Liz Surette

Overclocked Legal

Liz Surette is an attorney serving the game development community by providing a variety of legal services specific to protect their assets. She has written articles for Gamasutra, and has spoken about legal issues in games at PAX East, local game development events, and the American Bar Association's Business Law conference.

Brandon J. Huffman

Founder, Odin Law and Media

General Counsel, IGDA

Brandon J. Huffman is an attorney and founder of Odin Law and Media, which focuses on counseling video game and interactive media clients on issues related to intellectual property and corporate growth, content, licensing and publishing. Brandon also serves as general counsel to the International Game Developers Association. His clients include game and software developers, new and traditional media companies, animators and others at the intersection of technology and creativity. He is the engagement editor for Business Law Today and he chairs the Sports and Entertainment Council of the North Carolina Bar Association.

Scott M. Kelly

Partner, Banner & Witcoff, Ltd.

Scott represents clients throughout the life of an invention or creation — from the birth of an idea through procuring patents or other IP rights and enforcing them to protect key technologies and business interests.  Scott also counsels clients on validity, infringement, and other issues presented by asserted intellectual property rights or potential acquisitions.  Scott has developed a particular niche for himself in the videogame industry. He has helped protect games such as Wargaming’s World of Tanks and Techland’s Dying Light.  Scott serves as chair for the Digital Games and New Media committee of the American Bar Association’s Intellectual Property Law Section, and writes on the impact of IP law on the business of videogames at PatentArcade.com. 

Meredith Mays Espino

Corporate Counsel, Accuity

With over five (5) years of privacy experience, and over ten years of regulatory compliance experience, Meredith counsels companies on using personal data responsibly. She has experience in providing guidance when issues or questions arise involving GLBA, HIPAA, FCRA, TCPA, CAN-SPAM, EU GDPR, Privacy Shield, CASL, and PIPEDA. For the last two years, she has served as Chair, Chicago Bar Association's Cyber Law and Data Privacy Committee.She has earned IAPP's CIPP/US and CIPM certifications, and was named a Fellow in Privacy in 2018. She earned her Juris Doctor (JD) and LLM, Information Technology & Privacy Law. at The John Marshall Law School.

Adam Wolek, Partner

Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP

 Adam Wolek protects the intellectual property of some of the world’s largest companies, including those in the wireless, internet and technology industries. Adam has successfully litigated and negotiated numerous patent, copyright and trademark infringement, trade secret and business disputes for his clients. He also assists clients with IP licensing. Prior to joining Taft, Adam worked at both Big Law and boutique law firms and taught patent law, which has provided him with a breadth of experience working with companies of all sizes.

Marc Whipple, Attorney

Whipple Legal Services

Marc Whipple grew up in Iowa and has a degree in Physics and Math from Drake University. After receiving his J.D. from John Marshall, he became the General Counsel for Meyer/Glass Design, a Chicago invention studio descended from legendary innovation firm Marvin Glass & Associates. When Meyer/Glass started an interactive division, he helped set up, grow, and eventually spin off the software studio, in the meantime negotiating development agreements with companies like Hasbro Interactive and Microsoft for PC and console titles.

After his work at Meyer/Glass, he became the General Counsel of Incredible Technologies, Inc., and helped it take its first steps into regulated casino gaming as well as providing legal support for its famous GOLDEN TEE video golf worldwide tournament network.

Marc now provides experienced support for patent, trademark, copyright, and technology issues as well as advising creatives at every level from startup to established studio. Marc is licensed to practice law in the state of Illinois and before the United States Patent and Trademark Office as a Registered Patent Practitioner.

Kirk Sigmon

Attorney, Banner Witcoff, Ltd.

Kirk’s work in the U.S. and in Asia, tied with his experience with Fortune 500 companies and startups, provides him the know-how to counsel clients at all stages of invention, patent prosecution, intellectual property enforcement, and litigation.

Kirk began his legal career in Tokyo, and routinely works with U.S., Japanese, Korean, Chinese, and European intellectual property matters.  Kirk’s cases have involved a broad range of technologies, including computer networking, cellular communications, video gaming, virtual reality, machine learning/artificial intelligence, military weapons systems, blockchain technologies, aerospace flight systems, video encoding, petroleum engineering, optoelectronics, data storage, magnetics, agronomy, and toys.