Paul Klee, Static-Dynamic Gradation (1923), Metropolitan Museum of Art
Who We Are
Meador & Engle works with companies at all stages of development, including start-ups, emerging growth companies, and established multi-national corporations. We have counseled clients throughout the world on hundreds of deals and scores of cases. Our practice is global in scope and local in character. Our clients come from throughout California and the United States as well as London, Singapore, Canada, Malaysia, China, Hong Kong, Korea, Vietnam, Ecuador, Egypt, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, and beyond. We seek to develop long-term client relationships based on close cooperation and favorable results.
Meador & Engle's experience and value orientation allows us to represent clients in business matters, patent and trademark procurement, and high-tech litigation without busting their budgets. We have resolved patent suits more than once at the early stages through diligent factual and legal research and by convincing opponents that there are better targets than our clients. Recent litigation matters include: prevailing in a breach of contract arbitration against a billion-dollar medical services company; patent defense of a Silicon Valley software company with no payment; obtaining a favorable settlement in a trademark litigation (with under $20,000 billed) where the opposing party was represented by a top national intellectual property law firm; obtaining a no-payment dismissal of a software licensing dispute over million-dollar semiconductor design software; and design and utility patent cases in the Northern, Southern, and Central Districts of California.
We bring knowledge, responsiveness, and competence to our cases and offer the experience, skill, and service of a "BigLaw" firm at reasonable rates. In fact, our cases generally involve opposing counsel from large national firms. While Ross and Alan handle most matters themselves, they have an extensive network and marshal additional resources, including associates, experts, and other attorneys, as needed. Both Ross and Alan are members of Select Counsel, an elite network of attorneys with substantial experience at major law firms.
Depending on the matter, we offer an hourly rate or a flat rate. For hourly work, we spend only as much time as a matter requires, so you won't be billed for unproductive effort. We do not have the profit-driven billable-hour requirement of larger firms, which invariably leads to a misalignment of attorney-client incentives.
Our goal is "no surprises" billing. We seek to provide realistic estimates at the start of an engagement. We do not charge clients for third-party research tools, such as Lexis and Westlaw (we subscribe to both), or standard copying, or international calls. We succeed by providing quality service at reasonable rates, not by churning files or charging for postage. Our partner rates fall between $320 and $480 per hour while associate rates are between $220 and $300 per hour. Our paralegals rates are between $100 and $140 per hour. While we are not a "budget" firm, our rates are well below our larger competitors. We produce quality work in less time at lower cost, because we are good lawyers.
Attorneys
Ross Meador
ross.meador@meenlegal.com
Phone: (415) 713-0441
Ross Meador
Ross D. Meador is an international business and technology attorney with broad experience representing American, Asian and European companies and investors in their domestic and cross-border business operations. He practiced law for fifteen years with leading international law firms, including Morrison & Foerster, Howard Rice, and most recently as a partner with Preston Gates & Ellis. His law practice focuses on privately held companies and entrepreneurial ventures. He has negotiated and drafted hundreds of business agreements, and advises clients on business models, financing issues, strategic relationships, and the protection and licensing of intellectual property. Ross has done early work for many major companies, including Facebook and Microsoft. In addition to Meador & Engle, Ross is a partner at Techlaw, LLP.
Ross is active in the California Bar Association. He was elected Secretary of the Executive Committee of the International Law Section and currently serves as Advisor Emeritus to the Section. As a public speaker, he has addressed the State Bar on issues such as International Mergers and Acquisitions, International Ventures for the Old and New Economies, the Korean Response to the Asian Financial Crisis, and multiple programs on investing in Vietnam. He has also been invited to speak at many other venues including the Haas School of Business and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Ross is no longer a member of Meador & Engle but still enjoys a close friendship with Alan Engle, who continues to operate Meador & Engle.
Education
UC BERKELEY SCHOOL OF LAW (BOALT HALL)
Juris Doctor, 1986
UC SAN DIEGO (MUIR COLLEGE)
B.A., Communications/Visual Arts, 1980
Activities & Affiliations
• Business Law Advisor, California State University, Fullerton
• Member (Emeritus) Executive Committee International Law Section, Calf. Bar Assn.
• Vice President, US Vietnam Chamber of Commerce (2005-2006)
Bar Admissions
• California
Alan Engle
alan.engle@meenlegal.com
Phone: (310) 428-6985
Alan Engle
Alan Engle's practice is focused on intellectual property litigation, procurement, licensing, and strategy. He is a member of the USPTO patent bar and is a 2002 graduate of UC Berkeley’s Boalt Hall School of Law. At Boalt, Alan was an editor of the Berkeley Technology Law Journal. He also served as a judicial extern for Hon. D. Lowell Jensen of the Northern District of California and as an article editor for New Matter, the intellectual property law journal of the California Bar Association. Prior to establishing Meador & Engle, Alan represented leading technology companies at Weil, Gotshal & Manges and Alston & Bird, large international law firms, and at LaRiviere, Grubman and Payne, an intellectual property boutique in scenic Monterey, California.
Alan has handled litigation and related matters involving patent infringement, trade secret misappropriation, trademark infringement, breach of intellectual property license agreements, copyright infringement, and contract disputes. Alan is also experienced with matters involving unfair competition, antitrust, malicious prosecution, free speech rights, and other claims. Alan earned his undergraduate degree, cum laude, at UC San Diego, where he completed a double major in philosophy and cognitive science and a minor in chemistry. He also did graduate work in the history and philosophy of science at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, Canada and at the University of Pittsburgh.
Alan has worked on significant litigation matters for Applied Materials, Applied Biosystems, Micron Technology, Solar Turbines, DirecTV, and Monster Cable, among others. Alan has represented clients in numerous patent litigation cases, obtaining favorable results for a fraction of the cost of large law firms in this specialized area. Alan believes that every case provides opportunities for creativity and originality within the broader framework of the law.
Alan enjoys playing poker (and sometimes applying its lessons to litigation) and working with computers. Having studied neural networks as an undergraduate at UC San Diego (where much of the pioneering work was done) in the early 90s, he is currently learning the python programming language to gain a better understanding of recent developments in deep learning and AI theory and practice.
Education
UC BERKELEY SCHOOL OF LAW (BOALT HALL)
Juris Doctor, 2002
UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH
PhD Studies, History and Philosophy of Science (1996-1999)
UC SAN DIEGO (REVELLE COLLEGE)
B.A.,B.S. Philosophy and Cognitive Science, Chemistry Minor
Activities & Affiliations
• Orange County Bar Association
• Federal Bar Association
• American Intellectual Property Law Association
Bar Admissions
California
US Patent and Trademark Office
Firm History
The roots of the firm can be traced back to Rogers & Meador. Paul Rogers and Ross Meador met in 1983 during their first year of law school at UC Berkeley's Boalt Hall. They quickly became friends and joined forces for the Boalt Hall Moot Court Competition. They annihilated the competition and received both the Best Brief and Best Oral Argument awards (a distinction Alan Engle and his moot court partner would later repeat). Years later, Ross accepted Paul's invitation to join Howard Rice Nemerovski Canady Falk & Rabkin, where Paul was Director. The two eventually moved their practice to the "BigLaw" firm Preston Gates & Ellis, where they served as partners before deciding to strike out on their own. Paul's first partner was Bob Roden, who left to serve as Associate General Counsel at Pixar Studios. Later, Ross and Paul were joined by Paul's wife Julie and former Howard Rice Director, Howard Lasky. Paul and Julie passed away in January 2006, and with their loss, Howard decided to go back to the big firm life at Coblentz, Patch Duffy & Bass. In 2009, Ross relocated to Southern California where he joined forces with Alan Engle, also a Berkeley Law grad and BigLaw alum, to establish Meador & Engle. Ross is no longer a member of Meador & Engle but still enjoys a close friendship with Alan Engle, who continues to operate Meador & Engle.