Adler & Franczyk, LLC advises start-ups and tech firms on maximizing intellectual assets
CHICAGO, June 26, 2009 — David Adler is asking “Who has the keys to your castle?” This question came up recently when David and his partner, John Franczyk, principals in the Chicago intellectual property law firm Adler & Franczyk, LLC, were strategizing how they could market their skills and experience helping entrepreneurial, start-up and technology companies.
With over 30 years of experience providing cradle-to-grave legal services to IP-heavy businesses, much of that learned from software companies and successfully weathering the “dot-com” boom and bust, the partners recognize that start-ups and established companies need the same life-cycle continuity of representation. The partners decided to contact consulting firms with existing relationships who often lack manpower and expertise to handle today’s complex, IP and new media-infused legal issues.
What they learned surprised them. Reaching out to one of John’s former colleagues at Navigant Consulting, they learned that a large, national law firm agreed to place newly minted associates into the consulting firm’s clients as out-sourced in-house counsel, at no charge. David says, “We looked at each other and said, ‘How do we compete with free?’” - prompting David’s question.
“You have to put this into context,” says David. “Firms are laying off attorneys by the hundreds. Law school teaches one a great deal about identifying legal issues, but rarely do law students actually accumulate the knowledge and skills necessary to provide competent, actionable solutions to those issues.”
Simply put, lawyers hone skills by working under an experienced senior associate or partner on many different types of matters, learning to provide relevant, executable solutions to everyday legal problems. “I’m sure many of these attorneys are extremely bright, talented and eager, but put a software license agreement or social-media quandary in their hands and I suspect that they won’t know the reasons for many of the provisions or the options for modifying them,” says David.
Understanding who has the keys to your castle means understanding who possesses the knowledge, experience and skills necessary to plan, organize, execute, manage, and evaluate your business, says David. Success often depends on the ability to identify and control intangible assets. A qualified attorney can help navigate and negotiate provisions to establish and terminate relationships, identify, protect and leverage intellectual property created during relationships as well as negotiate and memorialize the key terms.
“Listen, I think that this is an amazing opportunity for these graduates and I’m certain that they will become excellent lawyers,” says David. “But do you really want your company to risk whether its lawyers have the knowledge, experience and skills to prevent costly, time-consuming, and strategically harmful situations in the future?”
Adler & Franczyk, LLC is a boutique firm in Illinois created with a specific mission: provide businesses with a competitive advantage by enabling them to leverage their intangible assets and creative content to drive innovation and increase overall business value.
For more information, contact:
Adler & Franczyk, LLC
161 N. Clark St. #2500
Chicago, Illinois 60601
P: 312-379-0236
F: 312-275-7534
http://www.ecommerceattorney.com
# # #
