Lea, Christy

Christy Lea is Co-Chair of the Medical Device Litigation group at Knobbe Martens, where she has represented clients in medical device and other industries for over two decades.  Christy excels in resolving high-stakes patent and trade secret disputes at both the trial and appellate levels. Recently, she achieved a significant claim construction ruling that led to a stipulation of non-infringement for a major medical device client.  Additionally, she led a trial team to secure a complete defense jury verdict in a multi-patent infringement case.  In another notable case, she co-led a trial team that won a $70 million jury verdict with $21 million in enhanced damages, in a trade secrets misappropriation lawsuit against a former vendor. The verdict was ranked #6 in IP and #21 overall for that year by The National Law Journal. 

Christy is also an accomplished PTAB trial litigator having served as lead counsel in numerous IPRs.  Christy received a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from The University of Mississippi, where she was a member of Tau Beta Pi engineering honor society, and a J.D. with honors from the University of Texas School of Law in 2000.

Her exceptional work has earned her recognition from various prestigious publications, including being named an “IP Star 2024” by Managing IP, a "Life Science Star" by LMG Life Sciences, a "Woman to Watch" by the AIPLA, a “Top 10 Life Sciences Litigator” by Managing IP magazine, and a top “Women in STEM” by the Orange County Business Journal.