, and World Intellectual Property Review and was LMG Life Science’s New England General Patent Litigator of the Year in 2020, 2022, and 2023.
Schuman co-founded and co-chairs Goodwin’s Cannabis practice, and is co-chair of the firm’s Intellectual Property group, a member of the firm’s Executive Committee, and former chair of the firm’s San Francisco office. A seasoned Cannabis attorney, Schuman represents US and international businesses in the rapidly expanding industry. He advises clients ranging from Fortune 50 companies to emerging companies regarding the federal and state regulatory regimes relating to cannabis, intellectual property, products liability, and other issues. A highly sought-after litigator, Schuman has served as lead partner and lead trial counsel in numerous high-stakes patent infringement, copyright infringement, trademark infringement, and trade secret litigation matters.
Committed to serving his community, Schuman was named Litigator of the Week by The American Lawyer for his work with Last Prisoner Project, as he secured compassionate release of an inmate serving a life sentence for a non-violent cannabis-related offense. He has been recognized as a Top IP Lawyer by Daily Journal for three consecutive years, and has also been recognized for excellence by Chambers USA, The Legal 500 US, The National Law Journal, and IAM Patent 1000.