Lathrop GPM Combines with HG Law Expanding Global IP Capabilities, Adding Offices in New York and London and Continued Growth in Silicon Valley

KANSAS CITY, MO, July 20, 2026: Lathrop GPM and HG Law today announced their combination, effective January 1, 2027. HG Law is a premier intellectual property firm with offices in San Jose, New York and London. The combination brings 27 attorneys and 23 patent agents and technical advisors from HG Law, increasing Lathrop GPM’s attorney headcount by approximately 7.5% to 370. The combined firm will have approximately $300 million in revenue.

This combination is a strategic investment in Lathrop GPM’s Intellectual Property practice. By adding HG Law’s depth in engineering-driven patent law, particularly in the complex engineering disciplines, the firm significantly strengthens its position as a recognized leader in IP law. It also continues the firm’s growth in Northern California while entering the New York and London markets.

“The addition of HG Law is transformative for the engineering side of our IP practice,” said Cameron Garrison, Managing Partner of Lathrop GPM. “We are proud of our full-service intellectual property capabilities and celebrate our team as a key differentiator. HG Law deepens our IP bench in critical areas of expertise that are important to our clients, particularly in the technology and media spaces.”

“Joining Lathrop GPM is a tremendous opportunity for our clients, our attorneys, and our firm,” said Gregory Lundell, Managing Committee Member of HG Law, based in San Jose. “We share a commitment to excellence, a collaborative culture, and a client-first philosophy focused on long-term client relationships. This combination gives our lawyers access to a broader platform and expanded resources, while our clients gain the benefit of a full-service firm with vast IP expertise, nationally recognized capabilities in a broad array of other practices, and a stronger platform for the high-value IP matters they face.”

The combined firm, which will operate as Lathrop GPM, will offer clients one of the largest full-service IP practices at an Am Law 200 firm. The firm’s IP services include patent prosecution, trademark prosecution, copyright, trade secrets, patent and trademark litigation, licensing, technology transactions, and privacy. HG Law brings engineers with experience across a wide spectrum of technologies rooted in computer and software engineering, electrical engineering, and mechanical engineering.  These backgrounds extend to fintech, telecommunications, medical devices, semiconductors, consumer products, and other technologies.

This combination supports Lathrop GPM’s growth objectives by doubling down on its Silicon Valley investment while establishing a meaningful presence in New York that ties together the firm’s other East Coast offices in Boston and Washington, D.C. The London office provides the combined firm with additional access to the UK and European intellectual property sector.

New IP Practice Group Leadership

As part of this investment, Lathrop GPM has appointed long-time firm partner James Velema as Practice Group Leader of the firm’s Intellectual Property Practice group. Velema, who is based in the firm’s Boston office, will lead the group in close collaboration with Kate Tompkins, who will continue in the role as Director of Practice Management.

Velema and Tompkins will work jointly to continue strengthening the group’s delivery of coordinated high-impact IP counsel to clients navigating complex and evolving technologies. Their complementary roles are designed to ensure both strategic vision and operational excellence.

“James is the right person to lead our Intellectual Property Practice Group at this pivotal moment, and he will be working hand-in-hand with Kate Tompkins, whose leadership has been instrumental to the group’s success,” Garrison said. “Kate has built an exceptionally strong foundation for this team, and together, she and James bring a powerful combination of strategic insight, scientific depth, and operational leadership that positions the practice for continued growth.”

A founding partner of the firm’s Boston office, Velema has spent more than two decades at the intersection of life sciences and IP law, representing clients from early-stage biotechnology companies to Fortune 500 corporations. His track record spans global patent estate management, Nobel Prize-winning RNA therapeutics licensing programs, and guiding life sciences companies through major financing rounds and strategic acquisitions. Prior to earning his law degree, he served as a research scientist, IP manager, and patent agent in the Boston biotech industry, and he holds several U.S. patents as an inventor.

“I am honored to step into this role and to partner closely with Kate as we lead this exceptional team,” said Velema. “Our Intellectual Property Practice Group has built a strong and differentiated platform, and by working together, we will continue to deepen our capabilities, expand strategically, and ensure our clients receive the sophisticated, forward-looking counsel they expect.”

Tompkins, who has led the IP Practice Group since early 2021, will continue as Director of Practice Management, a role she has held since 2019. She is deeply engaged in the leadership, operations and continued development of the group. Under her leadership, the practice has experienced significant growth, including the addition of numerous attorneys, high-profile partners, and key clients, as well as enhanced infrastructure and team cohesion.

“Kate’s continued leadership is critical to the ongoing success of the IP practice,” Garrison added. “This is not a transition away from her leadership, but an evolution that builds on it — combining her proven operational leadership with James’s strategic and market-facing role to create a highly effective, collaborative leadership structure.”

About Lathrop GPM’s Intellectual Property Practice:

The Lathrop GPM Intellectual Property Practice Group handles all aspects of patent, trademark, and copyright law in the United States and worldwide, with particular strength in prosecution, transactions, and litigation. The group’s attorneys and agents hold advanced technical degrees and possess expertise across diagnostics, devices, pharmaceutical and biotechnology, electrical engineering, physics, computer science, optics, chemistry, consumer products, and manufacturing methods, serving clients across myriad industries including biotechnology, chemicals, energy, computer science, artificial intelligence, consumer products, electronics, emerging technologies, fintech and blockchain, mechanical and industrial devices, optics and photonics, pharmaceuticals, medical devices and life sciences, manufacturing methods, semiconductor devices and materials, and telecommunication.

About Lathrop GPM:

Lathrop GPM is a full-service, Am Law 200 law firm with more than 400 attorneys and other legal professionals in 18 offices and two countries. Meeting the legal needs of businesses, organizations and high-net-worth individuals, the firm’s attorneys provide a full spectrum of corporate legal services: corporate, tax, business transactions, labor, employment, franchise law, litigation, intellectual property, private client services, real estate and trusts and estates. The firm helps clients grow and succeed, anticipate trends, plan for challenges and bring their visions to life. Clients recognize Lathrop GPM for its commitment to client service, legal project management and innovative pricing capabilities. A Multilaw and Employment Law Alliance affiliate, the firm has the resources of more than 90 independent law firms in 100 countries worldwide. For more information, visit www.lathropgpm.com.