Baker Botts Lawyer Argues Inventor Criticism Wasn’t Defamatory

Baker Botts patent litigator Rachael Lamkin called a Florida inventor’s defamation claims against her and her client Starbucks Corp. meritless in a federal court filing.

Leigh Rothschild, a prolific inventor and filer of patent lawsuits, said his reputation was tarnished by Lamkin’s characterization of his business structure for bringing infringements suits. Specifically, he said Lamkin defamed him when she told Bloomberg Law in a news article that past attempts to recover attorneys’ fees in such cases had proven ineffective: “With Leigh Rothschild, we never get the money because the shells go bankrupt,” she said at the time.

The comments “are ...