Charleston – Global law firm K&L Gates LLP welcomes Paul M. Eckles as a partner in the litigation and dispute resolution practice. He joins K&L Gates’ Charleston office from the New York office of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, where he practiced for 25 years.

With a primary focus on antitrust litigation, Eckles has a broad-based national litigation practice that includes class actions, government investigations, and other actions involving claims of anticompetitive conduct, including price-fixing, bid-rigging, group boycotts, exclusive dealing, monopolization, and price discrimination, among other areas. He also represents clients in matters involving breach of contract, fraud and fiduciary duty, intellectual property, and other types of complex commercial litigation in both the trial and appellate courts, including representing multiple professional sports leagues on high-profile complex litigation matters. In addition, Eckles regularly advises on pro bono matters, including veterans affairs.  

Jeffrey Patterson, a leader of K&L Gates’ commercial litigation practice area, commented: “Paul is a tremendous addition to the K&L Gates litigation group. His skills, reputation, and experience handling all types of business litigation and client counseling will enhance our ability to serve clients across the platform. Despite the challenges of 2020 for the legal industry, we are fortunate as a firm and a litigation practice to be in a position to add preeminent litigators like Paul Eckles. We look forward to Paul’s success here as an integral part of our firm’s litigation practice in the years ahead.”

Eckles’ arrival follows the additions of litigation partners Mitchell Kim in Los Angeles and J. David Bournazian in Orange County, as well as intellectual property litigation partner James Shimota in Chicago earlier this year. K&L Gates has welcomed nearly 30 new partners and of counsel in 2020, including in the firm’s corporate; health care; tax; commercial litigation; environment, land and natural resources; asset management and investment funds; IP procurement and portfolio management; IP litigation; real estate; government contracts; and investigations, enforcement and white collar practices.

“We are delighted to add someone of Paul’s national prominence in the antitrust and sports practice areas to the Charleston office,” said Walker Coleman, managing partner of K&L Gates’ Charleston office. “Paul will bolster our already exceptional Charleston and firm litigation practices, making them both even more distinctive in the jurisdictions in which they litigate.” 

K&L Gates’ complex commercial litigation and disputes practice has the breadth, experience, and sophistication to successfully resolve matters ranging from simple commercial claims to complex multi-party, cross-border litigations and arbitrations, including defending and pursuing antitrust litigation. K&L Gates was recently recognized by Forbes as one of America’s most recommended corporate law firms in the area of litigation and dispute resolution as part of the publication’s first-ever legal industry review. The practice was also named a “Litigation Standout” in BTI Consulting Group’s 2020 Litigation Outlook report.