As Colorado’s aerospace, telecommunications and semiconductor sectors drive national investment, Lathrop GPM is moving to scale its regional and national intellectual property bench by combining with the IP boutique HG Law.
Effective Jan. 1, 2027, the combination adds HG Law’s 27 attorneys and 23 patent agents, among others, to Lathrop GPM. The deal will push Lathrop GPM’s headcount to about 400 attorneys across 18 offices, including in Denver.
For Lathrop GPM Managing Partner Cameron Garrison, the transaction fulfills an intentional search for specialized engineering talent that can serve hardware- and systems-heavy markets like Colorado.
“IP has long been a growth focus for us. It’s long been one of what we call our differentiator practices,” he said. “We have specifically been searching over the last five to eight years for the type of engineering-focused expertise that HG law has.”
HG Law, originally a spinout from Ropes & Gray, has built its reputation handling complex patent prosecution and portfolio development in electrical engineering, semiconductors and software. HG Law Managing Partner Greg Lundell said that while the boutique wanted a larger platform to support its clients, joining an undifferentiated megafirm was out of the question. “We were really interested in being able to continue our long-term relationships and work with people we trusted,” he explained.
The Front Range Tech Nexus
The combination lands as Colorado companies face increasing operational and legal hurdles, with clients demanding integrated legal teams capable of coordinating technology, real estate, corporate transactions and local regulatory issues.
“Clients are looking to us to be able to meet all those different needs,” Garrison said. “Part of it’s just wanting to work with a single firm because that makes more sense. Part of it is because that ensures that there’s a consistency in communication and understanding across those different practice groups.”
For Lathrop GPM’s Denver-based partners, rather than outsourcing technical patent drafting to external vendors, attorneys will be able to tap into an internal network of practitioners versed in advanced circuit design, telecommunications hardware and applied algorithms.
“There’s a lot of engineering and tech-focused industry in Colorado,” Garrison said. “So, (the combination) allows us to offer a broader range of services to existing clients in Colorado, as well as to attract new clients.”
Garrison noted that the combination is expected to spur direct hiring within Colorado.
Global Reach for Mountain West Innovators
Beyond domestic work, the combination gives Colorado-based inventors and venture-backed startups in-house access to European patent prosecution through HG Law’s London office.
Typically, American companies seeking European patent protections face two costly options: retaining major international law firms at top rates or hiring independent European correspondent firms, which introduces communication lag and double billing.
Within HG Law, “my partners in London are just my partners, making things more efficient,” Lundell said. HG Law’s transatlantic patent prosecution operates on a single docket and internal server network.
This is valued by clients, as global supply chains render cross-border IP vital even for midsized companies. Lundell said, “If you do something on the internet, in software, in any kind of manufacturing around the world, you’re on a global supply chain, and so having global protection makes a real difference.”
Developing Talent and Resisting ‘Cognitive Surrender’
As law firms navigate how generative artificial intelligence will alter legal research and patent drafting, Garrison and Lundell suggested that technical apprenticeships are part of the equation.
Both firms currently operate pipelines that recruit nonlawyer technical specialists, who often hold advanced engineering degrees. The firms sponsor their law school tuition while they train within the group.
“This helps both of us while building this great pipeline of talent,” Garrison said. “And hopefully, you know, they are falling in love with the firm and want to be here.”
Lundell sees that model as a strategic response to industrywide questions about how to train junior associates in an automated environment. “Instead of running away from new professional hires, get them earlier and train them in an apprenticeship-type program,” he said. “So then, when it’s time for them to really step up and use the tools that artificial intelligence can bring, they’re ready to do it in a meaningful way.”
When it comes to rolling out AI tools inside their combined operations, Lundell said, “I don’t think either of us are interested in being the first ones to invent how AI is going to change the legal landscape. I use the words ‘cognitive surrender’ every time I talk about AI, and every time I do, I get nodding heads. As we come together, we must find a way that uses AI as a tool. On that, everybody seems to agree.”