Media Contacts: Barbara Fornasiero, EAFocus Communications; barbara@eafocus.com; 248.260.8466

Troy, Mich.—July 1, 2021—Fishman Stewart, an intellectual property specialty law firm focused on “identifying, securing, and advancing creativity,” is celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2021.  Since 1996, the firm has been a premier provider of intellectual property services, as well as a driver of innovative change in the fundamental practice of law.

In their collaboration over the past 25 years, founders Michael Fishman and Michael Stewart have consistently invested in technological tools to efficiently provide premier customer service and to facilitate the remote working of its attorney and non-attorney professionals.

“When Michael Fishman and I started working together in 1996, the practice of law was deeply entrenched in traditionalism with expectations that attorneys follow a lockstep approach to compensation and advancement, and anything that reduced billable hours was seen as wasteful and unnecessary,” Michael Stewart, managing partner, said. “Recognizing the need to approach the practice of law in a fundamentally different way, the seeds we planted a quarter of century ago now flourish, resulting in a 2020 banner year for Fishman Stewart that has continued in 2021, and will enable us to pivot to our next quarter-century.”

Despite pandemic challenges and transitioning back to normal, Fishman Stewart has accomplished a multitude of strategic transformations in 2020 and through 2021 to enhance client service and promote the well-being of its professionals, including:

  • Updating the firm’s fishstewip.com website, with a virtual reception area, making it more user-focused and featuring a wide range of resources to facilitate innovation and creativity—including firm white papers called, “Tacklebox Insights,” (available at www.tackleboxinsights.com) and a series of videos that are also available on Fishman Stewart’s YouTube® channel.
  • Launching its signature bi-weekly Fish Tank® newsletter, with readership numbers in the thousands. Following up on fan feedback, the firm named the fish character that appears on the masthead, Sir Finnegan, known affectionately as “Finny” to family and friends, and now a popular firm mascot—complete with the creation of a Finny plush toy soon to be joining the firm’s prodigious menu of swag
  • Launching FishBits®, a bi-weekly series of mini articles from the Fish Tank® newsletter for quick-hit information.
  • Continued ongoing “all hands” Teams-based weekly meetings, while promoting one-on-one and smaller group “water cooler” interactions. The ability to promptly share and translate ideas into action has been an exhilarating benefit to colleagues and clients.
  • While the firm lacks fixed phones or desktop computers for any of its professionals in order to maximize work flexibility, it recognizes the desirability to meet in person as well as virtually. Accordingly, Fishman Stewart’s newest tools include several immersive conferencing spaces so team members and clients can collaborate in person and virtually at the same time.
  • Implementation of a monthly firm-wide hourly virtual wellness program to promote mental and physical health of its professionals and family members. Coping mechanisms that have been shared include meditation and chair-based physical exercises.
  • Welcoming nearly a dozen individuals who have joined Fishman Stewart since the fourth quarter of 2020.
  • The development of a new firm intranet, which includes resources ranging from Covid-19 protocols to how to send/receive faxes from one’s e-mail along with a series of “how-to” videos that have promote virtual onboarding of new colleagues.
  • The elimination of duplicative data stores of information in favor of more robust repositories to promote efficiency and minimize the risk of cyberattacks.
  • The launching by Fishman Stewart IP litigation attorney Maxwell Goss of “The Litigation War Room” podcast, presenting “great stories and great insights from some of the nation’s most accomplished courtroom lawyers.”

“With close to 50 attorneys and professional support staff in total, we are relatively small compared to general practice firms who also include IP law among several other practice areas, but our size and singular IP focus allow us to be more agile and responsive – and we are able to get things done at a much quicker pace than large, traditional firms,” Michael Fishman said. “Technology has always been at the forefront of our firm culture, so we understand the need to make substantial tech investments that benefit the firm, but most importantly, our clients.”

Originally founded in 1996 as Rader, Fishman & Grauer PLLC by R. Terrance Rader, Michael D. Fishman, Richard D. Grauer, Joseph V. Coppola, and Michael B. Stewart, the firm announced a change in leadership in 2014, ultimately becoming Fishman Stewart under the direction of Michael Fishman and Michael Stewart.

About Fishman Stewart PLLC
Celebrating a quarter century in 2021, Fishman Stewart helps turn client creativity into valuable intellectual capital. Since 1996, the firm has obtained tens of thousands of patents and trademarks and represented clients in hundreds of cases in Federal Court. As strategic advisers to CEOs and senior executives, Fishman Stewart attorneys have developed IP management strategies for U.S. and foreign-based companies, from middle market to Fortune 500, to safeguard their business assets throughout the world.  To discover how Fishman Stewart leverages intellectual property to effectively protect new product lines, increase market share and head off the competition, visit fishstewip.com.

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