Margaret Avril Lawson

MARGARET AVRIL LAWSONjoined the firm in 1982 and is chair of the firm's Intellectual Property Practice.  Ms. Lawson graduated from Dartmouth College, summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, and Harvard Law School. Her intellectual property practice includes trademark, trade secret, copyright, privacy and data security, and right of publicity. Ms. Lawson has extensive experience in drafting and negotiating license agreements, technology transfer agreements and other contracts in areas that include biomedical technology, computer software and hardware, e-commerce, publishing and franchising. She oversees the registration and maintenance of trademark portfolios in the United States and foreign countries. Ms. Lawson's practice also has included representation of limited liability companies, corporations (including nonprofit associations) and partnerships in a variety of business matters, including mergers, acquisitions and financing transactions. She is a member of the Cincinnati Intellectual Property Law Association and the Intellectual Property Law Section of the American Bar Association. Ms. Lawson also serves as secretary of the Harvard Law School Association of Cincinnati. She has published articles, and lectured and moderated the International Trademark Association's roundtable discussions concerning the right of publicity, trademark and other intellectual property topics. Ms. Lawson was honored as the 1999 Leading Woman in Law by Leading Women, a coalition of Greater Cincinnati women's groups. She was a member of Leadership Cincinnati Class XXIV, sponsored by the Greater Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce and was appointed to the Steering Committee. She is recognized by Best Lawyers in America in three categories: corporate law, information technology law and intellectual property law. She was also named an Ohio Super Lawyer, a listing of the top five percent of Ohio attorneys published by Cincinnati Magazine. She serves on the boards of the Economics Center at the University of Cincinnati and the Executive Service Corps of Cincinnati (ESCC). Ms. Lawson currently serves on the Executive Committee, has served as a member of the firm's Recruiting Committee and has chaired the Professional Women's Resource Group (PWRG).