Emil J. Ali is a partner at McCabe & Ali, LLP where he focuses his practice on helping lawyers understand their obligations under state and federal law. As a registered patent attorney, a significant focus of his practice involves advising lawyers and law firms on all aspects of the intersection of IP and ethics matters. Emil’s work includes counseling clients on lateral transitions, malpractice avoidance, expert opinion and testimony, and respondent’s defense work before various bars and courts. You can view his musings on IP ethics issues at www.ipethicslaw.com.
Emil Ali
Founder, McCabe & Ali, LLP | McCabe & Ali, LLP
Whenever there is an ethics issue pertaining to IP and trademark law, the Alt Legal team always turns to Emil Ali for guidance. He’s the founder of McCabe & Ali, LLP, specializing in ethics counseling for IP lawyers and professionals, and he is a former USPTO OED Attorney. Emil has presented twice for Alt Legal on important ethical issues for trademark lawyers.
Emil first spoke for Alt Legal Connect presenting the session, “A Trademark Attorney’s Guide to the OED – and How to Avoid Inadvertent Ethical Violations,” where he provided a brief introduction to the USPTO’s Office of Enrollment and Discipline (OED) and explained how to ensure compliance with the USPTO Rules of Professional Conduct. You can read a summary of the session, view the recording, and download the presentation materials here.
Emil returned in 2022 as a speaker for Alt Legal Webinars, delivering the presentation, “Trademark Ethics – Five Things That Might Keep You Up At Night,” There he discussed ethics issues from the start to the end of the client relationship, covering common problems specific to trademark practitioners. He answered questions such as:
- What searching or review is required before I file a trademark application?
- How should I deal with an Office Action that cites my client’s mark?
- When is a trademark applicant no longer my client?
You can view the recording and download the presentation materials here.
Emil had a wonderful experience presenting for Alt Legal. In particular, he found that Alt Legal’s audience was made up of intellectually-curious, primarily trademark-focused professionals, which enhanced his experience as a presenter. “I appreciated the captive and engaged audience of trademark professionals. They are eager to learn, not just there for the CLE credit.” He also very much enjoyed the webinar platform’s chat feature, which allows the audience and speaker to engage in discussion throughout the webinar. “My best memory was watching the chat act like a live Slack channel of questions, agreement (like nodding heads), and general enthusiasm.”
To prepare for his presentations, Emil worked closely with Bri Van Til, Alt Legal’s Director of Education, coordinating all of the important details, technical arrangements, and logistics to ensure that the presentations were smooth for Emil and the audience. Emil reports that working with Bri was an exceptional experience, “Bri is amazing to work with!”
As a result of his presentations with Alt Legal Webinars, Emil was delighted to retain new clients. He reports, “Many new clients tell me they heard me present through Alt Legal.” Speaking opportunities are some of the best ways to establish expertise on a topic and to become a known expert in your field. We’re so pleased for Emil that his speaking engagements with Alt Legal have turned into business development opportunities.
Overall, Emil says that he is “incredibly likely” to recommend speaking engagements at Alt Legal to other presenters. “The bottom line is that Alt Legal’s audience is dedicated and engaged across the board. Other organizations are often faced with trying to focus on patent attorneys, or have less interaction.” Thank you for the kind words, Emil, and for your wonderful contributions to the Alt Legal Community!
