SAN DIEGO -- When U.S. District Judge Cathy Ann Bencivengo helped found DLA Piper's patent litigation group in 1989, she was its only female member. She had just joined the firm as an associate fresh out of law school a year prior but would go on to become the group's national co-chair.
It was known as Gray Cary Ames & Frye back then, and it would be the first and last law firm Bencivengo would work for before becomi... (continued)