New Clients FAQs
Straight answers on working with us, litigation, trademarks, patents, copyright, business formation, and more. Search, filter by topic, or ask your own question below.
We start with your business: what you've built, and what you're trying to protect, license, or resolve. Bring whatever's relevant—product descriptions, prior agreements, registrations, demand letters, correspondence. The first conversation is about scope and strategy, not billable hours: we spot the real issues, lay out realistic options and rough costs, and tell you honestly whether you even need us yet. There's no obligation to engage afterward.
New Clients
Only when both sides sign a written engagement agreement that sets the scope, fees, and responsibilities. Emailing us, submitting a form, or having an intro call does not by itself create that relationship or make what you share privileged. So until an engagement letter is signed, hold back anything genuinely confidential—share enough for us to assess the matter, not your crown jewels.
New Clients
It depends on the work. Flat fees fit predictable matters like trademark filings and standard agreements, so you know the price up front. Hourly fits litigation and open-ended counseling, where the path isn't fixed. Either way, you get the structure and an estimate in writing before we start, and a heads-up the moment a matter's scope changes—no surprise invoices.
New Clients
A few sentences on your business and the issue, any deadlines you know about, and copies of the documents that matter—registrations, contracts, demand letters, or the work you want to protect. Concrete facts get you concrete answers; vague ones get us both a slower start. When in doubt, send it (once an engagement is in place) and let us sort out what's relevant.
New Clients
Both, and they are the core of the practice. MC Law is primarily a litigation and transactional firm, focused on intellectual property, technology, and business disputes. We litigate patent, trademark, copyright, trade secret, commercial, and shareholder disputes in federal and state court and in arbitration; draft and negotiate technology licenses, IP assignments, and commercial agreements; form and finance companies and close acquisitions; and register trademarks and copyrights. We counsel on patents and handle patent licensing and litigation, but we do not prosecute patent applications.
New Clients
Yes. Much of our litigation is in federal court, trademark practice before the USPTO is federal, and contracts and licenses travel across state lines, so our clients are spread across the United States. Our headquarters is in Washington, D.C., and we have an office in Knoxville, Tennessee; for matters governed by another state's law we involve local counsel where the rules require it.
New Clients
Each flat-fee service page states exactly what the fee covers: the deliverable, the scope it is fixed at, the turnaround, and the number of revision rounds included. Government filing fees and other pass-through costs are listed separately. If your matter falls outside the stated scope, we quote the difference in writing before starting rather than billing past the flat fee.
New Clients