John T. "Johnny" Ward, Jr.

I'll research this attorney and the tracked case before drafting.

Let me verify the tracked case and the attorney's current status.

Let me check the Skechers case docket and the attorney's current practice status.

Focus and posture. Johnny Ward (Thomas John Ward, Jr.) is a Longview, Texas trial lawyer whose patent practice is built around high-stakes infringement cases in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, usually acting as local counsel or trial counsel for out-of-state lead firms trying cases before East Texas juries. His case mix skews toward telecommunications and wireless (VirnetX, Elbit Systems/Hughes satellite links, DataQuill/ZTE, KPN/Ericsson, and the 4G/LTE–5G Finesse Wireless v. AT&T case), consumer electronics and software (Apple, Samsung, Microsoft), and mechanical/consumer-product patents — the last category being his single tracked appearance, the July 2025 hands-free footwear suit Fast IP, LLC et al. v. Skechers U.S.A., Inc. (E.D. Tex. No. 2:25-cv-00744). The tracked data shows 0 plaintiff / 1 defendant, but that one data point is a local-counsel role for Skechers; press coverage of his career describes him working substantially for patent plaintiffs and licensors, so the single defense-side entry reflects the narrowness of this dataset rather than a one-sided practice.

Firm context. Ward was the founding partner of Ward, Smith & Hill, PLLC in Longview. Per firm announcements, effective October 1, 2024, Ward, Wesley Hill and Bruce A. Smith ended their full-time trial practices and the remaining firm continued under the name Miller Fair Henry, so "Ward, Smith & Hill" in the tracked record is his former firm name. His 2025 Skechers appearance post-dates that transition and is consistent with a limited, local-counsel engagement. Note that he is a different attorney from of counsel and former U.S. District Judge T. John Ward (E.D. Tex.), the "rocket docket" judge, who also practiced at the same firm.

Notable results. Benchmark Litigation credits him with work on VirnetX v. Apple (a $502.8M patent verdict, with separate $625.6M and $302M jury verdicts reported in 2016), Smartflash v. Apple ($532.9M, Feb. 2015), Elbit Systems v. Hughes Network Systems ($21.1M, 2017), DataQuill v. ZTE ($31.5M, 2015), and Whirlpool v. TST Water ($7.6M, 2017, for defendant Whirlpool). Firm and trade reporting also ties him to the $31.5M KPN v. Ericsson verdict and to the $166.3M verdict (later ~$181M judgment, on appeal) in Finesse Wireless v. AT&T. These are trial-level outcomes; several were subject to post-trial or Federal Circuit review, and I could not independently verify each final disposition. I also could not confirm his docketed appearance as Skechers' local counsel in the 2025 case from public sources, though it is consistent with his documented role profile.

PTAB and credentials. His public profile is district-court-focused rather than PTAB-focused: the tracked record contains no IPR/PGR appearances, and in the Skechers dispute the PTAB petitions are handled by Irell & Manella as lead counsel. He is a member of the Texas bar (State Bar No. 00794818), admitted before the Fifth and Sixth Circuits and the E.D., N.D. and W.D. of Texas; he holds a 1992 degree from the University of Oklahoma and a 1995 J.D. magna cum laude from Texas Tech School of Law, and clerked for Fifth Circuit Judge Robert M. Parker. Best Lawyers named him its 2024 "Lawyer of the Year" for intellectual property litigation.