Published Works – McCabe Ali LLP Law

Emil Published–Practical Law The Journal: Conflicts of Interest in Patent Practice

Paralegal — Wed, 10 Dec 2025 17:40:19 +0000

An explanation of key considerations for patent counsel when evaluating potential conflicts of interest, including identifying conflicts between current and former clients, understanding relevant authority, navigating subject matter conflicts, managing conflicts with patent opinions, and disqualification in patent litigation.

Link:

Practical Law The Journal: Conflicts of Interest in Patent Practice

Mike Published in ABA Landslide – The Lawyer’s Social Contract: The Ethical Ties That Bind The Legal Profession

Michael McCabe — Tue, 09 Jul 2024 22:27:10 +0000

Mike’s article, The Lawyers Social Contract, was published in the June/July 2024 edition of Landslide Magazine, a publication of the American Bar Association Intellectual Property Law Section. The article explores how the principles of social contract theory are deeply embedded in the ethical framework of the legal profession. It delves into the ethical obligations lawyers have towards their clients, the courts, and opposing parties, as well as their broader responsibility to serve the public through pro bono work and other forms of public service.

Mike Co-Authored Dibble Dabble Double Trouble: Mitigating the Risks of Dabbling in Your Law Practice

Michael McCabe — Mon, 31 Jul 2023 18:22:04 +0000

Mike co-authored Dibble Dabble Double Trouble: Mitigating the Risks of Dabbling in Your Law Practice, published by In Practice . . . With CNA – A Practitioner’s Perspective on Emerging Legal Trends (Issue 3, June 2023). Co-authored with Tracy L. Kepler, Risk Control Consulting Director for CNA’s Lawyer Professional Liability program.

This work presents the ethical and legal risks when attorneys step outside of their comfort zones to engage in a generally unfamiliar area of law–a practice known as “dabbling.”

“Stay In Your Lane: Patent Agents Must Respect Limited License Rights” Published by AIPLA

Emil Ali — Fri, 01 May 2020 00:00:00 +0000

On May 1, 2020, The Agent – An AIPLA Patent Agents Committee Publication published

“Stay In Your Lane: Patent Agents Must Respect Limited License Rights” by Michael E. McCabe, Jr.

The article addresses the ethical restrictions on Patent Agents right to practice outside of patent law before the USPTO

Published In State Bar of Michigan IPLS Proceedings – Vol. 29, Issue 1 (2018)

Emil Ali — Tue, 13 Feb 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Michael E. McCabe, Jr.’s article, entitled, “Are Your Firm’s Foreign Associate Practices Ethical?” was featured in a front-page article Vol. 29, Issue 1 of IPLS Proceedings (2018), a quarterly publication of the Intellectual Property Law Section (IPLS) of the State Bar of Michigan. This article first appeared in September 2017 in IPethics & INsights. The article is now being republished as a two-part series in Michigan’s IPLS.

The IPLS article addresses the USPTO ethical issues that face patent firms and patent practitioners who do business with clients through a “foreign associate” or other type of client intermediaries or liaisons. The Patent Office recently published ethical guidance on this issue that could impact the way in which firms communicate with such client middlemen. The article discusses the evolution of USPTO ethics precedent in the context of the IP lawyer-intermediary-client relationship, including the ethics issues that arise when a USPTO practitioner accepts instructions and legal fees from a non-USPTO practitioner intermediary; conflicts of interest and whether those must be disclosed to the client; fee-splitting with the middleman (and is it ethical); aiding the unauthorized practice of law; and other duties set forth in the USPTO’s Rules of Professional Conduct.