Bob Latham
INTA Writing Workshop: Mission Accomplished
May 24, 2010
by David Krell
david@davidkrell.com
They came. They laughed. They learned.
After scores of conference calls, emails, and revisions to our respective PowerPoint presentations, Effective Legal Writing Workshop is in the INTA history books.
With humor, practical examples, and an engaging approach with the audience of approximately 170, our panel enjoyed a lively response.
I began with a general exercise to engage the audience. We broke up into small groups to answer this question: Why is legal writing important? Give your top three reasons.
Bob Latham talked about going beyond the form file, striking the word ‘clearly’ from drafts, and avoiding using superfluous words. Kelly Slavitt talked about the importance of language in cease and desist letters and license agreements. Joff Wild talked about the strategies that lawyers can use to effectively communicate with the media.
But there’s no resting on laurels. Jim McCarthy of McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff is coordinating workshops for the 2011 INTA Annual Meeting. Last week, Jim invited me to speak. He sat through this morning’s workshop and, immediately after it ended, we began brainstorming about my topic for 2011.
david@davidkrell.com
They came. They laughed. They learned.
After scores of conference calls, emails, and revisions to our respective PowerPoint presentations, Effective Legal Writing Workshop is in the INTA history books.
With humor, practical examples, and an engaging approach with the audience of approximately 170, our panel enjoyed a lively response.
I began with a general exercise to engage the audience. We broke up into small groups to answer this question: Why is legal writing important? Give your top three reasons.
Bob Latham talked about going beyond the form file, striking the word ‘clearly’ from drafts, and avoiding using superfluous words. Kelly Slavitt talked about the importance of language in cease and desist letters and license agreements. Joff Wild talked about the strategies that lawyers can use to effectively communicate with the media.
But there’s no resting on laurels. Jim McCarthy of McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff is coordinating workshops for the 2011 INTA Annual Meeting. Last week, Jim invited me to speak. He sat through this morning’s workshop and, immediately after it ended, we began brainstorming about my topic for 2011.
INTA - New Friends, Old Friends
May 23, 2010
by David Krell
david@davidkrell.com
And so the annual gathering of trademark professionals, otherwise known as INTA Annual Meeting, began tonight with the kickoff cocktail party. I connected with my Effective Legal Writing co-panelists Bob Latham and Kelly Slavitt. Unfortunately, we did not connect with the other member of our quartet, Joff Wild. But we’ll all be in the same place tomorrow at 10:30 am -- Room 203 in the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center.
Bob Latham generously invited us to Jackson Walker’s cocktail party at City Bar in the Westin adjoining the convention center. I reconnected with Jackson Walker veterans Carl Butzer and John Jackson. And I struck up a conversation with two attorneys -- Alan Kaufman of McKenna Long & Aldridge and Sunita Koneru of Bullivant Houser Bailey.
Sunita, raised in Iowa, now calls San Francisco her home city. Alan is a die-hard Philadelphia Eagles fan transplanted to New York City. They are proof positive that INTA’s Annual Meeting inspires networking. Alan and Sunita met at last year’s event -- now they’re old friends. To market future INTA events, Alan theorizes that the word “Intaversary” could be an emblem, maybe even a trademark.
While I waited on the taxicab line outside the convention center, I ran into another Alan -- Alan Drewsen, INTA’s Executive Director. Alan graciously remembered my blogging and Tweeting from last year’s Annual Meeting. I promised more of the same for this year.
We’re off to a good start.
david@davidkrell.com
And so the annual gathering of trademark professionals, otherwise known as INTA Annual Meeting, began tonight with the kickoff cocktail party. I connected with my Effective Legal Writing co-panelists Bob Latham and Kelly Slavitt. Unfortunately, we did not connect with the other member of our quartet, Joff Wild. But we’ll all be in the same place tomorrow at 10:30 am -- Room 203 in the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center.
Bob Latham generously invited us to Jackson Walker’s cocktail party at City Bar in the Westin adjoining the convention center. I reconnected with Jackson Walker veterans Carl Butzer and John Jackson. And I struck up a conversation with two attorneys -- Alan Kaufman of McKenna Long & Aldridge and Sunita Koneru of Bullivant Houser Bailey.
Sunita, raised in Iowa, now calls San Francisco her home city. Alan is a die-hard Philadelphia Eagles fan transplanted to New York City. They are proof positive that INTA’s Annual Meeting inspires networking. Alan and Sunita met at last year’s event -- now they’re old friends. To market future INTA events, Alan theorizes that the word “Intaversary” could be an emblem, maybe even a trademark.
While I waited on the taxicab line outside the convention center, I ran into another Alan -- Alan Drewsen, INTA’s Executive Director. Alan graciously remembered my blogging and Tweeting from last year’s Annual Meeting. I promised more of the same for this year.
We’re off to a good start.
INTA Annual Meeting Begins
May 23, 2010
by David Krell
david@davidkrell.com
Greetings from the city of St. Eligius Hospital, a private investigator named Spenser, and the bar where everybody knows your name!
I’m looking forward to tonight’s kickoff cocktail party for the 2010 International Trademark Association Annual Meeting.
And tomorrow marks my transition from INTA Annual Meeting Attendee to INTA Annual Meeting Speaker for the simply but descriptively titled Effective Legal Writing Workshop. I will moderate the workshop panel consisting of Intellectual Asset Managment Editor-in-Chief Joff Wild, former GE and ASPCA in-house counsel Kelly Slavitt, and intellectual property litigator extraordinaire Bob Latham of Jackson Walker, the Texas powerhouse law firm.
If you’re attending the INTA conference, join us tomorrow morning at 10:30am -- 11:45pm in Room 203 of the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center.
david@davidkrell.com
Greetings from the city of St. Eligius Hospital, a private investigator named Spenser, and the bar where everybody knows your name!
I’m looking forward to tonight’s kickoff cocktail party for the 2010 International Trademark Association Annual Meeting.
And tomorrow marks my transition from INTA Annual Meeting Attendee to INTA Annual Meeting Speaker for the simply but descriptively titled Effective Legal Writing Workshop. I will moderate the workshop panel consisting of Intellectual Asset Managment Editor-in-Chief Joff Wild, former GE and ASPCA in-house counsel Kelly Slavitt, and intellectual property litigator extraordinaire Bob Latham of Jackson Walker, the Texas powerhouse law firm.
If you’re attending the INTA conference, join us tomorrow morning at 10:30am -- 11:45pm in Room 203 of the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center.
INTA, Networking, and Baseball
May 19, 2009
by David Krell
david@davidkrell.com
A ticket to the Mariners vs. Angels game last night. $58.75.
A cab ride from the Washington State Convention and Trade Center (WSCTC) area to Safeco Field. $10.
Teaching the rules of baseball to British INTA attendees, continuing a tradition of going to baseball games during the INTA Annual Meeting, and catching up with old friends...priceless.
When I decided to come to the INTA Annual Meeting as a blogger and member of the media, I checked the Mariners schedule. Yesterday, I wrote about the background of my baseball and INTA tradition at my media blog -- Television Archives: Our Television Heritage.
Luckily, the Mariners have a homestand coinciding with the conference. So, I bought a block of eight tickets. I took four and a friend took four. Between us, we invited four British attendees new to the game. What a pleasure it was for me to tell them about the beautiful, deep, and rich history of the game and see it through their eyes.
My passion for baseball history inspired me to tell them anecdotes, benchmarks, and turning points concerning the national pastime.
Jackie Robinson breaking the color line in 1947. The heartbreak felt in Brooklyn fifty years after the Dodgers bolted for Los Angeles. The fairly recent trend of corporations paying for naming rights of stadiums.
A quick explanation of the rules over dinner and brief reminders at the game were also in order.
My anticipation heightened during the week before INTA. I read a collection of Damon Runyon's articles from his sports writing days entitled Guys, Dolls, and Curveballs. I recommend it for anyone interested in learning more about the rich lineage of baseball.
One of my fellow Mets fans joined us at the game -- Jonathan Moskin of White & Case. This is the second time I've had the opportunity to see a baseball game with Jonathan with a legal conference as a backdrop. Jonathan co-chaired a USPTO Boot Camp conference I produced in Alexandria in September. The night before the conference, a group of the speakers and I enjoyed a Washington Nationals game.
Jonathan and I talked about The Trademark Reporter where he is a Senior Editor. Jonathan is looking for someone to write a law review type of article about trademarks and virtual worlds. Earlier in the morning, I attended the Trademarks in Virtual Worlds panel discussion, though the panel devoted precious little time to the subject and more time to revenue growth, copyright infringement cases, and companies using the virtual world technology to promote goods and services.
One trademark issue that arose from the panel and appears to be a central focus is the definition of 'use' in the concept of a virtual world. Jonathan emphasized this point as we watched Torii Hunter club a bases-loaded double to clear the bases in a five-run Angels fifth.
Instinctively, I volunteered to write the article. In The Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith talks about an 'invisible hand' guiding the markets. Is there an 'invisible hand' guiding my INTA 2009 Annual Meeting experience? Read on.
At yesterday afternoon's INTA Press Reception, I met a lovely woman who is a reporter for Intellectual Asset Management. I learned about her experiences in sifting through the numerous press releases and marketing materials of law firms that pitch stories to her. I soon realized that she would be a terrific intellectual asset in her own right to a writing workshop that I am moderating at the 2010 INTA Annual Meeting. Pending approval from her boss, she will be on the panel.
In this new age where law firms have marketing plans, logos, and slogans, a media expert in the trenches who decides what stories get coverage will be a great complement to the lawyers in the trenches of courtroom battles, negotiating settlement agreements, and drafting briefs.
I didn't have to wait long to brief the person responsible for managing the 2010 workshops -- Brian Daniel of CRA. Brian was one of my invitees. I also had the pleasure of catching up with Brian and learning more about the intricacies, traditions, and unwritten rules of the home of his beloved Cubs -- Wrigley Field.
I briefed him on my potential new addition to the writing workshop panel that already features people I know, trust, and respect -- Kelly Slavitt, Trademark Counsel at General Electric and Bob Latham, Partner at Jackson Walker.
Bob and the Jackson Walker business development team brought me to the firm's Texas offices last year during this same pre-Memorial Day week to conduct my CLE writing workshop for the firm's associates. That wonderful experience inspired me to further develop Your Writing Is Your Brand™ and Write This Way™ as CLE workshops to teach attorneys how to refine their written communications skills across the board -- briefs, contracts, memoranda, client communications.
Oh yeah, the Mariners lost to the Angels of Anaheim 10-6. Well, technically, they are the Angels of Los Angeles. It's all about the branding, isn't it?
david@davidkrell.com
A ticket to the Mariners vs. Angels game last night. $58.75.
A cab ride from the Washington State Convention and Trade Center (WSCTC) area to Safeco Field. $10.
Teaching the rules of baseball to British INTA attendees, continuing a tradition of going to baseball games during the INTA Annual Meeting, and catching up with old friends...priceless.
When I decided to come to the INTA Annual Meeting as a blogger and member of the media, I checked the Mariners schedule. Yesterday, I wrote about the background of my baseball and INTA tradition at my media blog -- Television Archives: Our Television Heritage.
Luckily, the Mariners have a homestand coinciding with the conference. So, I bought a block of eight tickets. I took four and a friend took four. Between us, we invited four British attendees new to the game. What a pleasure it was for me to tell them about the beautiful, deep, and rich history of the game and see it through their eyes.
My passion for baseball history inspired me to tell them anecdotes, benchmarks, and turning points concerning the national pastime.
Jackie Robinson breaking the color line in 1947. The heartbreak felt in Brooklyn fifty years after the Dodgers bolted for Los Angeles. The fairly recent trend of corporations paying for naming rights of stadiums.
A quick explanation of the rules over dinner and brief reminders at the game were also in order.
My anticipation heightened during the week before INTA. I read a collection of Damon Runyon's articles from his sports writing days entitled Guys, Dolls, and Curveballs. I recommend it for anyone interested in learning more about the rich lineage of baseball.
One of my fellow Mets fans joined us at the game -- Jonathan Moskin of White & Case. This is the second time I've had the opportunity to see a baseball game with Jonathan with a legal conference as a backdrop. Jonathan co-chaired a USPTO Boot Camp conference I produced in Alexandria in September. The night before the conference, a group of the speakers and I enjoyed a Washington Nationals game.
Jonathan and I talked about The Trademark Reporter where he is a Senior Editor. Jonathan is looking for someone to write a law review type of article about trademarks and virtual worlds. Earlier in the morning, I attended the Trademarks in Virtual Worlds panel discussion, though the panel devoted precious little time to the subject and more time to revenue growth, copyright infringement cases, and companies using the virtual world technology to promote goods and services.
One trademark issue that arose from the panel and appears to be a central focus is the definition of 'use' in the concept of a virtual world. Jonathan emphasized this point as we watched Torii Hunter club a bases-loaded double to clear the bases in a five-run Angels fifth.
Instinctively, I volunteered to write the article. In The Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith talks about an 'invisible hand' guiding the markets. Is there an 'invisible hand' guiding my INTA 2009 Annual Meeting experience? Read on.
At yesterday afternoon's INTA Press Reception, I met a lovely woman who is a reporter for Intellectual Asset Management. I learned about her experiences in sifting through the numerous press releases and marketing materials of law firms that pitch stories to her. I soon realized that she would be a terrific intellectual asset in her own right to a writing workshop that I am moderating at the 2010 INTA Annual Meeting. Pending approval from her boss, she will be on the panel.
In this new age where law firms have marketing plans, logos, and slogans, a media expert in the trenches who decides what stories get coverage will be a great complement to the lawyers in the trenches of courtroom battles, negotiating settlement agreements, and drafting briefs.
I didn't have to wait long to brief the person responsible for managing the 2010 workshops -- Brian Daniel of CRA. Brian was one of my invitees. I also had the pleasure of catching up with Brian and learning more about the intricacies, traditions, and unwritten rules of the home of his beloved Cubs -- Wrigley Field.
I briefed him on my potential new addition to the writing workshop panel that already features people I know, trust, and respect -- Kelly Slavitt, Trademark Counsel at General Electric and Bob Latham, Partner at Jackson Walker.
Bob and the Jackson Walker business development team brought me to the firm's Texas offices last year during this same pre-Memorial Day week to conduct my CLE writing workshop for the firm's associates. That wonderful experience inspired me to further develop Your Writing Is Your Brand™ and Write This Way™ as CLE workshops to teach attorneys how to refine their written communications skills across the board -- briefs, contracts, memoranda, client communications.
Oh yeah, the Mariners lost to the Angels of Anaheim 10-6. Well, technically, they are the Angels of Los Angeles. It's all about the branding, isn't it?