Pillsbury Once Again Shortlisted by the Financial Times for Cutting-Edge Work

For Innovation in Strategic Direction, Pillsbury is a finalist in connection with the launch of the firm’s integrated, end-to-end Data Centers offering, a pioneering approach that brings together formerly fragmented services—from energy sourcing, site selection and contracting to financing, tax incentives and operations—to help stakeholders accelerate and scale across markets as global demand for advanced technology infrastructure climbs. Energy sourcing, including Pillsbury's award-winning Nuclear Energy practice, is a key element of Pillsbury's distinctive innovations cited by Financial Times in the shortlisting.

Bringing together leading professionals in real estate, energy, project finance, global sourcing, tax, privacy, public policy and technology transactions, Pillsbury’s Data Centers team is led by Energy & Infrastructure Projects partner Rob James, along with Real Estate partner Adam Weaver, Nuclear Energy partner Jeffrey Merrifield, and Global Sourcing & Technology Transactions counsel Brittney Sandler. It operates as a single, coordinated unit, developing tailored, repeatable strategies that help hyperscalers, operators, end-users and investors navigate complex, multi-jurisdictional challenges with legal and commercial cohesion.

For the Innovative Lawyers in Science & Technology category, a Pillsbury team is shortlisted in connection with its landmark victory for Fox Corp. in a precedential machine learning dispute, Recentive Analytics, Inc. v. Fox Corp. et al. The case centered on whether established machine learning methods, when applied to new data environments, qualify for patent protection. Recentive had alleged Fox infringed four patents covering the use of ML to generate broadcast network maps and event schedules. In 2023, a district court ruled the patents ineligible under the Alice test, finding they claimed an “abstract idea”—a generic ML technique—rather than an “inventive concept.” The Federal Circuit affirmed the dismissal in Fox’s favor just two months after oral argument.

The Fox Corp. team included Intellectual Property partner Ranjini Acharya, who argued the case, along with partners Michael Zeliger, Michael Horikawa and Evan Finkel.

Pillsbury’s Intellectual Property litigators have achieved game-changing results for clients in hundreds of high-stakes IP cases. The team has extensive experience asserting and defending IP claims in district courts, in courts of appeal, before administrative agencies such as the International Trade Commission and the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, as well as before U.S. and international ADR tribunals. With over 70 IP lawyers and professionals serving clients around the world, Pillsbury has been achieving winning results for clients in IP cases for more than 120 years.

This year marks the tenth consecutive year that Pillsbury has been recognized on the Financial Times’ Innovative Lawyers North America shortlist—an enduring acknowledgment of the firm’s leadership at the intersection of law, innovation and impact. For the past two years, Pillsbury has been named the Most Innovative Energy Transition Law Firm, reflecting its pioneering work in advancing the energy transition. The firm was first recognized for its advocacy supporting the Fusion Industry Association’s development of a regulatory framework for fusion energy in 2023, and again in 2024 for representing The Aspen Institute and Cargo Owners for Zero-Emissions Vessels (coZEV) in launching the Zero-Emission Maritime Buyers Alliance (ZEMBA)—a landmark initiative accelerating decarbonization across the global shipping industry.