Archives: Speakers

Post Type Description

William Patterson

Bill represents corporate plaintiffs and defendants in high-stakes commercial litigation, typically with an emphasis on intellectual property disputes. Bill uses his extensive experience in both federal and state courts to represent his clients in a variety of matters, including trade secrets, trademark, patent, copyright and breach of contract disputes. With a reputation for working closely with his clients to understand their business, Bill enjoys working strategically with his clients to resolve their problems.

Bill leverages his experience in intellectual property litigation to help his clients understand their risks and to better protect their information.

Prior to joining the firm, Bill was general counsel for Business Logic Holding Corporation, a financial technology company. In addition to overseeing the company’s day-to-day legal needs, Bill managed all aspects of bet-the-company trade secrets litigation against Morningstar, Inc. The matter resolved on the eve of trial with one of the largest monetary trade secrets settlements in Illinois history.

Bill is a member of the Board of Directors of Chicago Lights, a Chicago-based not for profit that addresses issues related to urban poverty.

William Marra

William C. Marra is Portfolio Counsel at Validity where he works with clients and the investment team to evaluate cases during our diligence phase and to implement client-focused solutions that meet litigants’ funding needs.

Prior to joining Validity, Will was a litigation attorney at Cooper & Kirk, PLLC, where his practice focused on high-stakes commercial and constitutional cases at all levels of the federal and state courts. Will has also served as a law clerk to Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr., of the Supreme Court of the United States, and Judge William H. Pryor, Jr., of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.

Will received his J.D., magna cum laude, from Harvard Law School, and an A.B. in Government, magna cum laude, from Harvard College. Prior to law school, Will worked as an associate consultant at Bain & Company. While in college, he served as President of The Harvard Crimson.

Katie Sear

Katie Sear is a Legal Analyst at Bloomberg Law and a member of the Litigation Analysis Team. She focuses on creating practical guidance and analytical content for litigators. Katie has been at Bloomberg Law since 2014, concentrating on litigation and financial enforcement and regulation matters. Prior to joining Bloomberg Law, she practiced as a litigation associate at Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP. Katie has a BA and a JD from the University of Virginia.

Steven Huttler

Steven Huttler is a partner in the Sadis and Goldberg’s Financial Services and Corporate Groups. Mr. Huttler has extensive experience in corporate, finance, investment fund and securities matters, including the representation of U.S. and foreign investment funds, underwriters, and private clients in various registered public and private offerings of debt and equity securities totaling in excess of $10 billion.  Prior to joining Sadis and Goldberg, Mr. Huttler was a partner in the corporate and commercial law department of Kronish Lieb Weiner & Hellman (now part of Cooley LLP) and an associate with the corporate finance department of Shearman & Sterling.

Ronald Schutz

Ronald J. Schutz is an experienced trial attorney and chair of the firm’s Executive Board. Mr. Schutz is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and is listed in The Best Lawyers in America. He has also been named by Lawdragon as one of the 500 Leading Lawyers in America and by Intellectual Asset Magazine as one of the 300 Leading IP Strategists in the world. In 2008, the National Law Journal named Mr. Schutz to its annual list of the Top 10 Winning Litigators in the United States. Mr. Schutz is a frequent lecturer and author on topics related to litigation and trials and he is often quoted in the business and legal press. He has also appeared on the NBC Nightly News and the CBS Morning News.

Michael Kelley

Michael Kelley has more than 25 years of experience assisting U.S. and international companies and funds with all of their investment needs. He represents both inbound and outbound investors on the structuring, documentation, issuance, and management of investment funds, including providing counsel on regulatory compliance and best practices. He is experienced across a broad range of asset classes, including private equity, venture capital, and blockchain.

Michael is the former general counsel of EMP Global, where he oversaw approximately $8 billion in assets across 10 different investment funds in emerging markets. He has served on investment committees and advisory boards for funds, as well as boards of directors for project companies, in Latin America, the United States, Canada, Asia, and the Middle East.

Hugh Carlson

Hugh Carlson is the Managing Director of Three Crowns LLP, a specialist law firm in international arbitration, in which capacity he is responsible for the firm’s global operations.  He practices in both international commercial and investment treaty arbitration, and has represented clients across a range of industries and under most major arbitral rules systems.  He is recognized in leading rankings and directories.

Hugh frequently presents at conferences and seminars on international arbitration.  He is a Lecturer on Law at Harvard Law School and a co-director of its International Arbitration Workshop.  He is a member of the ICCA/IBA Joint Task Force on Data Protection in International Arbitration Proceedings as well as the CPR Cybersecurity Task Force, and a board member on various industry publications and organizations.

Ben Ruzow

Ben leads litigation finance activities at Argo Partners, a distressed investment firm based in New York.  Among his responsibilities are underwriting and sourcing investments in commercial and bankruptcy litigation at both the trial and appellate levels in federal and state courts.  Prior to joining Argo Partners, Ben was a litigator at Jones Day and Bracewell, where he represented clients in complex commercial litigation in federal and state courts, including in bankruptcy and appellate litigation.

Timothy Maloney

Tim Maloney is a partner at Fitch, Even, Tabin & Flannery whose practice entails all aspects of intellectual property enforcement and defense, with an emphasis on representing patent owners in litigation and licensing. He has had lead roles in numerous successful jury and bench trials, and in various appeals before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Tim heads up his firm’s contingent-fee litigation and technology licensing practice, which has helped numerous smaller businesses and entrepreneurs to enforce and monetize their IP rights, collecting substantial verdicts, license revenue, and portfolio sale proceeds on their behalf. Tim has also been recognized as one of the most active and top performing attorneys representing patent owners in validity challenges brought against their patent assets in the Patent Trial and Appeal Board of the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office.

Dai Wai Chin Feman

Dai Wai is responsible for the development and execution of Parabellum’s commercial litigation investment strategies. Prior to joining Parabellum, Dai Wai was a litigation partner at Dorsey & Whitney LLP, where he specialized in commercial and antitrust litigation. Dai Wai has broad experience in complex disputes concerning breaches of contract, competition, tortious interference, trade secrets, restrictive covenants, licensing, rights of first refusal, shareholder oppression, soft intellectual property, and securities. He has advised and represented clients ranging from Fortune 100 companies to closely-held family businesses through all phases of litigation, from case assessment through trial, appeal, and enforcement proceedings. While in private practice, Dai Wai was named a Super Lawyers Rising Star in Business Litigation for four consecutive years. Dai Wai received his A.B., cum laude, from Georgetown University and his J.D. from New York University School of Law. He is active in the Asian American Bar Association of New York, where he is a board member, Vice-Chair of the Judiciary Committee, and former Co-Chair of the Litigation Committee. He is also a Fellow of the New York City Bar Association Leadership Council on Legal Diversity, a member of the New York City Bar Association’s Litigation Funding Working Group, and a member of the New York City Bar Association’s Professional Ethics Committee.

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