Ericsson Associate GC of Litigation Joins McKool Smith

DALLAS (February 6, 2017) -- McKool Smith, one of America’s leading trial firms, has announced that Frank Vecella, the former Associate General Counsel of Litigation at Ericsson Inc., has joined the firm as a principal in its Dallas office. Mr. Vecella was with Ericsson for 16 years and managed and supervised all of the company’s significant litigation in the United States and Canada, and often provided guidance with respect to Ericsson’s major disputes around the world.

“Ericsson is a long-time client and Frank has been a very dear friend of the firm for many years,” said McKool Smith Managing Principal David Sochia. “We couldn’t be more excited to have Frank with us. He has significant litigation and industry expertise, and his in-house counsel perspective will be invaluable to the firm as we continue to strengthen our client service initiatives.”

“I’ve worked with McKool Smith for over fifteen years, and have very close relationships with many of the firm’s attorneys and phenomenal support staff,” said Mr. Vecella. “As Ericsson’s go-to firm for intellectual property litigation, McKool Smith distinguishes itself not only as it relates to trial prowess and ability to achieve outstanding results in the most complex cases, but also in terms of its culture. I’m surrounded by extremely talented trial lawyers who are committed to each other and committed to their clients. I feel at home.”

Prior to joining Ericsson, Mr. Vecella was a senior partner at Jackson Walker L.L.P., where he worked for 18 years. His practice focused on general commercial litigation, with primary emphasis on intellectual property litigation, deceptive trade practices, unfair competition, insurance coverage disputes, defamation, and other First Amendment-related litigation. While at Jackson Walker, he served as the head of the firm’s intellectual property practice group, as well as the Dallas office’s litigation practice group.

Mr. Vecella is a Master in the Honorable Barbara M.G. Lynn American IP Inn of Court and currently serves on the Executive Committee of the Institute of Law and Technology at the Center for American and International Law (CAIL). He has served as a Barrister in the Dallas Inn of Court and as a Research Fellow of the Southwestern Legal Foundation. He also has donated his time and services in a pro bono capacity through the South Dallas Legal Clinic and Legal Services of North Texas. He is a graduate of Dartmouth College and the University of Virginia School of Law.

Mr. Vecella has been selected several times as a finalist for the Dallas Business Journal’sannual "Best Corporate Counsel" Awards. He has received similar recognition on several occasions from the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) and D CEO Magazine. In 2013, he was honored by the Texas General Counsel Forum as the winner of its annual Magna Stella Award for the best in-house litigation attorney in Texas. In 2014, Mr. Vecella and his in-house litigation team at Ericsson were recognized at the Global Counsel Awards sponsored by the International Law Office (ILO) and the ACC as one of the top six corporate litigation departments in the world. He is also recognized as a “Corporate IP Star” by Managing Intellectual Property magazine.

With more than 180 trial lawyers across offices in Austin, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Marshall, New York, Silicon Valley, and Washington, D.C., McKool Smith has established a reputation as one of America’s leading trial firms. Since 2006, the firm has secured nine nine-figure jury verdicts and ten eight-figure jury verdicts. The firm has also won more VerdictSearch and The National Law Journal "Top 100 Verdicts" over the last ten years than any other law firm in the country. Courtroom successes like these have earned McKool Smith critical acclaim and helped the firm become what The Wall Street Journal describes as “one of the biggest law firm success stories of the past decade.” McKool Smith represents clients in complex commercial litigation, intellectual property, bankruptcy, and white collar defense matters.