Carter Scholer

I'll research this firm before drafting.

Firm overview. The firm tracked here as "Carter Scholer" is a Dallas litigation boutique that has operated under several names: founded in 2012 as Carter Stafford Arnett Hamada & Mockler, PLLC, it became Carter Scholer Arnett Hamada & Mockler, PLLC (the name on the tracked case), then Carter Arnett PLLC, and now Carter Arnett Stahl + Cho Hernandez PLLC. It has a single office at 8150 N. Central Expressway, Suite 500, Dallas. It is a boutique, not BigLaw: commercial directories estimate 11–50 employees and $1M–$5M in revenue (directory estimates, not audited figures), and it does not appear in the AmLaw 100/200. The reliably sourced size indicators are rankings-based — Chambers USA gives name principal E. Leon Carter a Band 1 ranking for trial advocacy in Texas and general commercial litigation in Dallas–Fort Worth (2026), and Chambers' 2026 Spotlight Texas guide lists the firm for general commercial litigation. A 2027 Best Lawyers release notes seven firm attorneys recognized.

IP litigation specialty. This is a general commercial and trial boutique with an IP practice, not a stand-alone patent shop. Its patent practice page describes lead or local counsel work in "over fifty patent infringement cases" since 2012 and more than thirty years of combined patent trial experience, concentrated in the Eastern and Northern Districts of Texas, and it expressly markets itself as a local-counsel/trial partner for national IP firms and in-house teams. Technology areas reflected in its own reported matters and attorney bios include wireless/telecommunications (5G), semiconductors, consumer electronics, video game software, payment technology, fiber optics, electronic lighting controls, pharmaceuticals, and mechanical devices. Chambers' department commentary describes the firm as "particularly adept in contentious intellectual property."

Side preference. The tracked record is one-sided and thin: 0 plaintiff-side appearances, 1 defendant-side appearance, in a local counsel role (three local-counsel roles are recorded across the firm's history). The dataset therefore supports only the characterization of a defense-side, Texas local/trial counsel shop for patent matters. The firm's own reported results, however, include several plaintiff-verdict wins for patent holders, so it genuinely works both sides; the asymmetry is a function of the tracked sample, not a stated policy. (The tracked case itself, Innovative Display Technologies LLC v. Research in Motion Limited, E.D. Tex. Marshall Div. No. 2:13-cv-00526, was an NPE assertion against RIM/BlackBerry — Carter Scholer appeared as local counsel with Morrison & Foerster as lead, with E. Leon Carter and John S. Torkelson on the pleadings.)

Notable cases or outcomes. Beyond the tracked case, the notable results come from the firm's own news page and practice descriptions rather than from opinions I could verify in this session, so treat the figures as firm-reported: a $67.5M Marshall jury verdict against Samsung in a 5G wireless patent case (G+ Communications); a $9.2M Austin jury verdict for Katana Silicon Technologies against GlobalFoundries; a defense verdict for Overhead Door in a patent trial seeking $62.7M, tried with Latham & Watkins; a non-infringement and invalidity verdict in a three-week trial seeking more than $200M (electronic lighting controls); non-infringement verdicts in fiber optic connector and 3D design software cases; a multi-million-dollar verdict for a patent holder against a major video game software developer; and a Federal Circuit dismissal for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction for a payment technology client. A separate docket item shows E. Leon Carter appearing for BlackBerry in Affinity Labs of Texas v. Samsung/HTC (N.D. Cal.), stayed pending IPR and reexamination.

PTAB / IPR practice. Thin on the public record. USPTO PTAB filings list Carter Arnett PLLC as counsel on at least one petition (Bradley D. Liddle as lead, with Michael Pomeroy, Scott Breedlove, and Howard L. Lim as backup), the firm lists inter partes and post-grant review among its practice areas, and one associate clerked at the PTAB. No public report supports a filing-volume figure; on the available evidence this reads as matter-specific PTAB capability rather than a high-volume IPR shop.

Key partners / practice leaders. E. Leon Carter (co-founder, principal; tracked-case counsel; the firm's IP figurehead; Chambers Band 1; Best Lawyers in IP litigation and patent litigation; Dallas Bar Association Trial Lawyer of the Year, 2019). J. Robert "Bob" Arnett II (co-founder, principal; Chambers' named key contact for the commercial litigation practice; Best Lawyers in IP litigation). Scott W. Breedlove (listed as a patent litigation partner; Best Lawyers for patent litigation and trademark). Joshua J. Bennett (partner; appears in the tracked case alongside Carter). Name partners Linda R. Stahl (commercial litigation, trade secrets) and Stacey Cho Hernandez (labor and employment) are the other principals of record.

Sourcing note: firm name history, addresses, rankings, and the tracked case are supported by the sources cited above (firm website, Martindale, Law360 firm profile, docket material via Docket Alarm, Chambers and Best Lawyers releases). The damages figures and verdict characterizations are the firm's own announcements and should be confirmed against the underlying dockets and press coverage before being relied on. No attorney-count or revenue figure is independently verified.