McGuireWoods’ technology and outsourcing practice is dedicated to supporting clients in a broad range of matters, including procurement, development, deployment and outsourcing of information technology. Blending the focus of a boutique practice with the resources of a full-service law firm, we draw on an extensive knowledge base of best practices and an intimate familiarity with major IT vendors’ market positions and business objectives. Our technology and outsourcing clients include Fortune 100 corporations, governmental entities, nonprofit organizations, academic institutions, and growing, entrepreneurial business enterprises spanning the industry spectrum.
We understand that large-scale IT procurements frequently involve numerous business and legal issues, and work with our clients throughout the life cycle of all projects. Our team is involved in process planning (including development of request proposals, bidding procedures and down-select processes), development of contract terms, negotiations (including advising the client on the specific legal consequences and risks involved while focusing on timelines), and contract signature and follow-up. We help clients understand the difference between high-risk elements of a project, such as outsourcing or implementation services engagements, and lower-profile activities, such as routine software licensing agreements, and work with them to allocate appropriate resources and attention to these activities.
We advise clients on the full range of technology transactions, including procurement, dispute prevention and resolution, outsourcing and ecommerce. Our lawyers have experience in business-to-business marketplaces and exchanges, website and social media content, Internet issues, application services and wireless communications. We have represented technology and non-technology companies in a vast array of commercial issues such as digital business, co-branding, joint ventures and alliances, data mining, portal transactions, design, development and hosting agreements, website agreements, co-location, caching agreements, and numerous other matters.
As recent high-profile cases have made clear, dispute prevention and resolution is a core business activity in the fast-moving technology sector. McGuireWoods provides strategic counsel on how to minimize risks and avoid costly technology disputes. However, when matters evolve into litigation, we handle complex intellectual property, software license, systems and software development, trade secret and Internet disputes, many of which raise cutting-edge legal issues. We regularly prosecute and defend claims of trademark, trade dress and trade name infringement. In addition, we prosecute and defend claims of copyright infringement and license disputes seeking remedies in law and equity. We represent numerous clients, including employers and key employees, involved in trade secret misappropriation disputes.
Sourcing, whether onshore, near-shore or offshore, is a perennial concern for executives. Our attorneys serve as lead consultants on matters ranging from the strategic sourcing of application development, desktop and data center functions, to mission-critical business processes. Our understanding of and ability to balance the key issues facing all sides of these business decisions helps us achieve effective and desirable service arrangements for clients.
Our experienced corporate and transactional practitioners work closely with the firm’s regulatory, intellectual property and litigation lawyers, who bring their respective knowledge to developing trends and IT business practices. We regularly make presentations and publish on topics at the intersection of law, technology and business, and actively contribute to the dialogue that is shaping the technology community and the legal profession within it.