Phoenix, Ariz. - Polsinelli Shughart PC welcomes the addition of Christine M. McAuliffe as shareholder and Yu Cai as associate. McAuliffe and Cai have been involved in life sciences research and development each for over 17 years -- first as researchers, then as attorneys. McAuliffe and Cai predominantly represent life science and other technology clients ranging from major universities, research institutions and large corporations to startup and emerging companies.

McAuliffe’s professional experience includes assisting clients with creating and protecting intellectual property assets; strategically managing those assets through intellectual property portfolio development, audits and assessment; exploiting those assets through technology acquisition and transfer, licensing arrangements, joint ventures and strategic alliances; and then enforcing those rights through intellectual property litigation. Both attorneys bring sophisticated scientific backgrounds combined with legal experience that provide a powerful resource for clients.

“We work with our clients to bring their research and ideas to market and generate a revenue stream, “said McAuliffe. “We understand all aspects – the science, business and legal needs of our clients. At Polsinelli Shughart, with its national life sciences group and broader science and technology practice, we believe we have an extremely valuable platform from which to service our clients. I’m very excited to build the Phoenix portion of our practice that stretches to Washington, D.C.”

The addition of McAuliffe and Cai is part of an ongoing strategy to add valuable client services to the existing corporate and litigation credentials of the firm. In recent months, the Phoenix office of Polsinelli Shughart has grown to 55 attorneys and has now added an Intellectual Property practice, an Environmental and Natural Resources practice, and an Insurance Coverage and Bad/Faith Litigation practice.

“We want to be the firm clients need today and the firm clients need for what lies ahead,” said Managing Partner Marty Harper. “We are pleased that we can offer our Phoenix and Arizona clients the sophisticated legal skills that Christine and Yu bring to our firm.”

McAuliffe is a registered patent attorney and a member of the board of directors of the Arizona Bioindustry Association and Arizona Nanotechnology Cluster, with a bachelor of science in biology (molecular biology and genetics) from Creighton University, a LL.M from the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University and a law degree from the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University. She is admitted to the Arizona Bar and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Cai earned her Ph.D. in plant sciences and genetics from the University of Arizona, her masters degree in biochemistry and molecular biology from the Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China and her law degree from the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University. She has extensive research experience in epigenetic gene silencing, genetic mapping, genome sequencing, gene cloning and gene mutation. She is a member of the Arizona Bar and speaks Mandarin Chinese.

Both McAuliffe and Cai write and present frequently on their areas of law.

This fall, Polsinelli Shughart will relocate to three floors of the CityScape office tower in downtown Phoenix occupying nearly 70,000 square feet.