Former U.S. District Judge Alan Albright, once at the center of one of America’s busiest patent litigation courts, has begun a new chapter in private practice after joining A&O Shearman as an intellectual property litigation partner in Austin.
Albright’s years on the federal bench transformed the Waco courthouse into a major destination for patent disputes. At its peak, his courtroom handled roughly a quarter of all patent cases filed across the United States, making it one of the country’s most closely watched venues for technology and intellectual property battles.
The 66-year-old stepped down from the bench earlier this year after announcing his departure in April. He had already moved from Waco to Austin.
Before becoming a federal judge, Albright worked as a patent litigator. He was appointed to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas in 2018.
His move to A&O Shearman marks a return to the advisory side of the profession. Albright said he missed working directly with clients and believed his experience on the bench had given him a different perspective on complex disputes.
A&O Shearman was formed through the combination of Allen & Overy and Shearman & Sterling. The firm said Albright’s experience handling significant intellectual property and technology disputes would strengthen its litigation practice.
Albright’s time in Waco, however, was not without controversy.
Patent owners increasingly chose his courtroom because of the speed at which cases moved. That surge eventually drew criticism from lawmakers who questioned the extraordinary concentration of patent litigation before a single judge and raised concerns about the growing attraction of so-called patent assertion entities.
The debate over Albright’s docket eventually reached the highest levels of the federal judiciary. Concerns surrounding patent venue practices prompted a review of how such cases were assigned.
Albright maintained that public perceptions of his courtroom did not necessarily reflect its actual outcomes. He pointed to trial results that, according to him, showed no overwhelming advantage for either side.
The patent boom in Waco began to fade after changes were introduced in 2022 to ensure that new patent cases filed there would be randomly assigned among judges.
The Western District of Texas subsequently lost much of its dominance. Its share of newly filed U.S. patent cases fell to 11.5% in 2025, while the Eastern District of Texas emerged as the leading venue for patent litigation.
For Albright, the move from the bench to private practice brings him back to a familiar professional world—but with several years of experience from the other side of the courtroom.
His arrival at A&O Shearman closes one of the most remarkable chapters in the recent history of U.S. patent litigation and opens another, this time far from the judge’s bench.
