ALM Features Shook Partner in Q&A on Storytelling

Following a big IP win, American Lawyer Media (ALM) featured the lead trial lawyer in a Q&A on storytelling. “How Ryan Dykal of Shook, Hardy & Bacon Weaves Storytelling Into IP Trials,” highlights Dykal and the Shook IP team’s ability to harness storytelling elements in their patent-trial presentation.

Dykal was selected for the interview after obtaining a multimillion dollar win for a client. “While patent trials are highly technical subject matter, they often ultimately boil down to competing human stories,” wrote ALM. In the Q&A, Dykal shares his general approach to getting a client’s story out in the types of intellectual property matters he handles.

ALM: How central is storytelling to what you do in intellectual property cases? 

“It’s absolutely central leading up to trial, but especially at trial. We learned this a long time ago at Shook. We’re almost 100% litigation, and we handle probably more trials than any other firm in the country if you add up all the product liability and intellectual property trials. It’s something that Shook teaches from the very beginning: When you get to trial and the jury, these are lay people. Especially in a patent case, it’s really important that they understand what’s at stake—how we got to the trial. They’ve seen a lot of legal shows on television, and that’s kind of what they expect.”

Dykal is an intellectual property litigation partner. In addition to his trial work, he handles appeals and post-grant proceedings before the Patent and Trademark Office.