The intellectual property lawyers at Finnegan, Henderson, Fara­bow, Garrett & Dunner know just how even the smallest detail — one atom on a chemical compound, for instance — can make or break a case worth billions of dollars to a client.

Nearly 85 percent of the Washington-based firm's litigators hold degrees in computer science, electrical engineering, chemistry or biology. That depth keeps Finnegan on the front lines of precedent-setting intellectual property litigation and gives the firm a deep understanding of the technical issues that translated to big wins in 2012.