Daniel Farris concentrates his transactional and litigation practice in the areas of intellectual property, technology and labor and employment law. His transactional work includes the creation, prosecution, acquisition, protection, licensing and assignment of rights, as well as client counseling.

Mr. Farris is experienced in all phases of litigation, including the drafting and filing of complaints, answers, discovery and expert motions, dispositive motions and preliminary injunctive pleadings; the taking of, and responding to, written and oral discovery; final pretrial proceedings; and trial. He also practices in the area of appellate law.

Intellectual Property
As a former software engineer and network administrator, Mr. Farris has an extensive background in the information technology industry – a skill utilized on behalf of his intellectual property clients. His intellectual property practice emphasizes trademark and copyright law; unfair competition; trade secret protection and misappropriation; software development and licensing agreements; Internet-related matters, including Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) proceedings, cybersquatting, Internet defamation and privacy issues and the Digital Millennium Copyright and Stored Communication Acts; international jurisdictional matters; and patent assignment, licensing, and litigation related to electrical, software, and computer patents. He also has experience in trademark, copyright, trade secret and patent litigation matters in a variety of state and federal courts, as well as Office Actions in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Mr. Farris advises and assists clients with searching and clearance of trademarks, prosecution of intent to use and use-based applications with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and registration of copyrights, including software copyrights, with the U.S. Copyright Office. He negotiates and drafts a variety of licensing, assignment, development and other technology acquisition agreements related to client-server and web-based software applications, as well as more standard trademark, copyright and right of publicity matters.

Mr. Farris has also been able to leverage his technology background and experience with the City of Chicago’s Office of Emergency Management and Communications and Argonne National Laboratory as a member of the firm’s Electronic Discovery Response team, providing technical and legal guidance in litigation matters regarding forensic imaging and computer search methods, and the identification, preservation, review and production of electronically stored information. His experience in advertising has allowed him to better assist advertising and marketing firm clients in matters related to the production, assignment and licensing of print, television and viral advertisements, as well as in negotiations with the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and talent agents.

Labor & Employment
In the area of labor and employment law, Mr. Farris’ practice includes business litigation and counseling. He assists clients in the drafting and revision of employment agreements, employee handbooks, and non-disclosure, non-solicitation and non-compete agreements.

Mr. Farris has also represented employment clients in litigation in a variety of state and federal courts, as well as administrative agencies, including the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), Illinois Department of Labor (IDOL), Illinois Department of Human Rights (IDHR) and the City of Chicago Commission on Human Relations.

He has experience assisting clients in litigation and disputes involving harassment, discrimination, wage and overtime claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act and the Illinois Sales Representative Act.

Appellate Practice
Mr. Farris is a member of the firm’s Appellate Practice Specialty Group, and has experience litigating appeals in the federal circuit courts. He drafts opening, response, and supplemental briefs, and has experience in appellate motion practice, and oral argument in criminal direct appeals and civil appeals related to labor and employment matters.

In January 2009 as part of Hinshaw’s Seventh Circuit Pro Bono Criminal Appeals Project, Mr. Farris (with Hinshaw partner Joel Bertocchi) briefed and argued a criminal direct appeal involving Fourth Amendment guarantees against unreasonable searches and seizures and application of the sentencing enhancement to a Seventh Circuit panel of Posner, Easterbrook, and Williams. In November 2009 he won a significant ruling from the Court in this case. The Seventh Circuit upheld Mr. Farris's client's conviction, but vacated his sentence and remanded for a new sentencing hearing. Under the governing statute, the client cannot now receive a sentence of more than 120 months on remand. Mr. Farris joined Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP as an associate in September 2007. Previously he was a law clerk with the firm since January 2007, and was a summer associate in 2006.

While in law school, Mr. Farris was a Loyola Intellectual Property Law Fellow in 2006, and President of the Intellectual Property Law Society in 2006 and 2007. He was also a legal writing tutor and research assistant to Professor Andrew Cripe, a partner at Hinshaw.

In addition to his other law school accomplishments, Mr. Farris received an Honors at Acceptance Scholarship to Loyola and was a member of the Dean’s List for all terms. He received CALI Awards for the highest grade in Legal Writing II, Advocacy, and Employment Law. Mr. Farris was Captain of both the 2005 and 2006 Wagner National Labor and Employment Moot Court Teams. In 2006 the team made it to the semi-finals of the largest student run moot court competition in the country, and won Best Petitioner Brief.

Prior to his legal career, Mr. Farris worked in the information technology industry in a variety of capacities, including as a programmer analyst and lead developer for Corecomm LTD (a Chicago telecomm); principal systems programmer for the City of Chicago Office of Emergency Management and Communications; and as a web portal administrator at Argonne National Laboratory. He also served in dual information technology and creative roles as a network administrator and multimedia creative designer for Jordan Tamraz Caruso Advertising.

Mr. Farris is the Deputy Reporter to the Seventh Circuit Pattern Criminal Jury Instruction Committee. In this capacity he assists in researching legal standards which affect the drafting of the pattern jury instructions for the Seventh Circuit. In addition, he assists in the drafting and updating of the instructions and comments thereto. Mr. Farris is an editor of Hinshaw’s monthly labor and employment newsletter, Employment Practices Alert, which reports on federal court and National Labor Relations Board decisions, federal statutory amendments and federal agency opinions and policies. He is also an editor of Employment Flashpoints, published month by the Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education (IICLE).

While in law school, Mr. Farris assisted Professor Andrew Cripe in the research for a 50-state survey for an article addressing restrictive covenants in physician employment contracts.

Mr. Farris’s presentations include:

• “Family and Medical Leave Act,” Hinshaw’s 2009 Annual Labor & Employment Seminar, Hoffman Estates, Illinois, October 2009.
• “Stop Unauthorized Overtime: How to Implement and Effective, Legally Sound Tracking and Discipline Program,” Business & Legal Reports, Inc., audio conference, July 2009.
• “Employer Ownership of Intellectual Property and Works Made for Hire,” Hinshaw in-house CLE, Chicago, Illinois, March 2009.
• “Supreme Court’s 2008 Labor & Employment Decisions,” presentation and paper, Hinshaw in-house CLE, Chicago, Illinois, July 2008.

Mr. Farris is a volunteer coach for the Loyola Health Law and Wagner Labor and Employment Law Moot Court teams. From 2006 to 2009, teams he has coached have earned three semi-final appearances, two best briefs, a second best oralist award, a best final round oralist award and a national championship. Mr. Farris is also active in a variety of public interest charitable organizations.