In its fight with Microsoft over former Microsoft exec Kai-Fu Lee's defection, Google has hired a small but high-powered law firm, Kekar & Van Nest of San Francisco, which represented Grokster in its legal battle over file sharing and was judged "litigation boutique of the year" earlier this year by The American Lawyer publication, writes CNET. Google requested that five attorneys from Kekar & Van Nest join its legal team. The requests, filed August 16, were approved by the court.

The move is another indication of the high-stakes fight over Lee, whom Google hired last month to lead its new research and development center in China and serve as president of its Chinese operations.

A Washington state judge has temporarily barred Lee from performing work at Google that competes with what he did at Microsoft.