Spokane law firm Lee & Hayes has opened an office in Washington, D.C., and named former Congressman George Nethercutt as head of its government relations practice.

The D.C. office is the firm’s second new location this year, following the opening of a Rochester, N.Y. office.

Lee & Hayes, best known for its expertise in intellectual property law, also has offices in Austin, Seattle and Portland, with 72 attorneys on staff.
 

“The primary objective of our new office is to promote our clients’ intellectual property interests in the political, legislative and regulatory processes in Washington, D.C.,” said company co-founder Lewis Lee.
 

Also based in the D.C. office are Poh Chua, who heads the office’s international and business practice; and Colin Barnitz, a veteran IP patent attorney who previously worked at the firm’s Austin office.

In addition to IP work and government relations, Lee & Hayes also provides services in corporate and securities law and litigation matters.
 

The firm has been recognized as the national leader in patent quality for four consecutive years by Intellectual Asset Management (IAM) magazine. IAM also recently ranked Lee as one of the world’s leading IP strategists in its IAM Strategy 300 issue.

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