Acting for a diverse consortium of clients across fintech, insurance, transport and pharma sectors, among others, McDermott Will & Emery LLP capitalizes on its deep bench strength across the North America, Europe, and the Asia Pacific regions to manage and safeguard brands through strategic counselling and enforcement. The practice is jointly spearheaded by Chicago-based Christina Martini, who bolsters the practice with her expansive expertise across trademark, copyright, social media and domain name mandates, and Silicon Valley-based William Gaede, who deploys his vast experience in the medical industry to assist high-profile clients. Chicago’s Jennifer Mikulina contributes her wide-ranging expertise across trademark counselling, prosecution, licensing, and enforcement to the practice, while Orange County’s Sarah Bro operates for a plethora of clients across life sciences, fintech, media, real estate sectors. Other key figures include Robert Zelnick and Eleanor Atkins from Washington DC.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

  • ‘Christina Martini is my main person... smart, efficient, responsive, credible. She has worked on projects for my clients where I have a conflict and as an expert witness. Perfect job always.’

  • ‘The level of respect and service provided is astounding. I manage a relatively small portfolio, but I am consistently treated as if my company were the firm's top-billing client.’

  • ‘Partner Jennifer Mikulina and associate Ellie Atkins are top-notch service providers in every respect -- highly knowledgeable and skilled, highly practical in their approach to matters, and exceptionally responsive.'

Key clients

  • BDO
  • Lyell Immunopharma, Inc.
  • Terlato Wines International
  • New York Life Insurance Company
  • Young Innovations, Inc.
  • One Home Brands, Inc., d/b/a Blueland
  • Hitachi Ltd.
  • Hornblower Cruises
  • Rexair
  • Reliance Relocation Services
  • Plume Design
  • SEKO Worldwide, LLC
  • Walking Fish Therapeutics
  • Abbott Laboratories
  • Computing Technology Industry Association
  • Zodiac Pool Systems LLC

Work highlights

  • Advising on BDO USA’s trademark portfolio, as well as handling its copyright, Internet, domain name, social media, advertising and dilution matters.
  • Acting as global IP counsel to New York Life Insurance Company.
  • Representing Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA), one of the IT industry’s top trade associations, in intellectual property matters.

Practice head

The lawyer(s) leading their teams.

Christina Martini, William Gaede

Other key lawyers

Jennifer Mikulina, Sarah Bro, Robert Zelnick, Eleanor Atkins