Axinn is pleased to announce that Matthew Murphy, a member of the firm's Intellectual Property practice group, has been promoted to partner. In addition, James Hunsberger, Melanie Kiser, and Michael O'Mara, all members of the firm's Antitrust practice group, have been promoted to counsel. The promotions are effective as of January 1, 2022.

"The promotions of Matt, James, Melanie, and Michael are well-deserved," says Matthew Becker, Axinn Managing Partner. "They help guide some of the world's leading companies through the increasingly complex areas of intellectual property and antitrust. These talented attorneys continue to go above and beyond for our clients, and we look forward to their continued success with their elevation."

Matt Murphy is based in Axinn's Hartford office and focuses his practice on intellectual property and complex litigation. He has advised leading companies on litigation involving patents, trade secrets and contract breaches in the pharmaceutical, life sciences, medical device, consumer-driven health care, payment technologies and lighting industries. This experience includes defending clients against multiple eight and nine-figure damages claims. Matt has also published articles and spoken about the intersection of artificial intelligence and intellectual property.

James Hunsberger, based in the firm's Washington, D.C. office, focuses his practice on the full range of antitrust matters, including mergers, litigation, government investigations and antitrust counseling. He has represented clients in a wide variety of industries, including telecommunications, information technology, chemicals, consumer goods, power tools, building solutions and international shipping. James also has experience working with regulators in several international jurisdictions, including Europe and China.

Melanie Kiser is based in the Washington, D.C. office and has experience investigating and litigating civil antitrust matters in a range of industries, including telecommunications, media, technology, energy and health care industries. Prior to joining the firm, Melanie spent six years at the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division, where she played a key role in several significant matters, including the Comcast-Time Warner Cable, Halliburton-Baker Hughes, Anthem-Cigna, and T-Mobile-Sprint transactions.

Michael O'Mara, based in the firm's Washington, D.C. office, represents clients in all areas of antitrust law, including litigation, merger control, investigations and counseling. He has experience with domestic and cross-border M&A transactions and has represented clients in major class action litigations and before the U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Trade Commission and competition regulators in Europe, China, Korea, Japan and India.