Robert Powers

About Robert Powers

Robert Powers is an experienced litigator as well as a transactional attorney. Robert Powers serves as outside general counsel to over 100 businesses located through the United States at any given time. Counsel ranges from compliance and mitigation issues to prevent litigation, drafting and negotiating contracts, and litigation as a last resort. He has negotiated and drafted several multi-million dollar contracts involving IP licensing and assignments, business acquisitions, asset purchases, and employment-related contracts. Robert Powers has litigated matters involving business disputes before Virginia Circuit and Federal Courts; trademark disputes before Virginia and District of Columbia Federal Courts as well as the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) of the United States Patent and Trademark Office; copyright and other intellectual property disputes before Virginia and District of Columbia Federal Courts; and employment matters before the Department of Labor and Virginia Federal Courts.

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Practice Areas

  • Business Services
  • Business Litigation
  • Contracts
  • Consumer Law
  • Labor & Employment
  • Lawsuits & Disputes
  • Local Counsel
  • Intellectual Property

Representative Cases

  • Successfully obtained a $549,000 judgment before the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in a business RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act) case.
  • Successfully defended parties (e.g., trademark holders) in multiple cases at summary judgment before the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in trademark claims arising under the U.S. Lanham Act.
  • Successfully obtain judgments for plaintiff parties before the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia for copyright claims arising under the U.S. Copyright Act.
  • Successfully defended as well as resolved a plethora of cases before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board regarding U.S. trademark registrations and applications, including, inter alia, obtaining positive judgments and resolutions, the latter which often include co-existence agreements between the respective trademark holders or an assignment of registration or application for a set sum.
  • Successfully obtained favorable settlements, including many six figure settlements, for plaintiff employees with actions filed before the Eastern District of Virginia, including some with the disclosure of terms in the public record, involving employment disputes, including under the FLSA (Fair Labor Standards Act), Title VII, Virginia Wage Theft Act, Virginia Human Rights Act, and various other employment laws.
  • Successfully resolved a plethora of business disputes (e.g., breach of contract, business conspiracy, fraud, Computer Crimes Act, Virginia Consumer Protection Act, negligence, etc.), including many with six figure settlements, both during litigation and pre-litigation, in formal mediation / settlement conferences as well as arbitration.
  • Successfully resolved hundreds of copyright infringement cases filed throughout federal courts across the U.S. involving defendants accused of violating the U.S. Copyright Act by distributing copyrighted content on file-sharing platforms using torrent technology.
  • Assisted numerous clients, both for-profit as well as non-profit organizations, with their business start-up, including the drafting of articles of organization, articles of incorporation, operating agreements, conflict of interest policies, bylaws, shareholders’ agreements, and other formational documents.
  • Assisted numerous clients in acquisitions, between buyer and seller, as well as acting as the escrow and/or closing agent in multiple transactions, including drafting of purchase documents (e.g., asset purchase agreement or stock purchase agreement with disclosure schedules) and ancillary documents (e.g., key-employment agreements, IP assignments, promissory notes, etc.).
  • Assisted numerous businesses as their outside general counsel, providing day-to-day counsel (e.g., present at Board meetings), compliance training (e.g., sexual harassment training of general employees and separately of supervisors), and general contract drafting (e.g., employment handbooks, data use and protection policies, website terms of service, privacy policies, EULAs, employment agreements, restrictive covenant agreements, separation/severance agreements, independent contractor agreement with appropriate IP assignments, IP (trademark/copyright/patent/trade secret) licensing agreements, etc.).

Education

  • Michigan State University College of Law, East Lansing, Michigan J.D., Juris Doctor
  • University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida B.S., Bachelor of Science Major: Business Management

Professional Honors & Activities

  • Martindale-Hubbell® AV Preeminent™ Rating
  • Virginia’s Legal Elite Award in Intellectual Property
  • Selected to Super Lawyers list in 2022 for Business/Corporate
  • Selected to Virginia’s 2020 Legal Elite in the category of Business Law
  • Selected to Super Lawyers Rising Star list 2019-2021 for Business/Corporate
  • Specialty Certification from Michigan State University of Law in Corporate Law
  • Specialty Certification from Michigan State University of Law in Communications and Intellectual Property Law
  • Virginia Continuing Legal Education (CLE) Speaker on Intellectual Property Issues in The Age of Live Streaming hosted by the National Business Institute
  • Presented to the Board of Directors of the Junior League of Northern Virginia, Inc. on liability exposure to and fiduciary responsibilities of Officers and Directors
  • Virginia Continuing Legal Education Speaker in Unleashing the Power of Microsoft Office and Adobe for Lawyers provided by the National Business Institute
  • Presented a CLE on Successful Hiring and Recruitment Steps hosted by the National Business Institute
  • Virginia Continuing Legal Education Speaker about Nonprofit Board Governance and Liability Oversights hosted by the National Business Institute
  • Fraternities
    • Alpha Lambda Delta
    • Zeta Beta Tau

Bar Admissions

  • Virginia
  • District of Columbia
  • Virginia Supreme Court
  • U.S. District Court Eastern District of Virginia
  • U.S. District Court Western District of Virginia
  • U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
  • U.S. Bankruptcy Court Eastern District of Virginia
  • U.S. Bankruptcy Court Western District of Virginia
  • U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Columbia
  • United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
  • United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

Associations

  • Virginia Bar Association
  • Fairfax Bar Association
  • Alexandria Bar Association
  • American Bar Association
  • Federal Bar Association
  • International Association of Privacy Professionals