Smith, Christopher J.

Utilizing his unique experience as a former federal prosecutor, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office attorney and civil litigator, Asa Hutchinson III focuses his practice primarily on commercial litigation and intellectual property matters. Asa routinely represents and advises clients concerning employment and labor matters, contractual disputes, trademark registrations, intellectual property infringement cases, corporate formation and governance matters and secured real estate transactions.

After graduating from law school, Asa practiced commercial litigation with a mid-size firm in Little Rock, Arkansas before being appointed to serve as an Associate Independent Counsel in Washington, DC. As a federal prosecutor, Asa litigated in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

As an Associate Solicitor for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Asa engaged in an extensive intellectual property litigation practice in the federal courts. He briefed or argued over a dozen patent or trademark appeals in U.S. District Court and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. He also prosecuted several more disciplinary cases against members of the patent bar for ethical and/or criminal violations.

In 2005, Asa returned to private practice in Northwest Arkansas and represented clients in the areas of employment law, intellectual property, real estate, banking, commercial litigation and municipal law. His experience included:

• Jointly defending a New York-based, publicly held company in a $23 million breach of contract action filed by the company's former employees, in which the defense team obtained a complete defense verdict from the jury;
• Serving as a defense counsel to a large municipal utility in illegal exaction lawsuits filed against it in federal and state courts, with each action being dismissed without class certification;
• Successfully prosecuting, on behalf of an Arkansas-based, publicly held company, several trademark infringement actions in U.S. District Court against various web-based companies located throughout the country;
• Defending a large-cap company against a multi-million dollar suit filed in federal court by a former vendor and obtaining a defense verdict from a twelve person jury, including a 6-figure counterclaim judgment, for the client.; and
• Obtaining for a small company client a six figure judgment from a state court jury against a statewide subsidiary of a national trade association for breaching a five year contract for software services.