Lecturer Bios
Devika Kewalramani, Esq.
Devika Kewalramani is a partner and co-chair of Moses & Singer's Legal Ethics & Law Firm Practice which advises law firms, lawyers and legal departments on ethical, legal and business aspects of law practice. Devika’s practice focuses on the laws that regulate lawyers and she counsels on a variety of issues relating to legal ethics,
professional responsibility, partnership and fee disputes, risk management and loss prevention. She conducts ethics audits for midsize and boutique law firms and develops risk management compliance manuals for the firms.
A frequent lecturer, panelist and author on legal ethics, Devika speaks to corporate legal departments, law firms, bar associations and other professional organizations around the country on conflicts of interest, engagement letters, attorney advertising via blogs, websites and social media, unauthorized practice of law, lawyer/law firm domain names and law practice management. The editor of the New York State Bar Association’s Journal magazine recognized Devika as an author with one of the best written articles for 2010 with “Up Close and Professional With New York’s Engagement Letter Rules” (September 2010). She is also a faculty member of the Practising Law
Institute and of Lawline.com. Previously, she was general counsel to Moses & Singer. Prior to that, Devika was an associate in Moses & Singer’s Banking and Finance practice where she represented major financial institutions in secured and unsecured financings.
Adam Engel, Esq.
Mr. Engel's practice focuses on general commercial litigation and counseling, with an emphasis on representing individuals, start-ups, and small to medium sized businesses. Practice areas include intellectual property litigation and counseling, employment disputes and policies, contract drafting and negotiation, real estate disputes, and environmental litigation.
Jonathan Sobel, Esq.
Mr. Sobel is an experienced trial attorney and litigator, and focuses his practice on intellectual property (IP) litigation and counseling, including the areas of patent, trademark, false advertising, copyright, trade secret, and unfair competition. He also litigates and counsels on business and commercial disputes. Prior to co-founding Sobel & Feller, he spent 15 years in large, multi-national law firms, most recently as a partner for five years with Hogan & Hartson (now Hogan Lovells).
Mr. Sobel has had key roles in numerous patent jury trials and arbitrations. He has litigated patent cases in varied jurisdictions, including Delaware, Texas, New Jersey, Virginia, and the International Trade Commission (ITC). Mr. Sobel's patent cases have involved the areas of wireless networking technology, bar code scanning technology, light-emitting diodes, computer software and hardware, on-line business methods, medical devices, and other mechanical devices. He was selected by his peers for inclusion in New York Super Lawyers, Intellectual Property Litigation, in 2008, 2009, 2011, and 2012. Among other trial experience, Mr. Sobel acted as lead trial counsel in a jury trial in the Southern District of New York in a non-IP case, in which he obtained a punitive damages verdict for his client.
Mr. Sobel is also experienced in patent licensing, and has helped numerous individuals commercialize their inventions through licensing and development arrangements with third parties.
Mr. Sobel has a strong business sense. His education in business and finance has proved valuable both in addressing patent valuation and damages issues, and in arriving at creative business solutions to problems, whether in the licensing context or in seeking to resolve litigation disputes. That background also makes him effective at litigating commercial disputes. Mr. Sobel also has had extensive formal training and experience in mediation, and is able to mediate both IP and commercial litigation matters.
Mr. Sobel received his J.D. in 1994 from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, where he was an Article Editor for the Cardozo Law Review, and a B.S. in Finance in 1991 from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
Joseph C. Gioconda, Esq.
Joseph C. Gioconda has an impressive track record, both inside and outside of the courtroom.
He has successfully litigated cases against some of the toughest infringers and counterfeiters, and has recovered multi-million dollar judgments and secured sweeping permanent injunctions against them. He has also assembled and managed large teams of lawyers and investigators across the globe, to combat counterfeiters in the factories, storerooms and underground hideaways where many operate.
Joe spent nearly a decade as a partner and associate at the prestigious litigation powerhouse KIRKLAND & ELLIS LLP, a firm that is widely known as having some of the best Intellectual Property lawyers in the United States. More recently, Joe was an equity partner at the world’s largest law firm, DLA PIPER LLP (US), which represents half of the Fortune 250 companies. Joe was responsible for the Trademark Litigation and Anti-Counterfeiting Practice in that firm’s New York office.
Joe earned his law degree from the #1 ranked YALE LAW SCHOOL, where he edited three different law journals and volunteered to assist battered women seeking restraining orders against their abusers in Connecticut State Courts.
Joe also worked for the UNITED STATES SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE, drafting intellectual property-related legislation with Senator Grassley and Senator (now Vice-President) Biden.
Joe is widely quoted in the international press in the field of trademarks and anti-counterfeiting, and has been a commentator in The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, on CNN and MSNBC. He has been profiled in the book KNOCKOFF: THE DEADLY TRADE IN COUNTERFEIT GOODS by British author Tim Phillips. He has also published award-winning academic articles proposing innovative approaches to the challenge of anti-counterfeiting and has given presentations to the international art community in Italy and France on how they can utilize cutting-edge legal theories and technology to combat art forgery.
Joe has also worked at the UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE (U.S. ATTORNEY’S OFFICE FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK ), assisting with the prosecution of major crimes and frauds. Joe was appointed SPECIAL COUNSEL TO THE KING’S COUNTY (BROOKLYN) DISTRICT ATTORNEY’S OFFICE, and successfully defended convictions for violent crimes on appeal. Joe has also personally trained law enforcement officials and hundreds of U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PATROL agents to identify and seize spurious merchandise at the nation’s border.
Joe founded the Gioconda Law Group in 2009 to create a law firm that would focus exclusively on providing high quality brand protection litigation, investigations and strategic counseling.
Joe is admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court, numerous Federal Circuit Courts of Appeal and District Courts, and the Bars of the States of New York and Pennsylvania.
He can be e-mailed directly at: joseph.gioconda@giocondalaw.com or called directly at 212 786-7549.
