Jackson Walker attorneys Emilio Nicolas, Stacy Allen, and Mike Meskill will speak at the Captivate Conference for digital entertainment on October 26, 2014, in Austin, Texas.
Mr. Nicolas will serve as moderator for a discussion titled “Beyond Video Game Development and Business: Legal Issues Every Startup Should Know,” while Mr. Allen, Mr. Meskill and Adam D. Mandell of Millen, White, Zelano & Branigan, P.C. will serve as panel members. They will discuss “need to know” legal issues for independent video game developers and startups. Topics will include company formation and maintenance, raising capital, intellectual property protection, rights clearances, and when to get a lawyer involved.
Mr. Nicolas represents and counsels a variety of domestic and international clients on matters involving entertainment, media, and intellectual property. His practice includes intellectual property litigation, entertainment and media transactions, intellectual property rights management, protection, clearance, and licensing, and pre–publication reviews. Mr. Nicolas litigates civil claims in state and federal courts involving copyright, trademark, right of publicity, defamation, and contract disputes. He also handles inter–party and ex parte trademark proceedings before the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Mr. Nicolas received his B.S. in Business Administration from Trinity University, his M.S. in Media Management from Syracuse University, and his J.D., magna cum laude, from Syracuse University College of Law. Mr. Nicolas has consistently been named a “Rising Star” by Thomson Reuters since 2012, and is a frequent speaker and author on the subjects of entertainment and intellectual property law.
Mr. Allen’s aggressive approach to discovery and trial preparation has resulted in favorable judgments and settlements for a wide array of sophisticated commercial clients. His national practice emphasizes intellectual property litigation (on behalf of both alleged infringers and IP owners), defense of media companies and news organizations against defamation and privacy tort claims, defense of insurers in class actions and other complex litigation, defense of managed care companies in claims arising from complex provider contracts, and other commercial lawsuits and arbitrations alleging breach of contract, unfair trade practices, fraud, and other business torts. Mr. Allen received his B.A., summa cum laude, from the University of Southern California and his J.D. from Yale Law School.
Mr. Meskill’s practice focuses on securities, mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance matters, and general corporate law. Mr. Meskill represents buyers and sellers in public and private M&A transactions, issuers and underwriters in public and private debt and equity offerings, and companies and special board committees in corporate governance matters. Mr. Meskill is a certified public accountant in the State of Texas. Mr. Meskill was an auditor in the audit department of KPMG LLP from 1989 to 1993, where he was the “in-charge” auditor on numerous public and private company audit engagements. Mr. Meskill received his B.B.A. in Accounting from the University of Texas and his J.D., cum laude, from Southern Methodist University School of Law.
