Armstrong Teasdale issued the following announcement on Sept. 17.
Armstrong Teasdale proudly announces the addition of four attorneys – Partner Francisco A. Villegas, Of Counsel Donald D. Raymond Jr., and Associates Christopher R. Johnson and Rhys J. Williams – to various practice groups nationwide.
Villegas joins the firm’s Intellectual Property practice in New York. Representing domestic and international companies, he advises on IP litigation and transactional matters involving a wide range of subjects. His patent experience includes litigation assertion and defense, portfolio development, asset valuation, licensing, opinions (validity, infringement and freedom-to-operate clearances) and post grant proceedings including inter partes review, reissues and ex parte reexaminations. Villegas also regularly represents clients in domestic and international trademark matters. On the transactional side, he advises clients on mergers and acquisitions, deal sourcing, joint ventures, product development, SaaS, IP monetization, privacy and venture capital. He also represents startups, incubators, innovation labs and investors that seek to exploit new technologies or apply mature products and services in new ways.
Raymond joins the firm’s Intellectual Property practice group in St. Louis. Both in the United States and abroad, he prepares and prosecutes patent applications. Registered to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Raymond counsels inventors, engineers and in-house counsel through all stages of the patent application process. He focuses on matters relating to the computer, electrical and electromechanical fields. Raymond prepares noninfringement and invalidity opinions and patentability, due diligence and patent landscape analyses. In these matters, he assists clients in pre-litigation enforcement of patent rights by performing initial infringement analyses, providing tailored patent enforcement strategies, preparing cease and desist letters, and negotiating settlement agreements. In addition to handling patents, Raymond guides in the licensing of trademarks and copyrights and in various aspects of technology law.
Johnson joins the firm’s Corporate Services practice group in Denver. His practice is primarily focused on the representation of corporate clients in several industries with regard to mergers and acquisitions, organizational formation and structure, venture and equity capital, public offerings and private placements of debt and equity securities, securities filings and periodic reporting, corporate governance, and other general business transactions and operational matters. As former in-house counsel for a publicly traded bank holding company and its subsidiary bank, Johnson possesses a unique appreciation for his clients’ focus on bottom line results and takes a pragmatic approach to providing efficient and responsive service.
Williams joins the firm’s Financial and Real Estate Services practice group in St. Louis. He focuses on banking and debtor and creditor rights. Williams represents clients in commercial transactions and related finance matters involving debtor and creditor rights, lender liability, bankruptcy, restructurings and workouts. He routinely counsels both creditors and debtors on methods of insuring that their respective interests are protected. He also helps lenders assess and secure collateral by reviewing loan documents.
Original source can be found here.