Contact: Mark Fefer, Marketing Communications, 206.757.8583 or markfefer@dwt.com
OCTOBER 14, 2016 – The technology transactions group at Davis Wright Tremaine is expanding with the addition of two highly-regarded former in-house counsel.
Joining the firm in DWT’s Seattle office are Martha Phelps, a lawyer with nearly two decades of experience, including most recently at Amazon.com and Best Buy, and Barry Stulberg, whose career includes 15 years as a Senior Attorney at Microsoft and several years in private practice.
“Martha and Barry bring to the firm exceptional insight into the needs of clients in the digital economy,” said Wendy Kearns, co-chair of the Technology, Advertising, Trademark, and Entertainment (TATE) practice at Davis Wright Tremaine. “Their skills will be immensely beneficial as we continue building out the leading technology transactions team in the Northwest and our national technology, branding, and digital media practice.”
Ms. Phelps was most recently counsel for Best Buy Co.’s e-commerce business during the company’s historic turnaround. She has an in-depth understanding of the consumer goods and services industries with particular focus on retail (across all channels) and media (books/publishing, music, movies, software, games). At Amazon, she oversaw legal support for, and advised, the Books, Canada, Global Ops, Kindle Content, and other media-related business units. In addition to her substantive legal skills, Ms. Phelps has built a reputation for service innovation and simplification, having implemented transactional process improvements at both her prior companies that helped speed time to contract and enabled businesses to scale.
Mr. Stulberg represents start-ups, emerging companies, and global conglomerates in an array of transactions involving software, hardware, cloud services, digital health, mobile technology, and online media. At Microsoft, he led global legal support for a number of business lines in the OEM, MSN, Server & Tools, and Research divisions. Mr. Stulberg also headed the advertising law team and counseled leadership on corporate communications and marketing campaigns. He has extensive experience with product development, licensing and distribution, data privacy/information security, strategic alliances, and many other matters, serving industries as varied as health care, financial services, branded merchandise, and entertainment.
“Technology transactions have become critical to every business,” said Kraig Baker, co-chair of the TATE practice. “In addition to their first-rate legal skills, Martha and Barry bring a real-world understanding of how to support business success in the current strategic environment.”
Davis Wright Tremaine’s technology group works closely with the firm’s advertising and brand protection, entertainment, and IP prosecution practices to provide full service counseling to clients. In addition to Ms. Phelps and Mr. Stulberg, two lateral associates and one additional attorney are joining the firm’s technology transactions practice this month.
Ms. Phelps received her A.B. from Smith College and her J.D. from Boston College Law School. She is on the board of directors of AdoptAClassroom.org, a nonprofit that seeks to provide needed supplies to under-resourced schools.
Mr. Stulberg received his B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley, and his J.D. from Loyola Law School. He also has an M.A. in Clinical Psychology from Seattle University. He is a member of the board of directors of Cancer Pathways, a Seattle nonprofit that provides education, support, and community events for people of all ages living with cancer.
About Davis Wright Tremaine
Davis Wright Tremaine LLP is a national law firm with over 550 lawyers representing clients based throughout the United States and around the world. The firm was recently named “Innovative Law Firm of the Year” for the second year in a row by the International Legal Technology Association. For more information, visit www.dwt.com.