Genetics · Life Sciences · Litigation
Fluent in the science.
Trained in the law.
Nao Takada is a Ph.D. geneticist and attorney. She works with litigation teams, law firms, and life sciences companies on matters where complex science decides the legal outcome — from product liability and patent disputes to IP diligence, licensing, and U.S.–Japan work.
The gap
In product liability and life sciences, the science can decide the case — and few lawyers are trained to read it.
That is the gap Nao fills. She works on the technical side of the matter alongside your team — reading the genetics and other scientific data the way the experts do, then making it usable for the people who have to argue it.
About
A true mix of lawyer and scientist.
Nao earned a Ph.D. in Genetics and Development from Columbia University after completing a rigorous legal education at one of Japan's leading universities and before obtaining a U.S. law degree and becoming a U.S. attorney. She spent years at the laboratory bench at Columbia University and Japan's National Institute of Radiological Sciences. That sequence matters: she understands the science at the same level as the experts she works with, not merely through summaries or secondhand explanations.
She practiced in the IP and litigation groups at Paul Hastings, Gibson Dunn, and WilmerHale on pharmaceutical and biotechnology matters. Today she works independently and as collaborating counsel, so teams can add scientific depth without changing firms.
How she works
Three ways she plugs into a matter.
Litigation co-counsel
For litigation teams in product liability and patent or IP disputes where the science is contested. Nao joins as co-counsel — owning the scientific and genetic causation issues, expert strategy, Daubert and admissibility work, and presuit investigation.
IP, licensing & agreements
The IP work Nao handles directly: patent-portfolio analysis, IP due diligence for M&A, licensing and collaboration agreements, and non-infringement and opinion letters — plus outside general counsel for discrete matters.
Cross-border counsel
For Japanese life sciences companies in U.S. disputes, transactions, or discovery — and for U.S. counsel working on cases that involve them. A native Japanese speaker who knows the science, the legal expectations, and the corporate culture on both sides, Nao can serve as extended in-house counsel or as part of the U.S. litigation team.
Representative matters
Selected work.
Tylenol MDL
Supported counsel on the scientific and genetic causation issues and Daubert strategy in the multidistrict product liability litigation.
Supported the Latuda, Invokana, Radicava ORS, and Gilenya ANDA patent litigations on the scientific and technical questions at the center of each case.
IPR
Supported proceedings before the PTAB, including the Gilenya IPR, involving Japanese and U.S. pharmaceutical companies.
Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Ms. Takada served as co-counsel or supporting counsel on the matters above, not as lead counsel, and they are provided for general information only.
Insights
Writing on science and the law.
Notes on where genetics meets litigation — in plain terms for lawyers.
Contact
Let's talk about your matter.
Have a case or a transaction where the science is doing the heavy lifting? Tell Nao a little about it and she'll follow up to find a time.