The National Association of Minority and Women Owned Law Firms’ Intellectual Property Alliance Launches Unique Collaboration Agreement

Chicago, IL, June 14, 2014 --(PR.com)-- The National Association of Minority and Women Owned Law Firms has announced that twelve of its member law firms that are part of NAMWOLF’s Intellectual Property Practice Area Committee (“The IP Alliance”) have developed and launched a unique collaboration arrangement. This collaboration arrangement allows the participating firms, while remaining separate, to tap into each other’s resources when demanded by the needs of a particular matter. Under this arrangement, each firm does not have to incur the fixed overhead that would otherwise be required for each to have these extensive resources at its ready disposal. By signing the Collaboration Agreement, a member firm can scale up its resources on a “just-in-time/as-needed-only” basis with top notch talent and deliver greater value to its clients in large and complex intellectual property cases, including patent infringement litigation, trademark and copyright actions, large mergers and acquisitions and similar matters. The collaboration is undertaken only with full disclosure to the client, with client consent and where there are no precluding conflicts of interest.

“This creative approach by members of NAMWOLF’s Intellectual Property practice area committee, branded as the IP Alliance, highlights the sophisticated expertise of NAMWOLF’s network of attorneys, including the intellectual property practice. Member law firms working together have the strength and capacity to handle the largest and most complex cases delivering high quality legal services meeting and/or exceeding client expectations. Legal services will be seamless and clients will have all the resources they require,” said Joel Stern, Chief Executive Officer of NAMWOLF® and a former In House counsel himself. “The IP Alliance furthers NAMWOLF’s mission of connecting in-house law departments to top-notch attorneys and firms across the country.”

José Rojas, a founder and Co-Chair of the NAMWOLF® IP Alliance said, “By participating in this collaboration arrangement, top-quality law firms that are NAMWOLF members can better compete with the largest of the country’s law firms in handling the most complex intellectual property matters without having to carry the overhead of the 'Biglaw' firms and without having to sacrifice quality by hiring temporary, independent contractor attorneys when there is a spike in need for resources in these cases.” He points out that “because all NAMWOLF member firms go through a rigorous vetting process to ensure only the highest quality lawyers are admitted, having such resources available to tap into on an ‘as needed’ basis is a game-changer that allows the firms to take on the most demanding cases, deliver the highest quality of legal services and yet pass through savings in the form of lower fees to budget-conscious clients.”

NAMWOLF® is the country’s leading professional association for law firms owned by minorities and women. Today, its members include 121 firms in 35 states. Member law firms were started by entrepreneurial attorneys, many of whom gained substantial corporate and litigation experience at large law firms and left to start their own firms.

Criteria for membership in NAMWOLF® includes having an “AV/Preeminent” rating assigned by Martindale-Hubbell, positive references from at least three in-house counsel including some from Fortune 500 companies, a record of being in business for at least three years, satisfactory levels of insurance, at least three full-time attorneys, and a top reputation for quality and integrity in the firm’s legal community.

The IP Alliance members who so far have signed on to the Collaboration Agreement are:

· Bell & Manning LLC, Madison, WI
· Cobalt LLP, Berkeley, CA
· Concepcion Martinez & Puente, Miami, FL
· Espinosa | Trueba, P.L., Miami, FL
· Gonzalez Saggio & Harlan LLP, Milwaukee, WI
· Lee, Hong, Degerman, Kang & Waimey, PC, Los Angeles, CA
· Rahman LLC, Columbia, MD
· Rojas Law Firm LLP, Miami, FL
· Schoeman Updike Kaufman Stern & Ascher LLP, New York, NY
· Schröder, Joseph & Associates, LLP, Buffalo, NY
· Townsend & Lockett, LLC, Atlanta, GA
· Wong, Fleming PC, Princeton, NJ

The National Association of Minority and Women Owned Law Firms, Inc. (www.namwolf.org) is a nonprofit trade association comprised of minority and women owned law firms. Since 2001, NAMWOLF has been a bridge between corporate legal departments and M/WBE law firms. NAMWOLF is highly regarded in the profession for its vetting process of outside firms who undergo an extensive application and screening process to ensure they are of the highest quality. With access to NAMWOLF’s directory of law firms, corporations can select superior M/WBE law firms by area of practice and geographic location. For more information, visit www.namwolf.org