T. John Ward of Ward, Smith & Hill Earns National Intellectual Property Honors

LONGVIEW, Texas, June 2, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Former Federal Judge T. John Ward of Longview, Texas-based Ward, Smith & Hill, PLLC, is being recognized on The National Law Journal's 2016 Intellectual Property Trailblazers list as one of the nation's leading innovators in IP law.

Judge Ward earned a place on the annual listing of the country's most influential intellectual property lawyers for his work in patent disputes and his prior judicial role in helping establish the rules that have made the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas one of the top patent litigation jurisdictions in the country.

His 12-year tenure as a judge in the Eastern District ended in 2011 when Judge Ward retired from the bench to join his son Johnny Ward and accomplished attorneys Bruce Smith and Wesley Hill at Ward, Smith & Hill. Their firm is known for winning some of the top verdicts in Eastern District history, including working with lead counsel from Dallas' Caldwell Cassady & Curry in February to win a $625.6 million patent infringement verdict on behalf of VirnetX Inc., the largest jury award in the U.S. so far this year.

Last year, Judge Ward and attorneys representing the U.S. government won a $663 million judgment against Trinity Industries Inc. following a 2014 verdict handed down by an Eastern District jury based on findings that Trinity violated the False Claims Act by charging the government millions of dollars for modified guardrails that were not approved by the Federal Highway Administration.

Judge Ward's additional professional honors include being named to the annual Texas Super Lawyers list; Lawyer of the Year by his alma mater Baylor University School of Law; and Trial Judge of the Year by the Texas Chapters of the American Board of Trial Advocates (TEX-ABOTA).

To learn more about Judge Ward, click here: http://www.wsfirm.com/attorneys/t-john-ward/.

Longview, Texas-based Ward, Smith & Hill, PLLC, has tried more than 350 cases to verdict, earning a national reputation in high-stakes claims involving complex commercial litigation, intellectual property law, oil and gas matters, bad faith insurance claims, and serious personal injury claims. The firm frequently assists lawyers nationwide in complex cases before Texas juries. To learn more about the firm, click here: http://www.wsfirm.com/.

For more information, please contact Bruce Vincent at 800-559-4534 or [email protected].

SOURCE Ward, Smith & Hill, PLLC

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