DALLAS – Noted courtroom lawyer Mark D. Strachan, Of Counsel at Dallas’ Sayles Werbner, recently sat down with Texas Lawyer newspaper to discuss two important patent cases that recently were accepted for review by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Mr. Strachan was interviewed for the weekly “Reversed and Remanded” video series hosted by John Council of Texas Lawyer – the state’s oldest independent legal publication. Click here to see the complete interview.

In the interview, Mr. Strachan discusses the significance of the Supreme Court’s decision to hear appellate arguments in the closely watched patent infringement cases Highmark Inc. v. Allcare Health Management Systems Inc. and Octane Fitness LLC v. Icon Health and Fitness Inc. Both cases revolve around how the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit interprets and applies the federal law that allows attorneys’ fees to be shifted to one party or the other in patent litigation.

Many members of the media and others claim the Supreme Court’s review of the cases is directly tied to the ongoing national discussion about possible patent reform. However, Mr. Strachan tells Texas Lawyer that the two aren’t necessarily related, and attorneys are best served by developing facts for the juries and judges that hear patent cases rather than focusing solely on what may happen during an appeal.

“Lawyers need to get into the minds of their clients and develop that as part of the (trial) story . . .,” Mr. Strachan says in the interview. “How did the parties get to where they are? Why are they in this litigation? The motivations, the evaluations, the mindset – what we call the ‘trial story’ – becomes more and more important.”

Mr. Strachan is a veteran of jury trials heard in state and federal courts in Texas and across the U.S., including multiple client victories in patent infringement cases in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas and other jurisdictions. With more than 32 years of courtroom experience, Mr. Strachan is widely recognized as one of the top trial counsel in the state, including being Board Certified in Civil Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. Earlier this year, he was honored in the exclusive Texas Super Lawyers list of the best lawyers in the state based on his work in intellectual property cases.