7/22/22, 6:00 PM
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`Waco’s second federal magistrate judge sworn in to help manage growing patent litigation docket
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`Waco’s second federal magistrate judge sworn in to help
`manage growing patent litigation docket
`
`Derek Gilliland (Tommy Witherspoon for KWTX)
`By Tommy Witherspoon
`Published: Apr. 1, 2022 at 5:21 PM CDT
`
`WACO, Texas (KWTX) - Waco has a new federal magistrate judge and he is eager to hit the ground running to help U.S. District Judge Alan Albright
`manage the nation’s leading and fastest-growing patent law docket.
`Albright swore in Derek Gilliland, Waco’s second magistrate, in a ceremony Friday at the U.S. Courthouse. He said Gilliland, Albright’s former co-
`counsel in a 2013 multimillion dollar patent infringement case, has the potential to be one of the best magistrate judges in the country.
`Gilliland, 51, who formerly practiced law in Waco, joins Jeffrey C. Manske, who has served as magistrate in Waco since 2001.
`“If Derek is half the judge Jeff Manske is we will be in great shape,” said Albright, who has served as federal judge in Waco three and a half years.
`“It’s almost surreal to me,” Gilliland said before the ceremony. “It is so exciting and it’s kind of hard to believe it is here. I am extremely excited,
`especially about the celebration today, but also about the opportunity to get to work in the courthouse. From here forward, I understand there is a
`tidal wave of work to be done and a few administrative steps that have to be cleared and then the dams will break and I will be up to my eyeballs in
`
`https://www.kwtx.com/2022/04/01/wacos-second-federal-magistrate-judge-sworn-help-manage-growing-patent-litigation-docket/
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`7/22/22, 6:00 PM
`Waco’s second federal magistrate judge sworn in to help manage growing patent litigation docket
`helping out. But hopefully, it means we can continue to grow and keep the patent docket and civil docket here in Waco busy and growing and
`moving.”
`The Judicial Conference of the United States authorized a second magistrate judge for the Waco division after Albright remade the court into the
`nation’s leading patent litigation destination, with about a quarter of the nation’s patent litigation being filed in Waco.
`After Albright swore in the new judge, Gilliland’s wife, Kelly, a veterinarian, helped him slip on the judge’s robe as Gilliland’s parents, Dr. Charles and
`Diane Gilliland, of College Station, sat at a counsel table.
`
`Derek Gilliland, Waco’s second magistrate judge (Tommy Witherspoon for KWTX)
`Manske said he will focus on criminal matters and half of the court’s civil docket, while Gilliland will assist Albright with patent litigation and his share
`of the general civil cases.
`“I am excited to have someone of Derek’s temperament and character to work with,” Manske said. “He is humble, he is kind and I think he is going to
`be an exceptional addition to the judiciary in Waco. We have been inundated with new cases since Judge Albright has come on board, so to have the
`help is just a blessing.”
`Albright selected Gilliland in November from a field of more than 80 applicants after a search committee narrowed the field to five finalists. Members
`of the search committee, including former Ambassador Lyndon Olson, Waco Mayor Dillon Meek and attorney Russ Hunt, sat in the jury box during
`Friday’s ceremony.
`“Judge Albright has a huge docket of intellectual property and patent cases and Derek Gilliland has a superb background in the subject matter of
`intellectual property and patent law.” Olson said. “We felt like Magistrate Gilliland was very, very qualified, but it was absolutely Judge Albright’s call.”
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`https://www.kwtx.com/2022/04/01/wacos-second-federal-magistrate-judge-sworn-help-manage-growing-patent-litigation-docket/
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`7/22/22, 6:00 PM
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`Waco’s second federal magistrate judge sworn in to help manage growing patent litigation docket
`
`Derek Gilliland’s wife, Kelly, a veterinarian, helped him slip on the judge’s robe as Gilliland’s parents, Dr. Charles and Diane Gilliland, of College Station, sat at a counsel
`table. (Tommy Witherspoon for KWTX)
`Hunt said the committee narrowed the large applicant field to about 20, who were interviewed. From those, they winnowed the field to five finalists.
`“Derek just shined,” Hunt said. “He has got a wealth of experience as a patent lawyer. He knows patent law backward and forward, and that is where
`Judge Albright needs the help. All of the finalists were just outstanding people, but of all the people who were outstanding, we felt like Derek would
`be the biggest help to get his feet on the ground and take off running so he could help Judge Albright in the patent area.”
`Gilliland’s law firm, Sorey & Gilliland, has an office in Longview and one in Waco it opened in June. He has specialized in patent law for the past
`decade. He was co-counsel in 2013 with Albright, who was a chief intellectual property litigator with the Bracewell & Giuliani law firm, in a patent case
`in Tacoma, Washington, that involved genetic testing devices.
`Representing the plaintiffs, they won a $96 million jury verdict, which Gilliland said grew to about $112 million in post-judgment damages by the time
`the case settled.
`Gilliland, a Bryan native, graduated from Texas A&M University with a mechanical engineering degree and moved to Waco in 1994 to work for the
`former Chrysler Technologies Airborne Systems, now L3Harris Technologies. He graduated from Baylor Law School and has worked at firms in Austin
`and Waco.
`
`Copyright 2022 KWTX. All rights reserved.
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