Up & Coming: Chad Drown

Partner, Faegre Baker Daniels

If there’s a personality trait that’s required of a successful trial lawyer, it’s a burning desire to win. Chad Drown has channeled that trait into a notable career in his eight years as an intellectual-property attorney at Faegre Baker Daniels.

“The legal field seemed to fit my personality,” Drown said. “I was very competitive in college.”

Drown’s trial practice professor at the University of Minnesota Law School was Faegre partner David Gross. That relationship convinced Drown that trial work was a natural fit. After clerking for Federal District Court Judge Susan Richard Nelson, Drown caught on at Faegre and immediately set about making his mark.

His first trial in federal court was for a recreational equipment maker, FLOE International, that sued a competitor for patent infringement. The unusual trial included a visit to the alley behind the courthouse to allow jury members to see a trailer that figured in the case, as well as an unusual off-site deposition of a key witness.

“It was in the middle of the trial at this motorcycle shop,” said Drown. “The guy was deposed literally on the showroom floor.”

He was also a key member of a team that won a complete defense verdict for Seagate Technology in a billion-dollar patent infringement case brought by Siemens AG. “[Siemens] got nothing,” Drown recalled. “That was memorable.”

Such victories have helped Drown make a name for himself at Faegre, one of the nation’s largest law firms. “Chad Drown is a go-to trial lawyer,” said Faegre Managing Partner Andrew G. Humphrey. “At his most recent trial, the general counsel of our client, a leading medical device company, sent a note saying, ‘Chad, I was told that your cross-examinations were something special to watch, and they were. Fantastic job.”