We've been there. We can help.
As entrepreneurs and industry veterans, we know you may need to take smart risks in order to grow. We can help you evaluate, mitigate and address risk to keep your legal strategy and risk tolerance aligned with your business goals.
Focal is not the “business prevention department” and we understand that businesses should not be run by the legal team. Instead, we provide solid legal counsel that empowers our clients to make informed decisions that are grounded in market realities and are driven by their big-picture objectives.
Barb Rhoads-Weaver, Attorney
Focal assists clients with a full range of day-to-day and big picture business needs, including:
Product Evaluation and Protection
Not all risks are equal. Focal helps our clients identify and assess risks relating to products, IP infringement (offensive and defensive), consumer protection concerns, regulation and general liability.
Marketing Compliance Advice
Aggressive marketing can make or break a product or business. Focal provides practical advice with respect to consumer disclosures, competitive comparisons and email marketing.
Privacy
Collecting customer information requires careful planning. We advise clients on how to handle sensitive or personally identifiable information. We also assist with privacy policies, data security, product configuration, requests for personal information and PCI compliance.
Data Aggregation and Protection
Data is often a company’s most valuable asset. Focal advises businesses on private data security. We also provide guidance on how identify, secure and leverage publicly accessible data.
Employment/Contracting
Rapid personnel expansion for emerging startups often results in common pitfalls. Our team guides businesses through periods of growth, providing critical advice on employment agreements, best practices in hiring and firing, employee handbooks and discrimination claims.
Representative Work
Advised a publicly traded company with respect to its data aggregation and licensing strategy. Emphasis on unique issues arising from sourcing data from websites operated by municipalities and federal agencies.
Advised companies and senior executives with respect to offer letters, employment agreements, cause termination rights, stock option grants and deferred compensation.
Advised numerous SaaS providers on preserving Section 230 and Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) defenses for online intermediaries and shared economy businesses.
Advised numerous companies on the latest developments on the enforceability of mandatory arbitration provisions, class action bars and alternative dispute resolution provisions in B2B and B2C agreements.
Advised numerous employers with respect to disputes with part-time, full-time and executive employees.
Advised popular video chat service with drafting user privacy protection policies, including those falling under the federal Wiretap and Electronic Communication Privacy Act. Ensured compliance with law enforcement disclosure requirements.
Advised numerous companies with respect to their use of open-source software, copyleft, mandatory attribution requirements and related issues.
Advised numerous companies with respect to the enforceability (offensive and defensive) of click-wrap agreements, shrink-wrap agreements and browse-wrap agreements.
Advised a top meme network on mitigating risk with respect to user-generated content, memes and parody content. Special emphasis on copyright fair use defenses.
Advised numerous companies with respect to monetizing end user information. Emphasis on transparency, compliance with applicable privacy laws and protection of such information.
*Some transactions closed by Focal lawyers while employed at other firms or companies.
