1. How do you define your practice and areas of experience:
I litigate Intellectual Property matters for plaintiffs and defendants: patent, trade secret, trademark, copyright and false advertising cases, involving every kind of business. I also do general commercial litigation involving complex technologies. My tech-focused practice allows me to leverage my previous experience as a software, aerospace and mechanical engineer. For over 20 years I have also served as an Outside General Counsel to fast-growing startup companies. I enjoy the challenge of helping startup founders grow their legal departments and protect their IP and other valuable assets.
2. Tell us about your legal career journey. How did you get here?
Like many professionals, I pivoted at times to adjust to macro changes in the economy. For example, after earning a B.S. in Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering from Princeton, I graduated into an “aerospace recession” when the government was making big military and space program cuts. So, I took a job as a software engineer with IBM, but working on a large FAA contract to redesign the U.S. air traffic control system, to stay aerospace adjacent. I got to know some in-house IP attorneys (I met them in the IBM company gym of all places), and thought their work sounded like the ideal blend of left-brain and right-brain for a person like me. The rest, as they say, is history.
3. What about the Practus model serves you as a legal professional, and as a person?
At this stage in my career, I want to continue to perform at the very highest level within the IP litigation field, but I also want the flexibility of living and working when I want, where I want, and with the type of clients I want to work with. As someone who founded and ran my own firm for several years, I also greatly value the outstanding administrative support and infrastructure that Practus has built, from accounting, to marketing, to the fun cultural and team-building activities the firm provides.
4. What is your definition of professional success?
Delighted clients, challenging and rewarding work, and the ability to provide for a happy and healthy family. My goal is not only to provide excellent quality legal advice, but to deliver that advice affordably, and with a level of client service that helps my clients thrive in their business operations and in their own careers. That’s in addition to winning a purely legal sense.
5. What is one thing you wish people about to hire a lawyer with your expertise knew?
I wish that all people hiring an IP lawyer understood the transformative business value that a robust and well-managed IP portfolio can bring to any company’s bottom line (and not just tech companies!). IP represents the potentially immense value of the Intellectual Capital a business and its employees are generating, every day. When properly managed, IP can ensure the long-term success of any business in any field, even (no, especially!) a field that is rapidly evolving.
6. What is keeping you busy when you’re not working?
I’m one of those (admittedly sometimes annoying) people who pop up every morning before 6 am without an alarm clock. I start with green tea and work three New York Times puzzles: Wordle, Connections and Strands (my record Wordle streak is 213 days, which I hope to beat next year). Last summer, my daughter got me started learning Spanish on Duolingo, so I’m also doing that every morning, with a 100-day streak so far. I love riding my bike all over New York City, hiking in the country with my wife Stephanie, hanging out with my family, rooting for Liverpool Football Club with my son Jack (or even better, kicking the ball around with him), and exchanging bad dad jokes with my daughter Ellie. I also do a lot of repairs on our two homes, in Brooklyn and Fire Island. They’re 120 and 90 years old, respectively, so something always needs a little TLC. All the tinkering and repairs keep me in touch with my “inner engineer.”
