• Baylor University, Baylor Law School 1976
  J.D.
  Editor-in-Chief, Baylor Law Review
  Member, Interscholastic Moot Court and Mock Trial Teams
  cum laude, first in class
• Texas Christian University 1974
  Management Science, M.S.
• University of Texas 1970
  Math, B.A.

• Federal Circuit Advisory Council
• Texas Bar Foundation
• Legal Publications Committee of the State Bar of Texas
• Board of Trustees of All Saints Episcopal School

Former U.S. District Judge Leonard Davis is Of Counsel to the Dallas office of Fish & Richardson. He provides strategic counseling to clients in intellectual property matters in addition to handling case evaluations and settlement strategies for both plaintiffs and defendants. He also conducts mock trials and mock Markman hearings. 

Prior to joining Fish, Judge Davis served as Chief Judge of the Eastern District of Texas. Prior to his retirement from the bench, Judge Davis saw the Eastern District’s patent docket grow to one of the largest in the country. He personally handled over 1,700 intellectual property cases and managed one of the nation’s busiest patent dockets. He also conducted as many as 11 patent jury trials in a 12 month period and more than 250 individual Markman hearings.

Several of Judge Davis’ cases have become landmark decisions from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court. His rulings on the bench enjoyed a high affirmance rate. He previously served by invitation on both the Federal Circuit and 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. He also has served on the 5th Circuit Judicial Council, the Federal Circuit Advisory Committee on Case Management, and as Co-Chair of the Federal Judges Committee of the Federal Circuit Bar Association. In August 2015, Judge Davis was appointed by Chief Judge Sharon Prost to serve a three year term on the Federal Circuit’s Advisory Council. And, in April 2016, Judge Davis was honored with the New York Intellectual Property Law Association’s “Outstanding Public Service Award” for his significant contribution in Intellectual Property Law.

Before his appointment to the federal bench, Judge Davis served as Chief Justice of Texas’ 12th Court of Appeals. Prior to his service as a judge, he was an active trial lawyer for 23 years. His experience as a practicing attorney includes a variety of complex cases, including commercial, oil and gas, will and estate contests, breach of fiduciary duty, medical malpractice, products liability and negligence. He previously served as General Counsel to the Republican Party of Texas (1983-1988), in addition to gubernatorial appointments to the State Judicial Districts Board (1988-1992) and State Ethics Advisory Committee (1983-1988).