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Technology

Technology

Overview

Carlton Fields is dedicated to addressing the full spectrum of technology companies' legal needs. We work both with established tech companies and with growth-stage firms on cutting-edge intellectual property, corporate, employment, and privacy and cybersecurity matters.

Technological advances are constant, rapid, and unrelenting. To address these challenges effectively and efficiently, Carlton Fields employs an integrated team approach to help our clients develop, protect, and capitalize on their technology assets and to help them rapidly grow their businesses. In every stage of our technology clients' life cycles, we render counsel with the goal of helping our clients succeed.

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Aviation

Blockchain and Digital Currency

EdTech

Esports and Electronic Gaming

Fintech

Health Care Tech and Electronic Health Records

Insurtech

IT, IT infrastructure, and Cybersecurity

Online Commerce

Software, Mobile Applications, and Software as a Service (SaaS)

Telecommunications

AdTech

New business and regulatory challenges are emerging daily for businesses in the adtech space, and Carlton Fields’ team is uniquely equipped to assist advertisers, agencies, publishers, digital advertising companies, and technology businesses with regulatory compliance, privacy consulting, data rights and ownership, terms of service, brand and intellectual property protection, M&A support, contract review, and other day-to-day technology transaction needs. Learn more about our capabilities in adtech.

Aviation

Our aviation practice employs several licensed pilots, and we have advised international and domestic aircraft manufacturers and pilots in all manner of regulatory, litigation, and intellectual property disputes. We have particular recent experience with the use of unmarred aerial vehicles and drones, including their use in construction and survey projects and in high-density areas. We also support companies that provide software and hardware services to aviation clients and transit systems more broadly. Learn about our capabilities within the aviation industry.

Blockchain and Digital Currency

Carlton Fields has worked for years not just to respond to the laws applicable to blockchain and cryptocurrency but also to develop that legal regime alongside our clients, who are themselves technology and business innovators in this space. Carlton Fields has taken a forward-looking approach to working with clients on blockchain-related issues, including those arising from the use of cryptocurrencies and smart contracts. For growth-stage companies, including exchanges, we provide cost-effective regulatory, litigation, and transactional support and outside general counsel services. For established companies, including financial services firms and merchants, we partner with in-house professionals and business leaders to integrate blockchain technologies and work with cryptocurrency while minimizing legal risk. Learn more about our capabilities in blockchain and digital currencies.

EdTech

Carlton Fields has long been trusted outside counsel to K-12 schools and colleges and universities, including some of the top private boarding schools and universities where we serve as outside general counsel. Our technology attorneys partner with this education practice to serve companies that provide software, hardware, and related consulting solutions to education customers. This support includes contract review, employment and outsourcing advice, M&A, intellectual property services, and, when necessary, litigation on intellectual property and complex billing disputes. Learn about our capabilities within the education industry.

Esports and Electronic Gaming

Our team of technology lawyers stretches across practices and disciplines to provide innovative and tailored solutions to help our clients reach their legal and business goals in esports and electronic gaming. We combine our passion for technology and video games with our collective experience in key industries to deliver comprehensive legal services — both traditional and emerging. Our attorneys are thought leaders for esports, and we represent teams (both private and collegiate), individual talent, investors, and promoters and leagues. We also assist growth-stage companies that market to the industry. We work with publishers and content developers on corporate and employment matters, and to protect their intellectual property. Learn about our capabilities in esports and electronic gaming.

Fintech

Carlton Fields has worked with financial services clients since our inception 120 years ago, and we have grown alongside our clients as fintech and payment technologies have made traditional banking and insurance services more accessible than ever. We support traditional banks, financial services firms, private equity, and venture capital, as well as the growth-stage companies whose ideas are fueling an explosion of innovation in fintech. We have particular experience in legal services to the crowdfunding industry and service providers in the insurance space. Learn about our capabilities in financial services and regulatory industries.

Health Care Tech and Electronic Health Records

Our traditional health care practice has long included legal advice on emerging technologies, including sophisticated medical devices for patient care and, in the back office, electronic health records, medical billing, and records processing. This has included regulatory support, intellectual property protection, contract review, and privacy and cybersecurity advice, in this highly regulated space. In the past year, we have also advised on a number of cutting-edge telehealth and telemedicine issues. Our work for providers of electronic medical billing services, software, and support has included internal investigations, government investigations, and class action defense. Learn about our capabilities within the health care industry.

Insurtech

Our attorneys have worked closely with in-house legal departments and service providers to the insurance industry as the past 10 years have seen cosmic shifts in the delivery of underwriting, claims adjusting, and marketing of those services. We have supported service provider clients whose customers include property and casualty, automotive, hurricane, and life insurance carriers and brokers. Our industry clients — the insurers and brokers themselves — are some of the largest insurance and reinsurance companies and insurance brokerages in the world, and we assist them in innovating and developing this technology, including through incubators. We bring this deep industry experience to scale when serving growth-stage customers and disrupters that are pushing technology forward. We provide regulatory, employment, intellectual property, and privacy support, as some of our work.

IT, IT Infrastructure, and Cybersecurity

Carlton Fields has provided legal support to information technology and IT infrastructure clients, and recent work has included cloud providers and data centers in transactions, employment, regulatory, and litigation. We also work closely with the growing cybersecurity industry, including managed security service providers, and such work has included M&A support, privacy consulting, and contract review. Our team includes former computer engineers and former federal cyber prosecutors. Learn about our capabilities in cybersecurity and data privacy.

Online Commerce

Carlton Fields represents some of the largest online retailers and marketplaces throughout the country, as well as companies that do business online with the public and those that support the electric and physical sides of the supply chain. Our work includes protection of intellectual property, employment advice, and cybersecurity and privacy concerns. We also represent insurance carriers and brokers, including P&C carriers and health insurance brokers, with substantial direct-to-consumer internet presence. While our legal support is holistic for our clients' needs in online commerce, our recent experience has included corporate transactions, consumer litigation (including class actions), and cybersecurity incident response.

Software, Mobile Applications, and Software as a Service (SaaS)

Our litigators and intellectual property attorneys, including former software engineers, have represented software and SaaS companies for years. We also have substantial experience with mobile applications, in providing legal services both to established developers and to growth-stage companies and individual entrepreneurs. Our work includes monitoring intellectual property portfolios, often at a fixed monthly cost, to ensure appropriate protections and enforcement. Recent projects have included support for distance learning software and infrastructure, including issues raised under COPPA for data collection on minors. Our attorneys also have substantial experience providing legal support to virtual reality and simulations projects.

Telecommunications

Our telecommunications practice is nationally recognized, and we serve some of the largest mobile and telecommunications providers in the world. Recent legal issues on which our attorneys have assisted include significant mergers and acquisitions, the development of fraud recovery programs, cybersecurity advice and incident response (including as to consumer proprietary network information), and legal issues involving 5G and related technology. Learn about our capabilities within the telecommunications industry.

Insights

The Future is Female

Carlton Fields is excited to celebrate entrepreneuHERs! We recognize the specific challenges and hurdles female founders, CEOs, and small business owners face on a daily basis. Carlton Fields is not just another law firm. It was one of the first Southern law firms to hire female, Black and Jewish partners, and to adopt same-sex benefits for its LGBTQ+ employees. Selecting a female chair for its technology practice was intentional as was creating a team of female attorneys to help female founders with all of their legal needs.

Whether you are just launching your venture or busy growing it, you face critical decisions about every aspect of your business. Seeking legal advice early can help you avoid some of the most common mistakes and pitfalls that can trigger significant legal issues, ruin deals, or cause financial repercussions.
 
  • Are you evaluating using a promissory note, a SAFE, or an equity sale to raise funds?
  • Have you taken appropriate steps to protect your intellectual property?
  • Are your fundraising documents and pitch deck in compliance with applicable law?
  • Are your lease agreements structured for flexibility, profitability, and legal enforceability?
  • Are you in compliance with all consumer data privacy laws? 
  • Are you prepared for a cyberattack?
  • Are you maintaining adequate employment documentation, such as client handbooks or manuals?
  • Have you considered important tax issues, credits, rebates, and incentives, such as employee retention credits, sales tax, payroll tax, Section 83(b) elections, and stock option issues?
  • Do you have strong guidelines on conflicts of interest, nondisclosure, stock options/investment, and insurance?

 


We are ready to help you and your company navigate the constantly evolving tech sector and elevate your trailblazing innovations.
 

Our Team

Key Contacts

Gail Podolsky
Shareholder

Additional Members

Joan K. Archer
Of Counsel
Los Angeles
Jordan D. August
Shareholder
Tampa
Ricky C. Benjamin
Shareholder
Atlanta
Ann Young Black
Shareholder
Miami
Alexandra D. Blye
Shareholder
West Palm Beach
Justan C. Bounds
Shareholder
Atlanta
John E. Clabby
Shareholder
Tampa
Richard A. Denmon
Shareholder
Tampa
Julia E. Duffy
Associate
New Jersey
Jorkeell Echeverria
Associate
New Jersey
Simon A. Gaugush
Shareholder
Tampa
Harvey W. Geller
Shareholder
Los Angeles
William Giltinan
Shareholder
Tampa
Michael T. Hensley
Shareholder
New Jersey
Ethan Horwitz
Shareholder
New York
Amanda Romfh Jesteadt
Shareholder
West Palm Beach
Daniel C. Johnson
Shareholder
Orlando
Eden Marcu
Associate
West Palm Beach
Neal McAliley
Shareholder
Miami
Kevin P. McCoy
Shareholder
Tampa
Kathleen S. McLeroy
Shareholder
Tampa
Haroon N. Mian
Associate
New York
William G. Najmy
Associate
Tampa
Mark A. Neubauer
Shareholder
Los Angeles
Dennis J. Olle
Shareholder
Miami
Logan M. Owens
Associate
Atlanta
John C. Pitblado
Shareholder
Hartford
Rahul P. Ranadive
Shareholder
Miami
Robert L. Shannon
Shareholder
Atlanta
Charles T. Sharbaugh
Of Counsel
Atlanta
Madelyn Spatt Shulman
Of Counsel
New York
Susan L. Spencer
Shareholder
Atlanta
Benjamin M. Stoll
Shareholder
Washington, D.C.
J. Coy Stull
Of Counsel
Tampa
Terresa R. Tarpley
Shareholder
Atlanta
Charles W. Throckmorton
Shareholder
Miami
Michael C. Vandormael
Of Counsel
Miami
Julian C. Velez
Associate
Tampa
James Walker IV
Shareholder
Atlanta
Aaron S. Weiss
Shareholder
Miami
Barry Leigh Weissman
Shareholder
Los Angeles
Michael L. Yaeger
Shareholder
New York
Garth T. Yearick
Shareholder
West Palm Beach
Eleanor M. Yost
Shareholder
Tampa
Edmund J. Zaharewicz
Shareholder
Miami