Erik Wolff Kahn

I first hired Erik around 2003 to review an IP patent portfolio and help us think through a patent program for our $80 million in annual R&D investment -- weight the cost/benefit and what we should do. Since then Erik has become my consigliere for all my commercial legal matters, in that he's my fir...st call and he then selects excellent attorneys within Bryan Cave to assign to my matters and supervises the work at every stage. Under his supervision, I've used Bryan Cave for commercial litigation, IP, contracts, and corporate structure work, as well as personal legal work. I first worked with Erik when I was a senior executive of an international tech firm owned by Goldman Sachs, and have continued with him through the founding, growth and successful sale of my own company, as well as to examine IP matters, contracts and corporate structure for new startups. For my company, he helped me win a $600,000 settlement from a client who backed out of a service contract -- the settlement was half the contract value and we never filed a single legal document. It was legal jujitsu, and what I really valued was the advice I received from Erik and the litigation attorney he brought in to know how hard to push without going over the edge and ending up in a costly legal battle. We prepared so well that we overwhelmed a vastly larger company (my client) before they had a chance to dig in and convince themselves of a robust defense. I absolutely recommend Erik for any IP matter, and as a first call for just about anything -- he'll assign a great attorney within Bryan Cave or refer out, and if within Bryan Cave will actively supervise (including billing). Most of my matters come down to making a commercial judgment on risks, and weighing and quantifying those economically. Whereas I've been frustrated in the past by lawyers who seem to just catalogue the risks but not help in weighing and quantifying them, the attorneys I've worked with through Erik have helped me make the right business decisions as a corporate executive and now as a business owner. And they are efficient, so while I could get a lower fee structure elsewhere, I actually do very well in terms of results verses cost. I'm no longer in the NYC metro area, yet Erik Kahn (and Bryan Cave) is the only service provider I've held on to as I transitioned to the West and built my own businesses.