BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

TERRY GROSS (terry@gbcounsel.com) has engaged in significant complex litigation around the country on behalf of private clients and several civil liberties organizations, such as the National Emergency Civil Liberties Committee, the Bill of Rights Foundation, and the Electronic Frontier Foundation. For example, Mr. Gross was part of the criminal defense team which represented Leona Helmsley in her prosecution for income tax evasion, and, among other things, was responsible for the successful motion to dismiss her state prosecution on double jeopardy grounds. He represents several non-traditional religions in various types of litigation raising issues of religious freedom, due process, and improper government activity, both in affirmative lawsuits and in defending damage lawsuits by ex-members. He has been special counsel in criminal cases on constitutional issues, and engages in general litigation for private clients, e.g., he represented Dr. Spock in a breach of contract action relating to a video on child care; he represented and advised Leona and Harry Helmsley in a variety of civil lawsuits, liquor and real estate licensing proceedings, and contracts. He litigated a First Amendment and equal protection challenge to the large-scale relocation of Navajo elders from their ancestral homelands at Big Mountain, Arizona; a successful challenge to Pan American World Airways' policy during the Gulf War against granting passage to any Iraqi nationals; and represented the widow of Salvador Allende, the slain president of Chile, in the first successful challenge to the government's ideological exclusion policy.

Mr. Gross' first degree and career was in computer science which has served to dovetail in matters of intellectual property. He was a systems programmer for IBM, a systems analyst at University of California Medical Center and the director of data processing for a local governmental agency. He represented one of the world's largest watch manufacturers involved in trademark infringement litigation; the Estate of Norma Millay Ellis relating to the sale of the literary properties of Edna St. Vincent Millay; and a French biotechnology company in litigation relating to the sublicense of patent rights, and in contract negotiations about the sale of biotechnology development rights; and actively advises and litigates on trademark and copyright issues. He has represented authors, artists, performers and their agents in negotiating contracts for publication, performance, and sale of motion picture and television rights.

Mr. Gross has been active in Internet law for many years. As counsel to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a civil liberties organization focusing on electronic communications and new technology, he advised and litigated on numerous technology issues. As special counsel in the successful defense of an individual who disseminated a magazine via e-mail over the Internet accused of wire fraud for publishing a document obtained by computer hackers, before the Internet was widely used, Mr. Gross raised constitutional issues concerning the rights of publishers, both electronic and print, to disseminate information lawfully obtained by them. He recently successfully defended an Internet service provider sued by a software industry group for copyright infringement based on the actions of the provider's customers. He was a director of the International Society for Technology in Education. He represented content providers in negotiations with networks, advised on domain name disputes and litigated jurisdictional issues raised by Internet activity.

A significant portion of Mr. Gross' practice centers around matters of defamation and privacy. Mr. Gross advises media entities on defamation and libel clearance. He actively represents plaintiffs in defamation cases involving national and local news media. In addition, he actively represents clients prior to the publication of potentially inflammatory articles in negotiations with news media to ensure that accurate information is published.

In the international law area, Mr. Gross was lead counsel and adviser to the Republic of Panama, its agencies and its Mission to the United Nations in 1989 when the United States government froze all Panamanian assets; represented a foreign telephone company in negotiating an underwater cable construction and maintenance agreement and telephone service agreement with AT&T, and represented the Cuban Olympic Committee and the Cuban television agency in the negotiations to sell the television rights to the 1991 Pan American Games. In addition, he represented several foreign companies in contract negotiations with U.S. companies and in matters relating to their U.S. subsidiaries. Further, he provides advice and obtains licenses for transactions with countries subject to trading restrictions.

Terry Gross is also active in plaintiffs' class action cases. He was lead counsel for Manybeads v. United States, a class action involving the elders of the Navajo Tribe. He was liaison counsel and settlement class counsel in Perish v. Intel Corporation, a winning consumer fraud class action. He is Co-Chair of the Steering Committee in the Microsoft Antitrust Class Action Litigation, based on Microsoft's monopolization of the personal computer operating systems and software market. He was counsel in In re Airline Ticket Commission Antitrust Litigation, an antitrust action which challenged the airlines' reduction of travel agent commissions, resulting in an $87 million settlement; is lead counsel in Lea v. Pacific Bell, a consumer fraud and unfair competition class action; is counsel in the Old Republic Title Company Class Action Litigation (executive committee), an unfair competition and consumer fraud class action; and is counsel in the Flat Glass Antitrust Litigation (executive committee); the Sanitary Paper Antitrust Litigation; the Vitamin Cases Antitrust Litigation (steering committee); the Cosmetics Antitrust Litigation (steering committee), antitrust actions challenging pricefixing in the glass, sanitary paper, cosmetics and vitamin industries; and the Providian Class Action Litigation (executive committee), an unfair competition, false advertising and consumer fraud action.

Mr. Gross also litigates in the area of legal ethics, representing attorneys facing bar complaints or discipline, and also in litigating legal malpractice cases. Mr. Gross actively handles appeals in all the areas his practice, as well as criminal appeals. A significant portion of Mr. Gross' practice also involves the areas of antitrust, consumer fraud, commercial law and employment discrimination.

Mr. Gross is counsel to, and formerly a partner at, Rabinowitz, Boudin, Standard, Krinsky & Lieberman, P.C., of New York.

Born Flushing, New York, February 19, 1948; admitted to bar, 1980, Oregon; 1982, California and U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit; 1984, New York, U.S. District Court, Southern and Eastern Districts of New York and U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Michigan; 1988, U.S. Supreme Court; 1993, U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit and United States District Court, Northern, Eastern and Central Districts of California. Education: Brown University (A.B., Computer Science, 1968); University of Oregon; Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California at Berkeley (J.D., 1980). Associate Editor, California Law Review, 1978-80. Author: "Robeson v. State: The Right to Prearrest Silence," 67 California Law Review 1205, 1980. Systems Programmer, IBM New York Scientific Center, 1968-69; Systems Analyst, University of California Medical Center at San Francisco, 1969-70; Data Processing Manager, Lane County Department of Transportation, 1972-76; Law Clerk to Hon. Otto R. Skopil, Jr., U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, 1980-82; Partner and Associate, Rabinowitz, Boudin, Standard, Krinsky & Lieberman, P.C., New York, New York, 1983-1993. Member, American Civil Liberties Union, 1982-present. Director, International Society for Technology in Education, 1992-1995. Advisory Committee, First Annual Conference on Computers, Freedom and Privacy, 1991. Member, Bar Association of San Francisco (Member: Intellectual Property Section; Superior Court Early Settlement Program; Legal Ethics Section); State Bar of California (Member: Committee on Federal Courts, 1994-1997; Intellectual Property Section; Litigation Section); New York State Bar Association; National Lawyers Guild (Executive Board, San Francisco Chapter, 1994-1997; Executive Committee, New York City Chapter, 1990-1993).
 

ADAM BELSKY (adam@gbcounsel.com) specializes in intellectual property, general business litigation, media law, and class actions. He has extensive experience in litigating copyright infringement, business torts, and commercial contract cases, in both state and federal courts. He has also litigated defamation, invasion of privacy, employment discrimination, and other constitutional and civil rights claims. He has an active practice advising Internet-related companies on various licensing and other contracts and with respect to their intellectual property rights.

In the course of his practice, Mr. Belsky has been involved in a landmark international arbitration of copyright and antitrust claims between two of the world's largest computer companies. He has represented Quokka Sports, Inc. and the America's Cup in a successful action to wrest the americascup.com domain name from a cybersquatter based in New Zealand. He has also litigated on behalf of a leading video game company in a copyright infringement suit against a competitor for copying a popular video game; a large construction company whose former employees misappropriated trade secrets in forming a competing firm; and a software development company in claims against a business associate firm for unfair competition and misappropriation of trade secrets in the hiring away of its employees.

On a pro bono basis, Mr. Belsky represented the "found-sound" artists Negativland in a contractual and intellectual property dispute with their record company, obtaining a successful settlement in which Negativland regained the rights to a number of their recordings. He has also litigated on a pro bono basis on behalf of criminal defendants on appeal, and represented Muslim prison inmates in a successful appeal of their civil rights action for discrimination and violation of their free exercise of religion.

Mr. Belsky received his A.B. degree from Amherst College in 1984, and his law degree from Boalt Hall at the University of California at Berkeley in 1989, where he was Note and Comment editor on the California Law Review and graduated in the top one percent of his class. He then served as a law clerk to the Honorable Stanley A. Weigel, U.S. District Judge in the Northern District of California. Mr. Belsky was associated with the law firm of Morrison & Foerster in the firm's Tokyo and San Francisco offices from 1990 to 1994. From 1994 until joining Gross & Belsky LLP in 1999, Mr. Belsky was counsel to the law firm of Shartsis, Friese & Ginsburg LLP, of San Francisco, and to the Law Offices of Terry Gross. Mr. Belsky is a member of the California and various federal court bars. He is the co-author of "Implied Waiver Under the FSIA: A Proposed Exception to Immunity for Violations of Peremptory Norms of International Law," published in the California Law Review.

Born New York, N.Y., November 25, 1962; admitted to bar, 1989, California; 1992, U.S. District Court, Central District of California; 1993, U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, U.S. Court of Appeals, D.C. Circuit, and U.S. District Court, Northern District of California. Education: Amherst College (B.A., 1984); University of California, Boalt Hall School of Law (J.D., 1989). Order of the Coif. Note and Comment Editor, California Law Review, 1988-1989. Author, "Implied Waiver Under the FSIA: A Proposed Exception to Immunity for Violation of Peremptory Norms of International Law," 77 California Law Review 365 (1989). Law Clerk to Hon. Stanley A. Weigel, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, 1989-1990. Member, Bar Association of San Francisco; State Bar of California (Member, Litigation Section; Intellectual Property Section).
 

OWEN PRELL (owen@gbcounsel.com) practices in the areas of corporate, securities, transactional and intellectual property law, with an emphasis on private placements, mergers and acquisitions, entertainment and other copyright and trademark-based issues.   Mr. Prell has lectured and written on business, copyright and entertainment law, and actively represents authors, filmmakers, artists, broadcasters, publishers, software and multimedia producers, and other content providers with respect to business formation, website construction, license negotiation and drafting, and related issues.

In the areas of media and entertainment law, Mr. Prell has an active practice representing publishers, producers and content providers in all facets of business, entertainment and intellectual property law issues.  As outside counsel to Chronicle Books, Mr. Prell specializes in advising on the drafting and negotiation of complex, multi-party publishing agreements between the client and authors, producer-packagers and sublicensees.  He has also advised broadcasters (e.g., KRON-TV) and wireless service providers (e.g., Plus W Networks) on issues related to FCC compliance and other telecommunications concerns.  In addition, Mr. Prell represents many writers and artists on a wide range of entertainment-related  issues.  For example, he advises Jason Lewis and Expedition 360, the world’s first human-powered global circumnavigation project, on such matters as consultant work-for-hire agreements, agent and manager representation, sales of Internet, educational video, television and other media rights to cable broadcasters and publishers, and organization of both for-profit and non-profit entities.

As a corporate lawyer, Mr. Prell has represented numerous start-up and emerging companies in all aspects of business law, including entity choice and formation, capitalization, employment, antitrust and strategic alliances.  Mr. Prell regularly handles private securities and debt issuances on behalf of both companies and venture investors, including drafting private placement memorandums and related documentation to facilitate offerings under various Reg. D exemptions to registration under the Securities Act of 1933.  He also routinely advises businesses on management and ownership issues, including structuring multiple-class equity ownership, creation of employee stock ownership plans and serving as general counsel to boards of directors.

As an adjunct to his corporate practice, Mr. Prell represents companies in the field of mergers and acquisitions, both in the sale of assets and equity interests, including advising on tax-related characterizations and restructurings.  This practice includes jurisdictional identification and compliance with the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act, as well as identifying disclosure requirements, compliance and other issues involved with international transactions.

A signification portion of  Mr. Prell’s practice involves intellectual property.  He represents clients in identifying, protecting, enforcing, and licensing Internet domain names, trade secrets, trademarks and copyrights.  With the advent of eCommerce, such practice has evolved to include advising on appropriate website content, links and disclaimers.
Mr. Prell serves as a panel attorney and program lecturer for California Lawyers for the Arts, a non-profit organization which provides attorney referrals and other law-related services to artists.

Mr. Prell graduated from UCLA in 1983 magna cum laude, with an A.B. in philosophy and was elected Phi Beta Kappa.  He received his law degree in 1986 from Cornell Law School, where he served as Editor of the Cornell Law Review.  Mr. Prell began his legal career as a business associate at Morrison & Foerster in San Francisco in 1986, where he participated in the landmark IBM v. Fujitsu software copyright arbitration.  Mr. Prell subsequently joined Shartsis, Friese & Ginsburg LLP, where he continued his business and intellectual property practice.  Prior to joining Gross & Belsky LLP, Mr. Prell was Of Counsel with Stein & Lubin LLP from 1998 to 2001, and with Landels Ripley & Diamond LLP from 1996 to 1998.

Born Santa Monica, California, September 8, 1961; admitted to bar, 1986, California; Education: University of California, Los Angeles (A.B., Philosophy, 1983); Cornell Law School (J.D., 1986).  Editor, Cornell Law Review (1984-86).  Author: various articles on business and entertainment law in Cornell Law Review, Business Lawyer, Asia-Pacific Law Review, and San Francisco Attorney).  Languages:  French.  Panel Member, California Lawyers for the Arts (1995 to present); Member, Bar Association of San Francisco (Business and Entertainment Sections); State Bar of California (Corporate and Intellectual Property Sections)

RABINOWITZ, BOUDIN, STANDARD, KRINSKY & LIEBERMAN, P.C.,740 Broadway at Astor Place, New York, New York 10003, to which Mr. Gross is counsel, is one of the leading and most experienced law firms in the nation specializing in constitutional law; as well as specializing in public and private international law, copyright and trademark, criminal law, labor law and environmental law. It has litigated scores of constitutional cases in the Supreme Court of the United States, the federal courts and various state courts. Typical cases have included the defense of Dr. Daniel Ellsberg in the Pentagon Papers case; representation of Jimmy Hoffa in his challenge to President Nixon's conditional "pardon" excluding him from association with the labor movement; representation of writers such as Allen Ginsberg, Norman Mailer and William Burroughs, the Pacifica radio network and PEN American Center in their recent successful challenge to an act of Congress and an FCC regulation prohibiting broadcast, on a 24 hour basis, of purportedly "indecent" materials; and representation of various individuals and businesses in commercial speech cases.