Alan J. Heinrich, a general business and intellectual property litigator in Irell & Manella’s Los Angeles office, is the firm’s newest partner.

Heinrich, 39, is a former professor of the classics who switched to law because he wanted to focus on issues that were of “contemporary relevance,” he said yesterday.

“I really needed to do something related to the issues that I see when I read the newspaper,” he said, adding that he viewed intellectual property law as an “opportunity to work on fascinating contemporary technologies.”

Heinrich did say, however, that ancient Greek and Latin have contributed significantly to his legal practice.

“Ancient languages require close and careful reading, which is something I strive to apply in my approach to patent litigation,” he said. “It takes that extra degree of detail to help judges and juries understand what a case involving complex technology is really about.”