Now more than ever, technology is influencing the way we do business, communicate, move through and around the world, access and manage our homes, receive and administer healthcare, make purchases, secure information, and protect our most valuable property. Morrison Foerster keeps pace with this rapidly evolving landscape across our internationally recognized corporate, finance, intellectual property, and litigation practices. MoFo Tech brings together our insights relating to fields such as blockchain and distributed ledger, cloud and as-a-service technologies, driverless cars, drones, fintech, computer hardware and software, the Internet of Things, semiconductors, and telecommunications. The MoFo Tech blog offers real-time, in-depth analyses of the trends and complex issues shaping the global technology industry.<h2>ABOUT MORRISON FOERSTER</h2>Morrison Foerster is a leading global law firm that transforms complexity into advantage for its clients. Our clients include some of the largest financial institutions, banks, consulting and accounting firms, and Fortune 100, technology, and life sciences companies. Highlighting the firm’s commitment to client service, leadership in market-changing deals and impact litigation, and values-based culture, Morrison Foerster has been repeatedly recognized as one of the top 10 firms on The American Lawyer’s A-List. Year after year, the firm receives significant recognition from Chambers and The Legal 500 across their various guides, including Global, USA, Asia‑Pacific, Europe, UK, Latin America, and FinTech Legal. Our lawyers passionately care about delivering legal excellence while living our values. Morrison Foerster has a long-standing commitment to creating a culture that respects and celebrates differences, while providing an inclusive environment. The firm has achieved Mansfield Certification Plus since 2018 as a result of successfully reaching at least 30 percent women, communities of color, and LGBTQ+ lawyer representation in a notable number of current leadership roles and committees. The firm also has a long history of commitment to the community and society through providing pro bono legal services, including litigating for civil rights and civil liberties, improving public education and fostering the wellbeing of children, advocating for veterans, promoting international human rights, enforcing the right to asylum, and safeguarding the environment.

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Scott Llewellyn’s practice focuses on complex litigation in federal and state courts around the country, with an emphasis on patent and trade secret disputes. Over the past decade, he has worked on some of the most significant, high–profile IP cases involving technology for televisions, smartphones, and self–driving cars, relying on 40 years of experience with computer hardware and software. Scott also has significant experience with business divorce cases before courts and arbitrators, involving a mix of trade secret, patent, tort, and contract claims relating to technology development and implementation.Scott also has successfully tried general commercial arbitration and agency matters, briefed and argued various appeals in federal appellate court, and tried more than 20 cases for the Denver City Attorney’s office, most of them jury trials.Scott also has an active pro bono practice, having worked on a variety of criminal and immigration appeals, and having represented Colorado criminal defense and mental health organizations in high–profile suits against the state of Colorado for violations of the constitutional rights of defendants.At MoFo, Scott serves on the board of the Morrison & Foerster Foundation. In the broader legal community, he serves on the boards of the Colorado Lawyers Committee and Drop in the Bucket (a charity that builds wells and sanitation systems in sub–Saharan Africa).After law school, Scott clerked for the Honorable Clarence A. Brimmer, District of Wyoming, and the Honorable Diarmuid F. O’Scannlain, Ninth Circuit. He was also previously an adjunct professor at the Georgetown University Law Center.

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Partner

Scott Llewellyn’s practice involves complex litigation before state and federal courts around the country, with an emphasis on patent and trade secret disputes for high-tech companies, to which he brings more than 35 years of experience with computer hardware and software, in particular relating to the processing and transmission of audio, video, voice, and other types of data. Mr. Llewellyn has also tried commercial arbitration and agency matters; briefed and argued various appeals in federal appellate court; and tried more than 20 cases for the Denver city attorney’s office, most of them jury trials.

Scott F. Llewellyn

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MoFo Tech brings together legal insights and in-depth analyses on trends and complex issues shaping the global technology industry, covering fields such as blockchain and distributed ledger, cloud and SaaS technologies, driverless cars, drones, FinTech, computer hardware and software, the IoT, semiconductors, and telecommunications.

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Provides insights and reports on the most current class actions lawsuits and product liability issues that affect consumer-facing companies.

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News and thought leadership from lawyers who are adding value to the legal profession and the communities we call home.

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MoFo Tech brings together legal insights and in-depth analyses on trends and complex issues shaping the global technology industry, covering fields such as blockchain and distributed ledger, cloud and SaaS technologies, driverless cars, drones, FinTech, computer hardware and software, the IoT, semiconductors, and telecommunications.

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Current State of the AI VC Financing Market

MoFo Tech Law Summit – Tech and Antitrust: Policy Shifts in the Second Trump Administration

MoFo Tech Law Summit – Responsible Tech: Policy Becomes Practice

AI Dynamics: Regulatory Landscape and Industry Insights

Introducing the MoFo Tech Law Summit – Innovation Under Regulation

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On January 18, 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Division of Investment Management broke its relative silence regarding the recent growth of cryptocurrencies and cryptocurrency-related products. While signaling that registration of funds intending to invest substantially in cryptocurrency and related products is not on the immediate horizon, the guidance arguably provided the beginnings of a much-needed roadmap for the future development of registered open-ended funds ("mutual funds") and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) linked to cryptocurrencies and related products.Read our <a href="https://media2.mofo.com/v3/assets/blt5775cc69c999c255/bltf6f23be8c7149cb9/627317c0a1a1dd2aa9f6ca62/180123-sec-cryptocurrency.pdf">client alert</a>.

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Co-chair of Investment Management Group

Kelley Howes is a Partner in the Denver office and Co-Chair of the Investment Management Group.

Kelley A. Howes

Kelley Howes serves as co-chair of Morrison & Foerster’s Investment Management Group. She has experience with a wide range of legal, regulatory, compliance, corporate governance, insurance, and other matters relating primarily to the representation of U.S. registered and unregistered investment companies, offshore funds, registered investment advisers, transfer agents, and broker-dealers.

Kelley Howes

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SEC Staff Raises Concerns Related to Cryptocurrency ETFs and Mutual Funds

Do You Want to Launch an ICO? Please, Listen to the SEC

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On January 18, 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Division of Investment Management broke its relative silence regarding the recent growth of 

SEC Staff Raises Concerns Related to Cryptocurrency ETFs and Mutual Funds

In the coming year, start-up businesses and their investors should note the following areas, each of which can be boiled down to a single word that begins with the letter “C”:<ol><li>the importance of having access to the best human capital (“connections”);</li><li>the likelihood that promising start-ups will continue to attract angel funding and seed rounds (“cash”);</li><li>California’s new legal framework around marijuana (“cannabis”);</li><li>digital token sales (“cryptocuerrencies”);</li><li>the imminent need for start-ups to out an end to hostile work environments (“culture”)</li></ol>Find out exactly how a co-chair of Morrison & Foerster’s emerging-companies-and- venture-capital practice expects the five Cs to affect start-ups in 2018.Read the full <a target="_blank" href="https://media2.mofo.com/v3/assets/blt5775cc69c999c255/blt22dc10be79c41c83/627317b94d9f89297129023f/180122-five-cs-venture-capital-2018.pdf">Silicon Valley Business Journal article</a>.

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Murray Indick is a corporate partner in the Emerging Companies + Venture Capital Group.

Murray A. Indick

Murray Indick is a partner in the firm’s Corporate Department. Murray has more than thirty years of corporate law, investment fund and related experience, both in private practice and as partner and general counsel to Blum Capital Partners (1997-2004), and partner and general counsel to Prides Capital Partners (2004-2010).

Murray Indick

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Five "C"s To Watch in Silicon Valley’s Emerging Venture Capital Ecosystem in 2018

Why Should Your Startup Care About Intellectual Property?

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In the coming year, start-up businesses and their investors should note the following areas, each of which can be boiled down to a single word that begins with 

Five "C"s To Watch in Silicon Valley’s Emerging Venture Capital Ecosystem in 2018

Many consumers are knowledgeable enough about cryptocurrencies to be able to identify which tokens they want to purchase, but not tech-savvy enough to know how to purchase those tokens. Businesses that can provide better instruction on token purchasing or create more user-friendly interfaces are therefore likely to find many eager customers.Read our article in <a href="https://www.crowdfundinsider.com/2018/01/126724-kno-mo-seemingly-small-yet-actually-chasmic-gap-crypto-knowledge-crypto-capability/">Crowdfund Insider</a>.

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KNO-MO? The Seemingly Small (Yet Actually Chasmic) Gap Between Crypto Knowledge & Crypto Capability

Paying Employees in Cryptocurrency: Is That Lawful? 

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Many consumers are knowledgeable enough about cryptocurrencies to be able to identify which tokens they want to purchase, but not tech-savvy enough to know how 

KNO-MO? The Seemingly Small (Yet Actually Chasmic) Gap Between Crypto Knowledge & Crypto Capability

Delaware, the state where more than half of all U.S. publicly traded companies are incorporated, has taken steps to facilitate a favorable legal and regulatory environment for the development of blockchain technology.The state’s initiatives are designed to, among other things, enable companies to precisely keep track of who owns a company’s stock, and diminish the likelihood of security interest perfection errors which can result in lenders losing billions of dollars.Learn about two real-life corporate disasters that resulted from pre-blockchain era mistakes in these very areas. Read Morrison & Foerster’s article in <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/groupthink/2017/09/20/why-the-delaware-blockchain-initiative-matters-to-all-dealmakers/#3b1656907550">Forbes</a>.

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Geoff has extensive experience in representing investment banks, private debt funds, hedge funds, business development companies, asset managers, specialty finance companies, borrowers, and issuers in

Geoffrey Peck

Geoffrey R. Peck

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Senior Of Counsel

Mark Wojciechowski is a partner in the Financial Transactions Group of Morrison & Foerster’s New York office.

Mark S. Wojciechowski

Mark Wojciechowski is a partner in the Financial Transactions Group of Morrison & Foerster’s New York office.

Mark Wojciechowski

Why The Delaware Blockchain Initiative Matters To All Dealmakers

Delaware, the state where more than half of all U.S. publicly traded companies are incorporated, has taken steps to facilitate a favorable legal and regulatory 

Why The Delaware Blockchain Initiative Matters To All Dealmakers

A federal district court in North Dakota on March 17, 2017, dismissed a complaint against the payment processing company Intercept Corporation and its senior executives, holding that the evidence provided by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) did not show any signs of Intercept’s malpractice as that term is defined under the Dodd-Frank Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA).The CFPB’s complaint, the district court held, relied on conclusory statements that lacked factual support. The court cited as an example of such conclusory statements the CFPB’s allegation that Intercept ignored “red flags” tending to show that Intercept was processing data for merchants engaged in fraud. The CFPB’s complaint made this allegation, the district court explained, without “sufficiently identif[ying] particular clients whose actions provided ‘red flags’ to Intercept or how Intercept’s failure to act upon those ‘red flags’ caused harm or was likely to cause harm to any identified consumer or group of consumers.”In one of the few opinions addressing the purview of the CFPB’s authority under the CFPA, the court further held that despite the fact that Intercept acts as an agent of the merchant-customer, but not as an agent of the consumer whose account is being debited, “Intercept is a ‘covered person’ and a ‘service provider’ under the CFPA. [Its principal owners] Smith and Dresser are ‘related persons’ under the CFPA because of their status as officers of Intercept.”Read the full <a href="https://media2.mofo.com/v3/assets/blt5775cc69c999c255/blt29bf982c48ffdf16/62730e980cffdf1eb1369b90/170320-court-finds-cfpb-case.pdf" target="_blank">Client Alert</a>.

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Court Finds CFPB Case Against Payment Processor Lacking

California Supreme Court Clarifies Standards for Whistleblower Claims Under California Labor Code Section 1102.5

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A federal district court in North Dakota on March 17, 2017, dismissed a complaint against the payment processing company Intercept Corporation and its senior ex

Court Finds CFPB Case Against Payment Processor Lacking

The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published a “Dear CEO” letter on February 28, 2017 requiring urgent action from firms operating loan-based crowdfunding platforms that facilitate loans to lending businesses.  UK-based crowdfunding platforms and some of their borrowers that fail to act may be in breach of certain regulatory requirements.Requirements for UK Loan-Based Crowdfunding Platforms by March 14, 2017Relevant firms must provide FCA with information by March 14, 2017, about(i) whether the crowdfunding platform has been facilitating loans to lending businesses who have lent to others without the required “accepting deposits” permission; and(ii) the platform’s proposed actions to resolve existing breaches and prevent future breaches.Without required permissions, crowdfunding platforms must immediately stop facilitating the acceptance of deposits by borrowers.  This letter is a follow-on to FCA’s ongoing efforts to identify and regulate so-called “shadow banking” activities.Loan-based crowdfunding platforms will now need to undertake some degree of due diligence on the activities and regulatory permissions of their participants.

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UK Regulations: Urgent Action Required from Loan-Based Crowdfunding Platforms

UK Regulations: Urgent Action Required from Loan-Based Crowdfunding Platforms

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The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published a “Dear CEO” letter on February 28, 2017 requiring urgent action from firms operating loan-based crowdfundi