Salima A. Merani

Merani serves as lead counsel and global strategist for Ulthera Inc., which focuses on ultrasound technology for noninvasive skin treatments.

She also is chief strategist for most of her client's foreign patent and branding strategy, directing co-counsel in countries abroad.

As chief U.S. counsel for a medical device company, Merani handled eight simultaneous litigation and contentious proceedings abroad, directing the negotiations and ultimately settling them all at the end of last year.

"This is a good example of the medical device space I practice in," Merani said.

There is an increasing demand for medical device companies throughout the world, she said. But, along with that, "We are seeing a lot of global litigation."

Key to litigating overseas is to be sure that you don't win the battle in one of these countries only to lose the war globally, Merani said. "My first question is, how is this strategy going to affect us in other countries?"

That's why it's critical to have local counsel that is "intimately involved," she said.

"You want to be mindful that the company's strategy in one country is consistent with its strategy in other countries," Merani added.

In addition to the local counsel that Merani taps overseas, Knobbe Martens also employs in-house foreign specialists.

"I can go to my in-house international colleagues first," she said. "They're right down the hall, and that gives us a huge advantage."

- Pat Broderick