Dispute Resolution

Jennifer Ziegler is an experienced trademark attorney who works with clients across a wide spectrum of industries to solve complex issues, including global brand protection and enforcement, anti-counterfeiting, copyright, and licensing. With over 27 years of combined experience as in-house and outside counsel practicing in the areas of trademark and copyright law, Jennifer Ziegler specializes in global brand protection, trademark and copyright enforcement, anti-counterfeiting, and trademark portfolio management. She works extensively with company legal, marketing, and business development groups to devise cost-effective global brand protection strategies. She works with her clients on issues involving anti-counterfeiting, copyright, domain name recovery, IP due diligence, licensing, trade dress, and unfair competition. Jennifer has extensive experience working with clients of all sizes in a variety of industries, including automotive, consumer products, entertainment, bio-tech and life sciences, and financial services. Immediately prior to joining Brooks Kushman, Jennifer served as Associate General Counsel, Trademarks for a major motorcycle manufacturer, where she oversaw all aspects of trademark prosecution and enforcement in the United States, Canada, and throughout Europe. Her in-house experience has given her valuable insight into providing clients with cost-effective and targeted legal service. Jennifer values close business relationships that enable a team approach to brand protection. Jennifer serves as a volunteer mediator for The Dispute Resolution Center, a community mediation center serving Washtenaw and Livingston counties, where she has mediated over 50 legal disputes. Her training and experience as a mediator has given her particular expertise in conflict resolution.

The Law Firm of Leipow & Associates, P.C. was formed in the spirit of service and is dedicated to the representation of individuals and businesses that have been harmed by the actions of others. The firm is focused on representation of businesses and injured individuals in all state and federal trial and appellate courts. Licensed to practice law in Georgia, New Jersey and New York, my practice is focused on the Atlanta Metropolitan area, but I practice through-out Georgia and out-of-state where warranted. My experiences in business litigation include a variety of contract disputes between business entities, including asset purchase, distribution, service, and sales agreements. Every business dispute is unique and involves a different set of problems to solve for each business entity involved. Therefore I provide a comprehensive approach with each business client to achieve the most appropriate possible results. I also provide consultation to small and medium-sized businesses regarding general contracts, employment, and entity formation/transition issues. My experiences in personal injury litigation are diverse, including medical malpractice/ medical negligence, premises liability, products liability, and defamation litigation. I understand that individuals that have been injured as a result of the actions of another are often faced with great, and time-sensitive challenges. With the background of working as a defense attorney for many years with a large insurance defense firm, I use my insight into how defendants, insurance companies, and defense attorneys run cases to bring an advantage to my clients. My focus is on zealous representation to obtain the justice and compensation sought in a timely and efficient manner.

Ron knew from an early age that he wanted to pursue a profession centered around helping others. Of course, there are many ways to be of service. Yet Ron chose to apply for law school so he'd have the power to challenge the status quo and improve society as a whole.

Sam Blink is the Founder and Managing Member of Midtown Legal. He is a member in Midtown's Business Litigation and Dispute Resolution and Corporate and Business Transactions Practice Groups. Sam defends businesses and their owners, directors and officers in governmental investigations and related enforcement actions. He preserves his clients’ reputations and resources while representing them through all stages of disputes, from pre-litigation investigations through administrative proceedings, trial and appeal. Sam focuses this part of his practice on environmental, consumer protection and securities investigations. He also has extensive experience representing contractors in construction disputes in court and arbitration. He both defends contractors in mostly construction defect cases and pursues collection efforts on behalf of his contractor clients. Sam also regularly represents businesses in contract litigation and business owners in corporate and partnership disputes. Sam routinely guides companies in various corporate and commercial transactions, focusing on mergers and acquisitions, asset sales, capital raises and corporate governance matters. He represents businesses in connection with complex contract negotiations, including SaaS agreements, complex commercial real estate agreements, licensing agreements, distribution agreements, independent contractor and employment agreements, and technology agreements. Sam is a business owner, being the founder of Midtown Legal and is the owner and partner of multiple other business ventures. He uses this experience to practically represent his clients and provide what business owners actually want out of their legal representation. When Sam is not working he enjoys spending time with his wife and son. He enjoys golfing and watching all sports. He is an avid traveler, reader, hiker and a less avid fisherman and carpenter.

Brittany S. Bitar is an attorney licensed to practice law in Washington state and California. She focuses on business, intellectual property, and real estate law, but also takes cases in various other areas. Brittany also holds her real estate brokers license in Washington state. In addition to having her own law firm, Brittany works as general counsel for a corporation in Seattle. She has litigated copyright infringement, contract, and real estate related cases, and worked on real estate, HOA, land use, and other contractual, business, and property related non-litigation matters. In addition to taking individual client matters, she also does contract work for other firms including in family law cases. Brittany has interned with Judge Morris at Dauphin County Courthouse and the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General, Civil Litigation Section during law school. She additionally holds a certificate in Dispute Resolution. Brittany has worked with firms that practice in estate planning, business law, employment law, contract law, family law, torts, personal injury, intellectual property, trademark law, copyright law, civil rights, real estate law, copyright law, nonprofit organization law, landlord tenant law, RICO and fraud, breach of contract, civil racketeering, corporate law, commercial torts, and other areas. She has also done contract work in business and trademark law. In 2015, Brittany founded and managed a charitable nonprofit organization, Diëresis, which focused primarily on assisting the homeless in the greater Seattle area. She has also volunteered with the American Red Cross as a lead, Bread of Life Mission, Hopelink, and other nonprofit organizations. In her spare time, Brittany enjoys day hikes, resin painting, playing the acoustic guitar and piano, and playing with her dogs.

Thomas Howard is an experienced trial lawyer that handles intellectual property litigation nationwide, including copyright, trademark, trade secret and patent litigation, as well as complex civil litigation, including breach of contract, interference with contract, breach of fiduciary duty, conspiracy, fraud and fraudulent transfer of assets. Attorney Howard frequently deals with combined elements of intellectual property and commercial litigation in the cases that he handles, and is very experienced at dealing with highly complex litigation. In addition to representing clients involved in litigation, attorney Howard frequently negotiates and drafts intellectual property-related agreements, including license agreements, nondisclosure agreements and assignment agreements. Attorney Howard also files trademarks and copyrights on the behalf of clients in order to protect their intellectual property rights, and frequently represents clients in trademark disputes conducted before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB), including opposition proceedings and petitions to cancel. Finally, Attorney Howard regularly represents clients in Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Proceedings (UDRP) in order to assist when disputes arise over the ownership of a domain name. Clients Thomas P. Howard has represented hundreds of corporate and individual clients over the course of his practice. He has been sole or joint counsel in the trial of numerous cases in federal and/or state courts in multiple states. Among Attorney Howard's clients have been a number of parties interested in complex commercial litigation, including contractual disputes and business breakups, as well as parties interested in protecting their intellectual property rights.

Paola focuses her practice in business law. She counsels small and medium-size businesses in crafting legal solutions that cover all aspects of their enterprises. From commercial real estate matters to the protection of intellectual property and branding, Paola helps business owners with their legal needs so they can focus on making their business prosper. Her practice includes consulting on business formation, corporate structuring and governance, branding, trademark and copyright registration, drafting licensing agreements, ecommerce and internet law, social media compliance as well as resolving domain name disputes through the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy proceedings. Paola’s practice encompasses strong representation in dispute resolutions and litigation in areas such as unfair competition, business entities dissolutions, enforcement of contracts and intellectual property rights enforcement. Paola offers legal services tailored to supporting and advocating for non-profit organizations and the people behind them. Paola provides a unique Non-Profit LaunchPad, which is a legal startup program specifically designed to steer organizations in the legalities of their formative stage, so they avoid making common mistakes. Paola is passionate about supporting startups. As a young entrepreneur herself, one of her main professional goals is to offer quality legal solutions to small business owners so they can effectively compete with large corporations in local markets. She is fully bilingual in English and Spanish. Paola started her career working in Colombian Museums where she studied art conservation and restoration in the prestigious Universidad Externado de Colombia. She moved to the United States and earned her Bachelor of Arts in History from Nova Southeastern University, where she also obtained her Juris Doctorate. While attending law school Paola worked as a teaching assistant and completed an internship with a boutique intellectual property law firm focusing on trademark and patent law.

Since 1985, Riccardo A. DiMonte has been our most active trial lawyer. He concentrates in commercial law matters, contract disputes, construction law, mechanic’s liens, mortgage foreclosures, bankruptcy, civil rights cases and corporate and partnership dissolutions. He has tried multi-million-dollar lender liability and lottery prize cases to verdict, handled numerous state and federal court appeals and regularly practices before the American Arbitration Association. Riccardo is a current member of RD’s Executive Committee. Riccardo has lectured at continuing legal education seminars on commercial law and bankruptcy topics.

William Abbatt is a skilled patent attorney with experience in foreign and domestic patent prosecution matters. He has a background in varying disciplines including manufacturing, chemistry, and medical devices. With 35+ years of experience as a patent attorney, Bill’s practice involves all aspects of domestic and foreign patent preparation, prosecution, and assertion, including dispute resolution. He regularly advises clients on the development and management of patent portfolios. Bill’s practice includes counseling on how to protect various aspects of inventions and monetize them by sale and licensing. Bill has managed intellectual property matters in many technical disciplines including manufacturing, metallurgy, chemistry, medical devices, and aeronautics. His background in industry plus his diverse experience in writing and prosecuting hundreds of patents enable Bill to spot the strengths and weaknesses in a patent when a dispute or enforcement issue arises. He has an affinity for working with emerging entities whose value can be enhanced by effective intellectual property portfolio creation and management to help his clients’ businesses succeed. In one case, he introduced two separate clients – a physician and an entrepreneur – and brought them together to develop and protect medical devices to treat patients and enhance the quality of their lives. Bill is a member of the Federal Bar Association – Eastern District of Michigan Chapter and currently serves as a co-chair of the Intellectual Property Law Section. He is a former council member of the Aviation Law Section of the State Bar of Michigan. Bill is a Fellow of the Michigan State Bar Foundation and a Master of the Bench (American Inns of Court). He was an adjunct professor of patent law at the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law. Bill received Super Lawyers designation for 2006 - 2012, 2024. He was selected for this honor subsequent to undergoing an evaluation of many different factors including peer recognition and professional achievement. Bill also served on the steering committee that formed the Michigan Intellectual Property American Inns of Court Chapter and was its President (2017-18). The Michigan Intellectual Property Inn of Court is a philanthropic organization of judges, lawyers and legal educators that seeks to promote fair and ethical practice amongst junior lawyers and law students. Bill helped to found the Inn and was enthusiastic about moving into a leadership role. Bill was able to take the organization forward, while staying true to its initial goal of promoting excellence in advocacy amongst those it mentors. Bill holds a Juris Doctor from Detroit College of Law. Before that, Bill graduated with an M.S. in Operations Research & Production Engineering and a B.S. in Metallurgy & Material Sciences at the University of London, England. He has been appointed an Expert Adviser and Facilitative Mediator in the Federal District Court, Eastern District of Michigan. Outside the office, Bill enjoys flying his Beechcraft Debonair airplane, skiing, playing golf and tennis, working out, and traveling to England, his birthplace. He and his wife Candyce count Vail Colorado and Ft Lauderdale as favorite haunts. Bill holds an Airline Transport Pilot rating, a Commercial pilot’s license, and is a Certified Flight Instructor.

For over 25 years, Andrea has developed a comprehensive understanding of employment law by representing both employers and employees at various stages of her career, enabling her to navigate the legal landscape from multiple perspectives. Her broad experience defending employers—particularly in her current practice at Moss Byrnes PLLC and prior roles with management has given her deep insight into employer strategies, risk assessment, and decision-making processes in litigation, investigations, and compliance matters. This distinctive background makes her particularly well-suited to represent employees facing workplace legal issues, as she anticipates and counters employer defenses effectively while advocating vigorously for individual rights. Andrea handles all phases of litigation in state and federal courts, as well as proceedings before administrative agencies such as the EEOC, New York State Division of Human Rights, and other bodies. She has defended and prosecuted claims arising under Title VII, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), the Family and Medical Leave Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and equivalent state laws, the New York State Human Rights Law, and wage and hour statutes. Andrea advises clients on compliance with federal, state, and local employment laws, best practices for risk minimization, employee discipline, and sensitive terminations. She counsels on a wide range of issues, including employee classifications, overtime, and restrictive covenants. Her practice includes drafting and reviewing employment contracts, severance agreements, offer letters, non-compete and other restrictive covenants, employee handbooks, and personnel policies. Andrea frequently conducts independent workplace investigations into allegations of discrimination, harassment, and misconduct, and provides comprehensive training programs, including management-level and employee anti-harassment seminars. With extensive trial experience, including serving as lead counsel in dozens of federal and state trials and administrative hearings, Andrea incorporates alternative dispute resolution methods where aligned with client objectives to achieve efficient and favorable outcomes. Representative Matters include the following: · Resolved hundreds of employment disputes through arbitration and mediation, encompassing claims of discrimination based on age, race, religion, national origin, disability, and sexual orientation; sexual harassment; hostile work environment; wrongful termination; and retaliation. · Arbitrated and mediated high-stakes disputes concerning non-compete agreements and executive compensation packages. · Successfully resolved an employment dispute centered on a multi-million-dollar intellectual property issue. · Mediated and resolved claims of gender and religious discrimination on behalf of an employee at a nationally recognized marketing firm. · Successfully defended an employer against a multi-million-dollar wage and hour class action. · Secured six-figure settlement for employees who were improperly compensated for their work. · Negotiated numerous severance packages and separation agreements for executives and employees. · Produced workplace handbooks for employers across multiple jurisdictions. Andrea graduated from U-Mass Amherst summa cum laude and the University of Virginia Law School.