ROB STEVENSON

Member of the Disney Interactive legal group assigned to support the technical operations of Disney Interactive, Disney Consumer Products (DCP) and Disney Technology Shared Solutions (DTSS). My duties include:

Technology Transactions

• Negotiating and drafting technology transaction agreements, such as: Software and Hardware Licenses, SaaS Subscriptions, Professional Services, Equipment Purchases, Software Evaluations, Confidentiality, and more.
• Counseling business unit executives, managers and developers on the acquisition and use of technology systems and software.
• Key legal member on team developing Disney's Playmation™ products, negotiating and providing counsel regarding the acquisition and use of Internet-enabled computer chips and the use of open source software in the products.

Corporate Work

• Negotiating and communicating with vendors of all types, ranging from Fortune 50 corporations to small, recent start-ups, as well as individual providers.
• Managing and supervising paralegals and administrative assistants in all aspects of their work.

Open Source Software

• Founding and active member of Disney’s Open Source Software Committee, preparing company-wide policies and reviewing business unit requests to use, contribute to, and release open source software (oss).
• Head of Open Source Software subcommittee tasked with developing internal definition of “distribution” for oss and preparing compliance instructions for over two dozen of the most popular oss licenses.
• Primary legal reviewer and approver for requests to use, contribute to, or release oss from Disney Interactive, Disney Publishing, Disney Tokyo, and other divisions.

Pro Bono Work

• Instrumental in establishing and managing Disney’s first officially-sponsored pro bono program representing families adopting abused and neglected children out of foster care, which has now finalized over 100 adoptions in L.A. County and is expanding to New York and Florida.
• Led a team representing an undocumented immigrant child facing deportation proceedings, as part of a new Disney pro bono initiative in partnership with KIND (Kids In Need of Defense).
• Named a Disney Interactive VoluntEAR of the Year for 2014 (its first ever) and was sent by Disney to Ecuador with the charity Free The Children to help bring clean water to a local village.

General Atomics manufactures the Predator^® drone and other high technology systems, such as nuclear reactor components, electromagnetic devices, transportation systems, and software. The company also develops biofuel from algae, manufactures medical devices, operates uranium mines internationally, and more.

As corporate counsel, I managed all aspects of the company's transactional legal work, including:

Intellectual Property

• Primary attorney responsible for managing and protecting the company's numerous intellectual property resources, including several hundred patents and several dozen trademarks.
• Prepared a comprehensive intellectual property protection plan, including company procedures, model agreements, form letters and licenses.
• Drafted and negotiated software and other technology license agreements, both as licensor and licensee.
• Managed all patent applications and trademark registrations.
• Lead investigations regarding possible patent infringement, both by and against the company.
• Responded to trademark oppositions from third parties, including preparing filings for the TTAB and negotiating co-existence agreements.
• Communicated with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office as well as relevant Military authorities regarding the management of classified inventions.
• Advised company scientists and engineers regarding patent and trade secret protections.

Corporate

• Managed all aspects of the company's transactional legal work.
• Drafted model non-disclosure agreements for use company-wide. Prepared separate versions for use where (1) company is the primary discloser, (2) company is the primary receiver, and (3) the disclosures are mutual.
• Drafted and negotiated a wide array of legal documents, including vendor agreements, sales rep agreements, distributor agreements, joint venture agreements, teaming agreements, consulting agreements, memoranda of understanding, and licensing agreements with both domestic and international parties.
• Drafted and negotiated international agreements with parties in the UK, Australia, Canada, Austria, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Japan, China, Taiwan, South Africa, UAE, Mexico, Brazil, and more.
• Prepared and negotiated government proposals and contracts, both as prime contractor and sub-contractor involving supply and maintenance of aviation equipment, nuclear reactor components and more.
• Prepared a records retention policy and procedure manual for the company and all subsidiaries and affiliates.
• Advised on numerous employment law issues.
• Negotiated user agreements with national research laboratories.
• Lead investigation and negotiated settlement with subcontractor caught attempting to reverse engineer proprietary technical components of the company.
• Negotiated settlements and claims releases with insurance companies.
• Extensive experience with the FCPA and ITAR, as well as other relevant treaties, U.N. Conventions, statutes and regulations regarding international transactions.
• Oversaw the protection of sensitive and proprietary information, in particular, ensuring the company's financial information and strategic plans were protected.
• Drafted and negotiated real estate and equipment leases, asset and stock purchase agreements, and related documentation.
• Assisted with litigation management including discovery requests and motion drafting.

Management & Business Line Reporting

• Regularly counseled company engineers and scientists on patent and trade secret protection issues, contractual matters, risk allocation, and general legal matters.
• Reported to and advised CEO, senior vice presidents and other company executives on an as-needed basis relative to a wide range of legal matters.
• Managed and conferred with outside legal counsel.

Member of both the Mergers & Acquisitions and Securities Groups.

• Represented public and private companies and private equity funds in all aspects of corporate transactions, including mergers, acquisitions, joint-ventures, intellectual property licenses, private investments, proxy contests, equity and debt offerings, and asset dispositions.
• Main point of contact and lead attorney working with a private equity firm in dozens of acquisitions throughout the nation.
• Advised CEO of medical technology company on multiple corporate governance and SEC issues.
• Represented the billionaire owner of a Fortune 500 company in multiple corporate and financing transactions.
• Worked as a member of a team preparing an IPO.
• Prepared numerous SEC filings such as Form 10-Ks, Form 8-Ks, Forms 3 and 4, proxy statements and more.
• Advised clients regarding general corporate law, federal securities matters, applicable stock exchange requirements, and contractual obligations.
• Drafted and negotiated financing agreements, corporate governance documents and stock plans.
• Drafted and negotiated master software license agreements and related intellectual property agreements.

See a thank you letter from Canyon Acres Children and Family Services, a Pro Bono client that I assisted.

Member of the Corporate Finance Group.

• Represented financial institutions in large, syndicated transactions for acquisition and working capital financing, including several international transactions.
• Represented borrowers in obtaining acquisition financing.
• Represented a major movie studio in a multi-picture co-financing agreement.

See an article regarding the successful financing of the acquisition of several airports in Mexico in which I participated.

Assigned as the sole intern for a senior Assistant District Attorney preparing a capital murder case, as well as a wide variety of felony and misdemeanor cases. Wrote motions and orders, interviewed witnesses, prepared trial notebooks, and instructed prosecutors on technology issues relating to pending cases.

See a letter of recommendation from the District Attorney.

Assisted in teaching Duke University undergraduate course ISIS 140 - Web-based Multimedia Communications. Provided instruction and lab assistance to students regarding web programming technologies including HTML, Flash and Javascript. Graded student assignments and projects and assisted professor in developing curriculum.

• Provided corporate web hosting on UNIX-based servers maintained in a secure data center.
• Provided service to several thousand clients in all 50 States and in 57 foreign countries.
• Managed several full-time and part-time employees.
• Ranked by several national hosting directories as a top 10 web host.
• At the time I sold the company to attend law school, it was one of the largest web hosting companies in the state.

See a screenshot of the Eclipse Hosting homepage.

• Internet Developer in the Web Engineering department.
• Managed the layout and functionality of Novell's public website, novell.com, consisting of over 3/4 million web pages.
• Became a project team leader and provided technical training on programming languages and software to other department engineers.
• Received a Novell ONE Award for exceptional work on a full redesign of the corporate website.

See a screenshot of the Novell homepage as it looked when I worked there.