Press Release - Sedgwick Technology Attorney to Lead Panel of Experts From Apple, Google and IBM

July 2007

During the Stanford Summit on August 1, Sedgwick attorney Michael Brandis will lead a panel discussion featuring prominent Silicon Valley general counsel from Apple, Google and IBM.  The panel, "The Patent Crisis:  Crossroads for the Business of Technology," will highlight emerging patent issues affecting global technology industries and is the only legal program of the three-day annual executive gathering, which will bring together more than 1,000 technology, media and advertising CEOs, business development officers, media buyers, venture capital and private-equity investors. More than 20,000 webcast viewers from more than 100 countries are expected to participate as well.

"We have an exciting panel of representatives from Apple, Google and IBM to discuss the challenges to innovation posed by the current patent system and the efforts to reform it," said Brandis.

An attorney with a unique combination of legal, executive management and high-level government experience, Brandis offers Sedgwick's clients a unique dimension of expertise. A key member of the firm's Technology Practice Group, he counsels software, Internet, multimedia, telecom, consulting and manufacturing companies on a broad range of issues. Prior to Sedgwick, he served as general counsel for international publicly traded and privately held software companies, a national telecommunications company, and as CEO of a venture-backed software company. Brandis gained further distinctive experience when he served a presidential appointment at the Department of Defense during the Clinton administration. While at the Pentagon, he managed international cooperative ventures, negotiated international transactions, and advised on the export of defense and civilian technologies, the acquisition of key technologies related to defense capabilities, and allied defense planning.  Brandis earned his J.D. from Santa Clara University School of Law and his B.A. from the University of California, Davis.