Overview
McGinnis Lochridge serves local, national, and international technology companies of all sizes. Our clients include telecommunications firms, e-commerce and cloud-computing companies, technology services and outsourcing firms, and software development and software as a service (SaaS) companies. We are happy to work with promising startups, by providing flexible fee structures and an entrepreneurial attitude that dovetail well with the needs of emerging businesses. We also work with traditional brick-and-mortar companies, manufacturers and institutions on technology-related issues.
Because of our significant healthcare and energy practices, we often are at the cutting edge of how the Internet and electronic commerce affect those sectors worldwide. We assist with the acquisition of technology products and services, and advise on how the rapidly changing laws regarding the Internet and electronic commerce could affect any client’s particular industry.
Our lawyers are frequent publishers or speakers on Internet law and e-commerce.
Our collective experience has included:
- Counseling regarding legal formation and venture financing at all levels, drawing upon relationships with numerous venture capitalists and a strong track record in structuring and negotiating such deals.
- Drafting and negotiating provider and customer contracts, and designing employee stock option plans.
- Assisting emerging and established technology companies with internal corporate matters as needed.
- Assisting clients with the analysis, registration and protection of trademarks, trade names, domain names, copyrights, trade secrets and confidential information. We also assist with the wide range of transactions involving those properties and rights, including license, transfer and distribution agreements, subscription agreements, outsourcing agreements, consulting agreements, confidentiality agreements, and development agreements.
- Drafting agreements for website design and development, hosting, portals, linking, content provision and licensing, and terms of service and user agreements.
- Drafting agreements for SaaS and cloud-computing services, security and filtering, Internet advertising, and other e-commerce-related matters.
- Advising clients on information privacy and security issues, outsourcing and services transactions, healthcare IT and privacy matters. Advising on agreements for the purchase or lease of hardware, software, imaging technologies and services, and related transactions. We also advise clients on matters relating to purchasing or selling goods or services on the Internet.
- Representing oil and gas companies and service providers in the acquisition and use of technology and Internet-related services, as well as representing developers of renewable energy and "smart-grid" products and services.
- Representing technology clients in connection with state government, including competitive bidding, government procurement and legislative activities.
- Representing technology clients regarding routine employment issues: including at-will, term-employment and severance agreements; the formation of employee stock-option plans; ownership of inventions; nondisclosure and non-competition agreements for sale.
- Representing consortia or joint ventures of technology providers or developers and providing experienced perspectives on the unique issues facing these entities including anti-trust compliance.
- Representing non-profit developers or publishers of open standards from start up and initial IRS recognition of tax-exempt status through ongoing operations. We also assist with the specialized compliance issues faced in this arena.
