A lawsuit is a business problem with a procedural rulebook attached. MC Law is a litigation and transactional firm focused on intellectual property, technology, and business disputes, and our litigation practice handles commercial, IP, employment, and other high-stakes cases for companies on both sides of the caption. The firm was founded by a software engineer turned attorney, which matters when the facts live in source code, server logs, or a product roadmap. We give you a candid assessment early, a plan with a budget, and a team that knows the case well enough to try it, which is often what brings the other side to a reasonable settlement.
Disputes We Handle
We litigate breach of contract and complex commercial disputes, business torts such as fraud, tortious interference, and unfair competition, disputes among the owners of closely held companies, and claims arising from failed technology projects, distribution relationships, and acquisitions. We also handle intellectual property cases involving patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets, and employment cases on the management side. We appear in federal district courts and state trial courts, in arbitration before the AAA, JAMS, the ICC, and other institutions, and in administrative proceedings. Choosing the forum is often the first strategic decision, and we make it deliberately: federal or state court, whether to enforce or resist an arbitration clause, and which venue gives your position the strongest footing.
Every Stage Of A Case
Our litigation practice is organized around the stages a case actually passes through. Commencement and pleadings covers complaints, answers, counterclaims, and Rule 12 motions. Removal covers moving a case to federal court under 28 U.S.C. 1441 and 1446, or sending it back on a motion to remand. Discovery covers Rule 26 disclosures, ESI protocols, document requests, depositions, subpoenas, and privilege disputes. Evidence covers admissibility under the Federal Rules of Evidence, including challenges to expert testimony under Rule 702. Motions covers injunctions, summary judgment under Rule 56, and the procedural motions in between. Trial and post-trial covers jury and bench trials and Rule 50 and 59 motions. Judgment covers entry, enforcement, and collection. Appeals covers briefing and argument in the federal courts of appeals and state appellate courts.
Specialized Areas Of Litigation
Some disputes have their own law and their own playbook. General litigation is the broad commercial docket. Arbitration covers motions to compel under the Federal Arbitration Act, the hearing itself, and petitions to confirm or vacate awards. Class actions turn on Rule 23 certification, and we oppose or pursue certification and handle removal under the Class Action Fairness Act. Antitrust litigation covers claims under Sherman Act Sections 1 and 2, Clayton Act Section 7, and the Robinson-Patman Act. Employment litigation covers discrimination, retaliation, wage and hour, and restrictive covenant cases. Intellectual property litigation covers patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets. Securities litigation and enforcement covers Rule 10b-5 claims, shareholder suits, and SEC and FINRA inquiries. Other specialized litigation includes insurance coverage, consumer protection, and government contract disputes.
Technical Facts, Plain Answers
A large share of modern business disputes turn on technology: whether software met its specification, whether a departing employee took code, whether a platform's data practices match its privacy policy, whether a product falls within a patent claim. These cases tend to be won by the side that understands the facts first and explains them best. Because the firm was founded by an engineer, we can read source code and system documentation, frame precise discovery requests for repositories and logs, and work with technical consultants and testifying witnesses as colleagues. Then we do the harder part, which is turning that understanding into a story a judge, jury, or arbitrator can follow. The same approach carries into ordinary commercial cases, where the decisive evidence is now almost always electronic.
Before And Outside The Courtroom
Plenty of litigation work happens before anything is filed. We evaluate claims and defenses when a dispute first surfaces, send and answer demand letters, and put litigation holds in place so evidence is preserved and spoliation never becomes the issue. We tender claims to insurers before notice deadlines pass, negotiate tolling and standstill agreements to buy time for settlement talks, and represent clients in mediation. On the advisory side, we review the dispute resolution clauses in your contracts, including forum selection, governing law, arbitration, jury waivers, fee shifting, and limitation of liability, so the terms you sign today set you up well for a dispute you hope never comes. That work connects directly to our transactional practice, which drafts many of those contracts in the first place.
How We Run A Case
Every engagement starts with an early case assessment: the claims and defenses, the documents and witnesses that will matter, likely damages, and a realistic range of outcomes. We share that assessment with you in writing, along with a strategy and a budget broken out by phase. During the case, you get regular, plain reports and are consulted before the decisions that change cost or risk, such as filing a dispositive motion or making a settlement offer. We keep discovery proportional under Rule 26(b)(1) and push for early rulings on the issues that decide the case. Our clients include technology and software companies, manufacturers, financial services firms, healthcare businesses, energy companies, and the founders and owners of closely held businesses.
Phased Budgets And Flat Fees
Litigation is less predictable than a contract, but many pieces of it can be priced in advance. Defined filings and tasks, such as a demand letter, a litigation hold notice, a complaint, an answer, a motion to dismiss, a notice of removal, a set of discovery requests, or a notice of appeal, are available as flat-fee products with their scope and turnaround stated up front. For a full case, we scope the work and provide a written estimate by phase: pleadings, discovery, dispositive motions, trial, and appeal. You decide at each stage whether the next one is worth the cost. If the case changes direction, through a new claim, an added party, or a settlement opening, we revise the estimate in writing before the work proceeds.
