Keker & Van Nest LLP announces that it has made three new partners. Effective January 2006, Asim Bhansali, Michael Celio and Ashok Ramani have joined the partnership.

Asim Bhansali joined Keker & Van Nest as of counsel in 2004 from Smyser Kaplan & Veselka LLP in Houston, where he was a partner. Asim’s practice focuses on intellectual property, antitrust, securities, and other complex litigation matters. Asim presently represents clients in patent and antitrust matters throughout the country, and in 2005, Asim helped bring a nine-patent lawsuit to a successful conclusion that resulted in his client being purchased for approximately $130 million. Asim graduated with honors from the University of Texas School of Law in 1996, where he was named to the Order of Coif and served as an executive editor of the Texas Law Review. After law school, he clerked for the Honorable Ferdinand F. Fernandez on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Asim received a Bachelor’s degree in accounting in 1993 from the University of Texas at Austin with high honors.

Michael Celio joined the firm in 2001. He has tried a wide variety of civil and criminal cases to verdict in state and federal court. These trials have ranged from multi-million dollar patent disputes to gun possession cases. Michael specializes in intellectual property matters, securities litigation, criminal defense, and complex civil litigation. Michael graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1998. He graduated from Stanford University with honors and distinction in 1994, where he was elected to membership in Phi Beta Kappa in 1993, and received the Firestone Award for Outstanding Research upon graduation. In 1994, Michael was awarded a Chevening Scholarship by the government of the United Kingdom and received a Master’s degree from the London School of Economics in 1995. After law school, Michael served as law clerk to the Honorable Ronald Lee Gilman of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and was a litigation associate at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati in Palo Alto.

Ashok Ramani joined the firm in 2003. Ashok has tried a number of cases to verdict, in areas ranging from professional liability to car theft. He has also litigated a number of intellectual property matters, including a nine-figure international patent and trade-secret dispute as well as internal trade-secret-theft investigations. Ashok received his Juris Doctor degree cum laude in 1998 from Harvard Law School. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics with a minor in South Asian Civilization from U.C. Berkeley in 1995, graduating with high honors and membership in Phi Beta Kappa. Before joining Keker & Van Nest, Ashok clerked for the Honorable Henry H. Kennedy, Jr. of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, and was an associate with Howard, Rice, Nemerovski, Canady, Falk & Rabkin in San Francisco.

Keker & Van Nest continues to specialize in the representation of corporations and individuals in civil litigation matters and appeals, including securities fraud, patent, copyright and trademark claims, trade secrets and professional malpractice, and in complex criminal cases.