Biotech bonanza; Indy's 3 largest law firms hurrying to hire attorneys and scientists for lucrative practices in burgeoning life-sciences sector
BYLINE: JOHN RUSSELL JOHN.RUSSELL@INDYSTAR.COM
There's gold in them thar molecules.
Not just for the scientists and investors around Indiana who spend years developing a new drug or medical device that could become a blockbuster product.
But also for lawyers, who increasingly see life-sciences companies as good for the bottom line -- and a sector well worth courting.
Around the region, law firms are bulking up like never before to meet the growing demand of life-sciences companies, from biotech startups to established heavyweights.
Indianapolis' three largest law firms -- Barnes & Thornburg, Baker & Daniels, and Ice Miller -- all are hiring lawyers, scientists or both to staff their life-sciences groups, which increasingly represent a major part of their business.
Law firms view life-sciences companies as prized clients because they usually need a lot of legal services. They have intellectual property to protect. They need to defend themselves against product-liability lawsuits. They need help wading through government regulations. And some of them grow very fast, requiring help with mergers and acquisitions.
Add it all up, and that's a lot of legal fees. And that's one reason law firms are big advocates of the sector and do whatever they can help it grow and thrive.
"They see it as fertile ground," said Mark Long, president and chief executive of the Indiana University Research & Technology Corp. It operates a life-sciences incubator in Downtown Indianapolis, which is home to more than two dozen startup companies.
And not just in Indiana. Nearly every state is competing to attract and develop life-sciences companies, where jobs often pay twice as much as in traditional sectors.
From Boston to Seattle, law firms are hiring attorneys who specialize in life sciences to deal with thorny patent issues and complex government regulations.
"Law firms around the country are hopping on the bandwagon to try to foster the development of life sciences in their area," said Brad Thompson, a Zionsville attorney who practiced in Baker & Daniels' life-sciences group for 20 years, before leaving last year to join Epstein Becker & Green, based in New York.
"It's a matter of self-interest," he said. "No doubt about it."
In the past year, Barnes & Thornburg has more than tripled the ranks of its scientists with doctorates, from three to 10, to help clients analyze and protect their discoveries. Many of the firm's scientists also are lawyers, law students or patent agents.
"We're keeping as busy as we can," said Bradford G. Addison, a partner in Barnes & Thornburg's life-sciences practice. "We don't have anybody just sitting around, I can tell you that much."
Baker & Daniels has added 10 attorneys and other professionals to its life-sciences practice, bringing the core group to about 50 people. It plans to add up to 10 more.
"I would say it's definitely in the top two or three of our firm's fastest-growing areas and may very well be at the top," said Pat Cross, chair of the firm's life-sciences practice group.
Gonso returns
Ice Miller recently announced that Harry Gonso, a former partner who left for two years to serve as Gov. Mitch Daniels' chief of staff, had rejoined the firm as head of its life-sciences group.
The firm also recently hired Eli Lilly and Co.'s retired top litigator, James Burns, as a senior counsel for drug and device makers.
"We had a life-science group before, but now it's much more concentrated and much more focused," Gonso said.
"We're talking about the development of the startups. We're talking about helping bring along the midsize firms and helping our more sophisticated clients that have been around for a long time with their unique needs."
Even small and midsize law firms around Central Indiana are beefing up or reorganizing to serve this sector.
Krieg DeVault has assembled a team of about 20 attorneys, already on board, to give more concerted focus to the needs of life-sciences companies, said Robert A. Greising, a partner overseeing the effort.
Some see it as a telling barometer of the life-sciences industry here.
No. 9 in jobs
Indianapolis is home to such life-sciences heavyweights as Eli Lilly, Dow AgroSciences and Roche Diagnostics and ranks No. 9 among metro areas in the nation for total bioscience employment, according to a recent report from Battelle, a think tank based in Columbus, Ohio.
Meanwhile, nonprofit groups such as BioCrossroads and the Indiana Health Industry Forum have sprung up in recent years to encourage investment in life-sciences companies and to try to put Indiana on the map as a major center of life-sciences activity.
"It's great to see the growing interest in this field from law firms, as well as accounting and marketing and others," said Mike Brooks, president and chief executive of the Indiana Health Industry Forum.
"It's a good sign that awareness is building in our field."
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The City's Big Three
Barnes & Thornburg
Based: 11 S. Meridian St., Indianapolis, with other offices in Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Washington, D.C.
Life-sciences highlight: Ten patent lawyers and agents with doctoral degrees, triple the size of a year ago.
Key contact: Bradford Addison, partner and chair, life-sciences practice group.
Baker & Daniels
Based: 300 N. Meridian St., Indianapolis, with other offices in Indiana, China and Washington, D.C.
Life-sciences highlight: More than 50 lawyers and professionals serving the sector full time, supported by about 20 others.
Key contact: Pat Cross, partner and chair, life-sciences practice group.
Ice Miller
Based: One American Square, Indianapolis, with other offices in Illinois and Washington, D.C.
Life-sciences highlight: More than 20 lawyers serving the sector.
Key contact: Harry Gonso, partner and head of the life-sciences practice group.
Call Star reporter John Russell at (317) 444-6283.