Partner, Williams & John LTD
David L. Applegate is a partner of Williams & John Ltd., where he chairs the firm's intellectual property practice group and is a member of the commercial litigation practice group. He focuses his practice on patent, trademark, copyright, trade secret, unfair competition, and business litigation and arbitration, and on U. S. Supreme Court and related amicus brief practice.
Mr. Applegate is a Fellow of Litigation Counsel of America, the Intellectual Property Institute, and the Diversity Law Institute; a Senior Master Member of the Richard Linn American Inn of Court; a Past President of the Chicago Lincoln American Inn of Court; and a Legal Policy Advisor to The Heartland Institute. He is "AV Preeminent" peer review rated by Martindale-Hubbell, reflecting the highest peer recognition for both ethical standards and legal ability, and has been named by his peers for inclusion in Illinois Leading Lawyers and IllinoisSuper Lawyers in both commercial and intellectual property litigation for decades.
Throughout his career, Mr. Applegate has represented corporations and individuals as both plaintiffs and defendants in state and federal litigation at the trial and appellate levels. He has tried multiple cases to verdict in both jury and bench trials nationwide and has argued appeals in the Illinois appellate courts and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh and Federal Circuits; his amicus brief was cited twice in the U. S. Supreme Court’s 5-4 majority opinion in the Janus case. Mr. Applegate also has extensive commercial arbitration and private mediation experience in both national and international dispute resolution forums, and is a former member of the Chicago International Dispute Resolution Association. In 2001, the U. S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and the Chicago Chapter of the Federal Bar Association recognized him for his outstanding individual commitment to pro bono service to indigent clients throughout the Northern District of Illinois.
In addition to his legal practice, Mr. Applegate has written and spoken frequently on matters of law and public policy, including on both local and national television and radio. He is an avid collector and amateur historian of original comic strip and editorial cartoon art, and has written extensively in that field as well for over three decades.
Partner, Jackson Walker
Arthur offers clients a winning combination of trial and appellate experience gained as a federal prosecutor and more than 20 years of experience in handling patent, copyright, trademark, and trade secrets litigation.
While his practice concentrates on intellectual property litigation, Arthur also has significant experience in internal investigations, False Claims Act suits, partnership and breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract, and employment litigation. Arthur also has represented clients testifying before Congressional committees.
Arthur writes and speaks frequently on topics ranging from the case against Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to patent litigation reform.
Prior to joining Michael Best, Arthur served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of New York, where he was the lead prosecutor in criminal trials, including federal intellectual property crimes. He also argued numerous appeals.
Owner, Coleman Law Firm, PC
Ron Coleman has shaped the law relating to the use and abuse of intellectual property as a tool of competition. A leader in social media for lawyers, his blog about copyright, trademark and free speech, LIKELIHOOD OF CONFUSION®, has since its inception in 2005 become one of the most influential publications in IP law.
Recent representations include:
Author of the first article on Internet law in the ABA Journal (1995), Ron was co-author of the chapter on “Responses to Complaints” in Business and Commercial Litigation in the Federal Courts (ABA / West Group 1998). More recently, his chapter on the interplay of rights of publicity and trademark was included in In the Arena: A Sports Law Handbook. Other publications include the Computer and Internet Law Journal, the NYSBA Journal and the NJ Law Journal. Ron has been a featured speaker at a host of legal conferences. These include the International Trademark Association (INTA), the New Jersey, New York City and New York County Bar Associations, the Copyright Society of the USA, the American Intellectual Property Law Association, the Intellectual Property Owners Association, the Ohio Intellectual Property Law Society, Minnesota CLE and the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard. He was recently reappointed to the Internet Committee of INTA.
Ron has represented clients of every size in state and federal courts, bench and jury trials, the TTAB and in arbitrations and mediations throughout the country. He has also been retained as an expert on trademark law and practice in professional liability litigation. A graduate of Princeton University, he received his JD from Northwestern University School of Law.
Vice President and Legal Director, National Right to Work Legal Defense and Education Foundation, Inc.
William Messenger is Foundation Vice President and Legal Director. He was a staff attorney for over twenty years and, during that time, represented individuals in numerous cases that sought to expand worker freedom of choice. This includes acting as lead counsel in three cases before the United States Supreme Court. In 2018, Messenger argued Janus v. AFSCME Council 31, where the Supreme Court held it violates the First Amendment for governments and unions to compel individuals to financially support unions and their speech. Originally from Youngstown Ohio, Messenger attended Ohio University as an undergraduate and then the George Washington University School of Law.
Shareholder, Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP
From Capitol Hill to Albuquerque, Hal Stratton is a familiar figure in the halls of government. He has spent over three decades navigating government—as the head of a federal agency, as a state attorney general, as a small business owner and as a successful litigator and government relations advisor.
Hal advises and counsels clients in the areas of mining, oil and gas, natural resources product safety regulation, products liability litigation, state and federal government relations, and multistate and class action litigation with an emphasis on product safety and liability as well as areas affected by state attorneys general. Hal also counsels clients concerning international trade, regulation and product health and safety.
In 1978, Hal was elected to the New Mexico House of Representatives at the age of 27 by defeating the House Majority Whip. During his four terms in the New Mexico House he served on a number of committees, including the Judiciary Committee, where he served as chairman; the Energy & Natural Resources Committee, where he served as vice chairman; and the Transportation and Rules Committees. In 1986, he was elected New Mexico’s attorney general—the only Republican to serve in that position since 1930.
While in the private practice of law, Hal has handled and litigated numerous matters involving oil and gas, federal and state grazing lease and condemnation rights, oil and gas tax and royalty valuation, asbestos landfill siting and matters with the Office of Aircraft Safety (now the National Business Center Aviation Management), among others. He has also handled a number of matters involving American Indian tribes.
Hal has served as an adjunct professor of law at George Mason University School of Law where he created a course on state attorneys general and multistate litigation and regulation. He is a Distinguished Military Graduate, served on active duty in the U.S. Army, and is the recipient of a number of awards including the American Legislative Exchange Council’s Legislator of the Year award and recognition as the National Right to Work Committee’s Statesman of the Year.
Oppenheim Professor Emeritus of Antitrust and Trade Regulation Law, George Washington University Law School
Thomas D. Morgan is Oppenheim Professor of Antitrust and Trade Regulation Law Emeritus at George Washington University. He was Dean of the Emory University School of Law and on the faculties of the University of Illinois and Brigham Young University. He is co-author of Problems and Materials on Professional Responsibility (14th Ed. 2022), with Professors Mitt Regan and John Dzienkowski. Professor Morgan served as an Associate Reporter for both the American Law Institute’s Restatement of the Law (Third): The Law Governing Lawyers and the American Bar Association’s Ethics 2000 Commission. He is an Executive Committee member of the Federalist Society’s Professional Responsibility and Legal Education Practice Group and a member of the ABA Business Law Section’s Professional Responsibility committee. His book, “The Vanishing American Lawyer” (2010), was published by Oxford University Press.
Impediments to Innovation: Implications of National Health Care Legislation for the Intellectual Property Community
David L. Applegate, Arthur Gollwitzer
Engage, Volume 11, Issue 2
The move toward a national health care plan in the United States has taken three...
Trademark, Copyright, and the Internet: Time to Return Balance to Civil Litigation
Ronald D. Coleman
Engage, Volume 11, Issue 2
The law and business of intellectual property are in upheaval today. Essentially, the concepts that...
Wyeth v. Kappos: The United States Patent Office Is Forced to Change Course
John C. Freeman
Engage, Volume 11, Issue 2
The United States Patent Office (“USPTO”) was established in 1790 with the mission to determine...
Obama's War Law
Robert J. Delahunty
Engage, Volume 11, Issue 2
Among the critics of the Bush Administration’s legal policies in the “war on terror,” few...
Does the First Amendment Allow States to Compel Recipients of Government Monies to Support State-Designated Representatives?
William L. Messenger
Engage, Volume 11, Issue 2
A basic precept of democracy is that citizens choose their representatives in government. A growing...
Amending the Federal Rules (Again): Finding the Best Path to an Effective Duty to Preserve
Thomas Y. Allman
Engage, Volume 11, Issue 2
Implementing a “duty to preserve” can be a complicated and expensive task in a world...
Vermont Attorney General Uses State Consumer Fraud Statute to Implement Consumer Product Penalties
Harold "Hal" Stratton
Engage, Volume 11, Issue 2
The provisions of Section 218 of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (“CPSIA”)...
State "Anti-SLAPP" Statutes Codify First Amendment Doctrine Protecting a Corporation's Right to Petition
Engage, Volume 11, Issue 2
On January 21, 2010, the Supreme Court found in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission that...
Shady Grove v. Allstate: A Case Study in Formalism Versus Pragmatism
Aaron Oort, Eileen M. Hunter
Engage, Volume 11, Issue 2
Our favorite Supreme Court opinions are 5-4 splits with unusual lineups and Justices apparently voting...
Should the Public Be Able to Buy Stock in Law Firms?
Thomas D. Morgan
Engage, Volume 11, Issue 2
The current economic downturn has been a wake-up call for lawyers. A profession that thrived...