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Porter Hedges: The Houston Firm Where a French-Speaking Patent Litigator Leads the IP Bench

Eric M. Adams has practiced intellectual property law in Houston since 2001, and for more than a decade running has been singled out by his peers for it — a specific, checkable form of recognition distinct from the pay-to-play awards that clutter most attorney marketing pages.

At a Glance

Origin and Background

Eric M. Adams earned his J.D. from South Texas College of Law Houston in 2001 and has practiced intellectual property law in Houston continuously since, building a docket centered on patent, trademark, copyright, and trade secret matters. He is a registered patent attorney before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and speaks French. Porter Hedges itself is a full-service Houston firm headquartered downtown at 1000 Main Street, and the Houston Business Journal has repeatedly named it among the city’s largest intellectual property practices.

Practice Concentration

Adams’s docket spans IP counseling, opinions, and transactions alongside contested matters, with a specific concentration in inter partes review, covered business method review, and post-grant review proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board — a specialized administrative-litigation track distinct from federal district court practice. The firm’s IP group, which also includes Pamela Balser, Elliott Deese, Jonathan Pierce, Sarah Ring, Ray Torgerson, and Eric Wade, has handled matters ranging from trade secret theft and trade dress infringement to trademark infringement defense for regional and national clients. See this Houston Intellectual Property directory for how this full-service firm’s IP bench compares to boutique and solo IP practices also serving Harris County.

Notable Work / Track Record

Awesome Attorneys did not identify a published table of individual settlement or verdict figures attributed specifically to Adams, which is typical for large-firm IP litigation practices where client confidentiality and firm-level (rather than attorney-level) case reporting are the norm. At the firm level, Porter Hedges has publicly reported successfully defending fitness-equipment providers BalanceFrom and Hulkfit in trade secret theft and trade dress litigation, and winning a motion to dismiss in a trademark infringement suit for a separate client, both firm-attributed results rather than individually verified case outcomes.

Client Voice

Awesome Attorneys did not identify a published set of itemized, attributed consumer-platform client reviews for Adams, which is typical for large-firm counsel whose clients are businesses rather than individual consumers. His most substantial third-party validation instead comes from sustained peer-review recognition rather than review-platform volume.

Beyond the Courtroom

Adams has published on IP licensing and case-law developments, including a chapter addressing how IP owners and counsel stay current on statutory and case-law change, and a separate piece on the impact of recent legal decisions on IP licensing matters, both part of the Aspatore legal-publishing series. Awesome Attorneys did not identify additional documented civic or nonprofit board service beyond his professional and publishing activity.

Recognition for This Houston IP Attorney

Awesome Attorneys did not identify a Texas Board of Legal Specialization certification for Eric M. Adams and does not apply “specialist” language on that basis — and separately notes that TBLS does not currently certify a distinct intellectual property specialty in Texas at all. Adams has been selected to Super Lawyers for intellectual property continuously from 2014 through 2026, a sustained thirteen-year run reflecting a peer-review and independent-research selection process rather than a paid marketing placement.

Texas Legal Backdrop

Patent, trademark, and copyright litigation proceed primarily under federal law in federal district court and before the USPTO’s Patent Trial and Appeal Board, rather than Texas state law, while trade secret disputes — a documented part of Adams’s docket — are governed by the Texas Uniform Trade Secrets Act. None of this is legal advice; a specific patent, trademark, copyright, or trade secret matter should be evaluated by a licensed attorney based on the actual facts involved.

Awesome Attorneys Assessment

Eric M. Adams’s clearest differentiator is a specific, administrative-litigation specialization in PTAB proceedings — IPR, CBM, and PGR — layered onto a 24-year IP practice, paired with thirteen consecutive years of Super Lawyers recognition. The honest trade-off is that, as with most large full-service firm counsel, Awesome Attorneys did not identify a published record of consumer-style client reviews or attorney-specific case results; representation of this caliber also typically comes with corresponding institutional rates. For a Houston business facing a PTAB challenge or defending a patent portfolio who wants a large-firm litigator with a specific, sustained record in that narrow procedural arena, that combination is a reasonable basis for a shortlist.

Methodology and Sourcing

This profile was researched from Porter Hedges’s own website (its Intellectual Property and Inter Partes Review capability pages and Eric M. Adams’s attorney biography), Super Lawyers’ published attorney profile, and Avvo’s independently compiled biography and publication list for Adams.

Publisher Disclosure and Independence Notice

Awesome Attorneys is an independent legal directory and editorial publication. This profile was not paid for, commissioned, or reviewed by Porter Hedges or Eric M. Adams prior to publication. Awesome Attorneys may in the future offer sponsored placement products to attorneys and firms, including this one, but sponsorship has no bearing on the editorial content, inclusion, or findings of this profile.