Hon. Gregory M. Sleet (Ret.)
Mediator, Arbitrator and Neutral Evaluator — JAMS
Description of field of expertise
Hon. Gregory M. Sleet (Ret.) joined JAMS after serving 20 years on the bench of the United States District Court for the District of Delaware, including seven years as chief judge. During Judge Sleet’s tenure on the bench, he gained deep experience in a number of areas of complex commercial litigation, especially patent litigation involving pharmaceutical patents and a wide variety of other technologies. As a neutral, Judge Sleet focuses his practice on mediations, arbitrations and neutral analysis (case evaluation, mock trial).
Judge Sleet is a sought-after speaker on patent litigation. Select examples of speaking engagements include RPX, the Rocky Mountain Intellectual Property and Technology Institute, the Sedona Conference, the USC Gould School of Law, the New York Intellectual Property Law Association’s symposium on patent litigation, the Practising Law Institute and ACI.
Beginning in 2006-2007, Judge Sleet served as an adjunct professor, teaching patent litigation, at Rutgers Law School, Widener University Delaware Law School and, most recently, Duke University School of Law. Before taking the federal bench in 1998, Judge Sleet acquired varied experience in civil and criminal litigation and corporate legal work. He served as the United States attorney for the District of Delaware from 1994 to 1998. He also served as in-house counsel for Hercules Incorporated (1992–1994) and as deputy attorney general, handling major civil cases, for the State of Delaware (1990–1992). Prior to that, he practiced law in Philadelphia for 14 years, six of those as an assistant public defender with the Defender Association of Philadelphia.
What advice would you offer to new attorneys interested in your field?
We live in an age of specialization in our profession. Given the vast scope and complexity of subject matter in today’s legal practice, the desire to demonstrate your expertise and competence in a given field is understandable, if not altogether desirable. I am reminded of being corrected by a great American trial lawyer during an appearance before me. I referred to Bill Lee as a patent attorney. With a smile, he said, “Judge, I am a complex civil trial attorney.” Point taken and words to live by. Don’t let them stovepipe you. It will stunt your growth as an attorney and make your practice much less interesting than it could be. Put simply, don’t be afraid to be a generalist.
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