Astrachan. For a guy with such an impossible last name, people remember Jim Astrachan. He'd joke that such a distinction may not bode well, but really it's because Jim does what he describes as "getting out there and doing it." Jim has gotten out there and blazed a trail long and wide.
Jim is a Life Fellow of the Maryland Bar Foundation and the American Bar Foundation. He has been an adjunct professor since 1979, teaching IP courses (including Copyright and IP and Mass Communications) at the University of Maryland and University of Baltimore Schools of Law, University of Baltimore Graduate School of Communications Design, and taxation subjects (yes, that's right, tax) at Loyola College Graduate School of Business. For the last ten years his teaching has focused on Trademark and Unfair Competition, at the University of Maryland School of Law. As his associates will readily tell you, Jim doesn't just lecture to law students. When he's not standing in front of a bunch of students (or a beleaguered young associate), Jim speaks nationwide on intellectual property topics, including advertising law, branding, trademark protection and copyright protection. Unfettered by his questionable typing and spelling skills, Jim doesn't limit his "getting out there" to speaking. He's a writer too. Since his earlier days when he nabbed his own legal column at ADWEEK magazine, Jim has become a fixture at The Daily Record, where his monthly LegalADvice column has been featured since approximately 1995 (and often garners a "hey, great column this month!" holler from a colleague on the street, and has been confronted by judges who want to debate the issues of a column), and is the author of a trio of primers on Trademark, Copyright and Advertising law. (Click Here to read Jim's column from The Daily Record.)
Jim and the firm are the authors of THE LAW OF ADVERTISING, a six volume treatise published by Matthew Bender Lexis/Nexis since 1972. (Click Here for more information.) In 2003, Jim co-authored Snake-Oil Security Claims, The Systematic Misrepresentation of Product Security in the E-Commerce Arena, published in the Michigan
Telecommunications & Technology Law Review (See Article) and the text book The
Essential Intellectual Property Primers: The Law of Trademark, Copyright and
Advertising, published by The Graduate Group.
Jim is named one of the Best Lawyers in America through a national nomination process (advertising and intellectual property law), and has been named twice by Baltimore Magazine as one of Baltimore's Best Attorneys. In 2006, Jim was named one of SmartCEO Magazine's Maryland Legal Elite for excellence in law. Following a three year tour of duty, Jim escaped being President of the Advertising Association of Baltimore. He was a member of the Executive Committee of the Bar Association of Baltimore City, and is the former Chair of the Intellectual Property Committee of the Maryland State Bar Association. He serves on the Peer Review Committee for the Maryland State Bar Association Grievance Committee, the Editorial Advisory Board of the Maryland Bar Journal, the Legal Advisory Committee of the Association of American Advertising Agencies, the Board of the Maryland Lawyers for the Arts and is a member of The Daily Record Editorial Advisory Board. Jim is a recipient of the Crystal Prism Award and the Silver Medal Award for outstanding contribution to the advertising industry, awarded by the American Advertising Federation.
Jim's clients include advertising agencies, advertisers, architects and designers, technology and communications firms and educational institutions nationwide. He's a swell guy, and bald.
REPORTED CASES
DSMC, Inc. v. Convera Corp., 273 F.Supp. 2d 14 (D.D.C. 2002). DSMC, Inc. v. Convera Corp., 479 F.Supp. 2d 68 (D.D.C. 2007). Nichols Agency, Inc. v. Enchanted Child Care, Inc., 537 F.Supp. 2d 774 (D. Md. 2008). Phillips v. Kidsoft, LLC, 52 U.S.P.Q.2d (BNA) 1102 (D. Md. 1999).
See Larger Image Jim was honored with his own wine label in December 2007 by the Advertising Association of Baltimore for his 3 years of service as President.
"There are three qualities about Jim Astrachan that make him a valued counsel. He is relentless in his pursuit to find solutions for his clients and more often than not, he is very creative in his approach. He has the ability to articulate the complexities and implications of the law in a very simple/comprehensive fashion. Most importantly, he truly cares about his clients. When you work with Jim, you get the genuine feeling that 'You are in it together'."
Roger Gray - Chairman/CEO
GKV Communications
As quoted on BestLawyers.com
The World's Premier Guide
