Terry McMahon, ’76

Head of McDermott Will & Emery’s IP

Simplifying material for the courtroom doesn’t get much more challenging than in intellectual property, and that’s Terry McMahon’s specialty. Recognized among the nation’s top I.P. attorneys, McMahon B.A. ’72, J.D. ’76, prides himself on translating high-tech into layman’s terms, delivering his message with his trademark graphics and cartoonish drawings. "I consider myself kind of an everyman.

If I can understand it, everyone can understand it," McMahon says. The head of McDermott Will & Emery’s I.P. practice in the West, McMahon cut his courtroom teeth on fender-benders and slip-and-falls after graduating from Santa Clara, eventually making his somewhat happenstance segue to the intellectual property niche when, representing Apple Corp. in the early 1980s, "I figured out that it was a burgeoning trial area."

While trying major cases, he built McDermott’s I.P. team from a handful of lawyers to 60, representing many of Silicon Valley’s big names and taking on industry powerhouses like Hewlett-Packard, Compaq, and Lucent. He has beaten Intel in court three times, including a "bet-the-company" copyright infringement defense for Advanced Micro Devices, then a small microchip maker.

Never mind the intense pressure and high stakes of his work, McMahon, who also teaches I.P. litigation at SCU School of Law, describes himself as "at my calmest and happiest when I’m in trial." Arguing over a set of facts, meeting the creative challenges to persuade a jury, is "a great joy," he says. "Especially when you win." And when it’s David against Goliath, it’s extra satisfying to McMahon. "I like the kind of case where you’re really up against the big guy. You go in bare knuckles. You’re dropping your gloves and you fight it out."