Joan Archer (Intellectual Property - Kansas City) was a featured panelist at the ABA Annual Meeting in New York on August 7, with the panel Avoiding the First Date Jitters: Tips for Your First Meeting with Your Expert.

Ms. Archer and fellow panelists demonstrated issues that arise at the initial expert meeting that can have an indelible impact on litigation, through vignettes and case studies. The ensuing discussion illuminated important guidelines for expert interactions and explored proposed revisions to expert discoverability rules. The Annual Meeting is the American Bar Association's premier yearly gathering where the sections come together to kick off the upcoming bar year, conduct important committee meetings, and provide substantive programming for all its members.

Ms. Archer has litigated intellectual property matters including trademark, patent, unfair competition, and copyright cases. Her practice also includes counseling clients on trademark and copyright matters, including prosecuting applications before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and litigating trademark opposition and cancellation proceedings. Ms. Archer has substantial experience litigating trademark and trade dress cases, including those involving the Internet, disputes involving domain names and black-market software. Her courtroom experience includes having first- or second-chaired over ten jury trials, bench trials and preliminary injunction.

About Lathrop & Gage:
A leading Midwest full-service law firm, Lathrop & Gage L.C. has approximately 300 attorneys in 10 offices nationwide – from Denver, Colo. to New York, New York. In 2007, Chambers USA ranked Lathrop & Gage’s corporate, environmental, intellectual property, litigation, real estate and labor and employment teams among the best in the Midwest. For more information, visit www.lathropgage.com or www.beentherewonthat.com.