Eastern District of Texas Magistrate Judge Roy S. Payne has granted a motion to disqualify Wilmer Hale Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr LLP from its nascent representation of Verizon (Verizon Wireless) in litigation filed by Headwater Research LLC. The first in a series of cases against Verizon Wireless is scheduled for trial this week, on July 17. That series grew dramatically this month, after Headwater Research hit each of the big US wireless carriers with four more lawsuits apiece, all in the Eastern District of Texas: AT&T (AT&T Mobility) (2:25-cv-00685, 2:25-cv-00690, 2:25-cv-00693, 2:25-cv-00711), Deutsche Telekom (Sprint, T-Mobile) (2:25-cv-00686, 2:25-cv-00691, 2:25-cv-00694, 2:25-cv-00710), and Verizon (Verizon Wireless) (2:25-cv-00687, 2:25-cv-00692, 2:25-cv-00695, 2:25-cv-00709).
Key to Judge Payne's disqualification order is the "most important factor" in such an analysis: "whether the former matters were 'substantially related' to the current matter". The court lays the predicate for its "substantial relation" analysis:
Among the more contentious issues has been a claim by Verizon (also asserted by defendants in related litigation), that Headwater lacks standing because of the claim that the inventor, Dr. Greg Raleigh, was employed by Qualcomm at the time of conception of the invention in the asserted patents. Dr. Raleigh left Qualcomm in September 2008 to run two businesses that he had just formed, ItsOn and Headwater Partners. Headwater was to be the research entity, obtaining the patents, and ItsOn was to be the practicing entity to monetize the patents.
(Emphasis added for style.) "Headwater Partners" presumably refers to Headwater Partners I LLC, a Raleigh entity; another such company, Headwater Partners II LLC, has also filed separate cases against the three wireless carriers. Wilmer Hale's past work was for "fledgling outfits" ItsOn and Headwater Partners, but, per the court, the principal for each "was clearly Dr. Raleigh".
According to Judge Payne, concerning the prior ItsOn representation, "Plaintiff has produced for in camera inspection a 14-page report dated December 21, 2009 and authored by Wilmer Hale. That report was directed to Gregory Raleigh and emblazoned 'attorney-client privileged work product communication.' It reflects lengthy conferences with Raleigh and many others, and extensive review of internal confidential records, all leading to findings on inventorship of patents and applications leading to the very patents asserted here and in related litigation". "Of primary interest here", with respect to the Headwater Partners representation, "is the drafting of an October 2013 amendment to the license between Headwater and ItsOn, which has become a focus of Verizon's damages expert".
Judge Payne characterizes the "substantial relation" analysis as the "easiest" to resolve:
This is also the easiest issue for the Court in this case. After devoting untold hours overseeing all of the current Headwater cases, the Court instantly recognized the importance to this case of the issue that Wilmer was commissioned to investigate in 2009. While it has been largely decided at the district court level in this case, it will remain an issue for potential appeal and in future cases, which are already being filed against Verizon and others. Likewise, the license between Headwater and ItsOn will remain an issue for appeal and in the future cases.
Thus, despite acknowledging "how seriously a well-respected law firm like Wilmer Cutler takes" a motion for disqualification, the court disqualified the firm from its three-week-old representation, noting that "there are few things more corrosive to the public confidence in the Bar than having one's former lawyer line up against you across the table". The court indicated that any prejudice to Verizon would be dampened by the fact that it "has two other national law firms and able local counsel".
Russ August & Kabat represents Headwater. Much deeper coverage of Raleigh, the plaintiff, and the runup to trial can be read at "Trial Prep Well Underway in Cases Against Earlier Wireless Carrier Defendants, Headwater Research Hits Amazon" (June 2025) as well as at "Headwater Research Leverages Testimony from Samsung Trial in Complaint Against Google" (May 2025). 7/3, all three defendants, 7/7, all three defendants (twice), 7/11, all three defendants, Eastern District of Texas.
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