Senior Counsel

Richard G. Lyon is a nationally recognized senior commercial attorney and counselor with 35 years' experience in Corporate, Intellectual Property, International Transactions and State, Federal, and International Litigation and Arbitration. Since 1995 he has represented clients in the acquisition, exploitation, and sale of intellectual capital; business acquisitions, divestitures, and strategic alliances; and all aspects of procurement, including sales, distribution, and distributor relations matters. He regularly assists clients with business process and information technology outsourcing; privacy, information technology, and internet business issues; and trademark and patent litigation support and strategy matters. Prior to joining Spencer Crain, Mr. Lyon was for twenty years a member of corporate and litigation departments of two large law firms. Mr. Lyon also served as Vice President and General Counsel of the United States subsidiary of an international telecommunications company with the principal responsibility for legal and governmental affairs for U.S. and Canadian operations.

Over the past ten years Mr. Lyon has served as a neutral and domain name panelist for the Arbitration and Mediation Center of the World Intellectual Property Association, a United Nations organization based in Geneva, Switzerland. He has published more than 100 decisions in domain name disputes and speaks regularly on this subject. He is also qualified as a mediator.

Representative Experience

• Principal outside counsel for a major hotel company on IT procurement matters.
• Represented French manufacturer in its first four distributorship contracts in the United States and various South American companies.
• Represented several major companies in license negotiations with industry "patent trolls," resulting in worldwide licenses.
• Principal counsel for the client in two business process outsourcing (BPO) transactions (>$650 million/year) for a Canadian high tech company.
• Litigation counsel for French company in $100 million+ patent infringement suit.
• Lead counsel for niche system supplier in negotiations for independent joint ventures with seven industry leaders and related joint venture bidding activities and legal affairs.
• Chief counsel and principal negotiator for European equipment supplier in joint venture/venture financing/partnership restructuring of what is now the largest mobile data system in the world (a five year project).

Education

J.D., Harvard University, 1971
A.B., Haverford College, 1968

Bar Admissions

Texas, 1996
New York, 1972

Court Admissions

Supreme Court of the United States
United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York
United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas
United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas
United States District Court for the Western District of Texas

Awards & Recognitions

• Martindale-Hubbel AV® Peer Review Rated

Professional Affiliations

• State Bar of Texas
• Dallas Bar Association
• The Association of the Bar of the City of New York

Previous Law Firm Experience

• Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP (Dallas office) 1994-2009
• Johnson & Gibbs/Johnson & Wortley, P.C. (Dallas office) 1989-1994
• Sullivan & Cromwell (New York City office) 1971-1980

Publications and Presentations

• Speaker at World Intellectual Property Organization annual Advanced Workshop on Domain Name Dispute Resolution
• Speaker at several HITEC conferences of the Hospitality Financial and Technical Professionals

Civic & Community Involvement

• Fund-raising and leadership activities for Haverford College. Regional co-chair of Major Gifts for the College's recent $200 million capital campaign.
• Active in various backcountry service organizations, including Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation, Greater Yellowstone Coalition, Continental Divide Trail Alliance.
• Active in various environmental and fly fishing organizations.