In-House Counsel

We presently work with in-house counsel for major U.S. companies, including in-house counsel for a professional sports organization that owns a National Hockey League team.

We are accustomed to the expectations and demands of a client whose representatives are sophisticated legal advisors to their clients within the company, and require the same level of sophistication in the outside counsel they choose to represent the company.

We are presently responsible for these clients' global patent and trademark portfolios, as well as the portfolios of their subsidiaries located around the world.

In addition to the foregoing preparation and prosecution work, we are also lead trial counsel on all intellectual property matters, including "bet-the-company" global litigation. We regularly advise such clients in matters of licensing and other technology transfer and private equity investment agreements, not only those governed by U.S. laws but also those governed by the laws of other countries.

Our IP-driven, international transactional work and global litigation capabilities are provided to such clients by working in dual harness with our strategic alliance partners in the U.S. and abroad. Our strategic alliance partners are headquartered in Erie, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, London, Munich, Montreal, Pisa, and elsewhere around the world. Through these unique and robust alliances, we can provide our corporate clients with the breadth and depth of a large international general practice firm, along with the individualized attention that only can be provided by a boutique firm. At the same time, this novel approach to the delivery of legal services ensures that our clients' global needs are met in the most efficient manner. Our strategic partners share our client-centric philosophy, billing rates, and commitment to prompt attention. Billing is coordinated through our Firm, and clients enjoy dealing with us as the principal contact on matters.

In-house counsel find it convenient to be able to log on to our secure intranet website to check on the up-to-date status and details of all of the company's IP matters being handled by the Firm. Moreover, they can check the fees and expenses billed to each matter, which are updated monthly.

The Firm's nonlawyer staff also provides value-added assistance to in-house counsel in the management of their legal budgets. These professionals are highly skilled paralegals and business advisors with degrees, advanced degrees, and experience in business administration and accounting, who are able to deal directly with you on billing matters, budget setting and compliance, developing special billing arrangements, and preparing periodic billing analyses that you can use in reporting to your senior management and board of directors.