Affymetrix Legal Team Jumps Ship to Dewey & LeBoeuf

The general counsel of a California-based genetic products manufacturer is leaving, along with three in-house Affymetrix patent lawyers, to join Dewey & LeBoeuf.

Barbara Caulfield, who formerly worked as a federal district court judge before she joined the Santa Clara company, will be in charge of the Silicon Valley office and co-chair the law firm's intellectual property litigation group, according to docu-drama, a San Jose Mercury News blog, and the Recorder.

"It's a very small universe of people that fit [her] profile," says Steven Davis, the law firm's chairman, of Caulfield. A Dewey & LeBoeuf partner had appeared before Caulfield years ago, when she was on the bench, Davis recounts, and when "the firm made a strategic decision earlier this year to really ramp up in Silicon Valley, ... this partner said, 'What about approaching Barbara Caulfield?' "

Says Caulfield: "We just got a great call with a great offer, and you've got to consider those."

Caulfield, who also previously worked for Latham & Watkins and Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, will remain on the Affymetrix board.