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January 2011
Last quarter, the Davis McGrath litigation group (Champ Davis, Juris Kins, Gini Marziani, Jodi Flynn & Christine Mohr) aggressively pursued claims in both state and federal court on behalf of commercial landlords and business clients. The firm negotiated settlements of $1.17 million and secured judgments totaling $745,500 on behalf of commercial landlords. Davis McGrath also obtained judgments totaling $594,800 for its business clients.

December 2010
Bill McGrath was quoted extensively in an article about the controversial proposed Google book settlement in the December 2010 issue of Chicago Lawyer. The proposed settlement, if approved, would resolve a massive class action lawsuit filed against Google by authors and publishers. McGrath feels that the settlement could be beneficial for authors and publishers by opening up new avenues of revenue for out-of-print works, yet provides flexibility for those who don’t want their work included in Google’s digitization project.

November 2010
Davis McGrath recently received the Corporate INTL Magazine 2010 Legal Award for "Copyright Law Firm of the Year in Illinois." The award honors firms that have shown excellence in both expertise and service in a designated area of law and are based on detailed research by the magazine's editorial and research teams. Winners were categorized by service range, business type, and geographical location, and by the expertise the firm offers to companies that either trade or may want to trade in their chosen jurisdiction.

In November, William T. McGrath presented a paper entitled "Regulatory and Self-Regulatory Regimes for Social Media" at the Law Seminar's International Conference on Social Media in Chicago. Read the text of the paper here.

Marsha K. Hoover was one of two featured speakers at the Intellectual Property Basics for the Research Administrator workshop at the Society of Research Administrators Annual Meeting in October. Her remarks focused on the ways in which academic institutions vary from other businesses in their treatment of copyright, and the work-for-hire doctrine as applicable to the fruits of grant-sponsored research. She also covered the key terms to be included in intellectual property licenses, and explained trademark usage rules.

On November 4, 2010, "Ethics in Licensing" was the topic of a presentation by Champ Davis at a Practicing Law Institute program, "Understanding the Intellectual Property License" in Chicago.

Kevin A. Thompson was quoted in the November 3, 2010 edition of the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin in an article written by Maria Kantzavelos entitled "Trademark Lawyers Warn of Scams." Read the text of the article here.

William T. McGrath, Maureen Beacom Gorman and Tiffany D. Gehrke of Chicago's Davis McGrath LLC recently filed an action in Illinois' Northern District to protect a client's copyright and trademark rights. For more information on the case, please see the article.

July 2010
Davis McGrath LLC was pleased to be a sponsor of the 17th Annual Race Judicata 2010 held on July 22, 2010. Great fun was had by our lawyers, administrative professionals, families and friends in support of a good cause, the Chicago Volunteer Legal Services Foundation. We fielded a team of 27 runners and walkers. In fact, two of our runners were in the top 100 out of a field of approximately 4,000 entrants. View the photo collage.

May 2010
Kevin A. Thompson has been named a member of the firm. Kevin concentrates his practice in the areas of domestic and international trademarks, copyrights, and Internet law. He has been with Davis McGrath LLC since 1999.

Maureen Beacom Gorman was quoted in an article analyzing how Chinese intellectual property is under threat worldwide, published in the China Business Law Journal, a groundbreaking new monthly magazine published by Vantage Asia, for China-focused business and legal practitioners. View their website.

Marsha K. Hoover and Maureen Beacom Gorman attended the International Trademark Association's 132nd Annual Meeting in Boston, MA from May 22–26.

April 2010
Maureen Beacom Gorman presented her article "What Does It Mean to Be Green: A Short Analysis of Emerging IP Issues in "Green" Marketing," at the John Marshall Law School's Green Issue Symposium on April 9, 2010. Maureen's article was recently published in the highly regarded John Marshall Review of Intellectual Property Law.

In late 2009, a team of attorneys from Davis McGrath spent a full day and evening mediating a shareholder dispute at a client company, on behalf of one of its shareholders. The mediation was successful and resulted in our client purchasing the shares of the remaining shareholder, thereby gaining control of a multi-million dollar company. Davis McGrath's Champ Davis, Gini Marziani and Christine Polk Mohr participated in the mediation. The transaction closed in 2010."

January 2010
Bill McGrath has been selected from among many candidates to join the Panel of Neutrals of the International Trademark Association. This innovative Alternative Dispute Resolution program has been very successful in resolving trademark and unfair competition disputes without litigation, and its greatest strength has been the distinguished Neutrals. The selection committee informed McGrath that "Your experience and proven abilities will permit you to make a significant contribution to ADR in the field of trademarks."



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