Prompt and efficient legal advice, here and abroad
For nearly 12 years, I was responsible for managing the intellectual property portfolio of a major resources company. I would regularly negotiate agreements with the likes of CSIRO and universities for the performance of R&D on our behalf.
With our in-house legal team focused on M&A, I used FAL to do all of the work relating to R&D. FAL knew how researchers worked, how R&D worked, how our company worked, how universities worked and we therefore quickly found a way through any issues. They did all the legal drafting, supported me with contract negotiations, administration and IP management. I used FAL exclusively – with the service we received, I had no reason to look anywhere else.
FAL are specialists in R&D. Their experienced lawyers have an incredible range of skills and even if they haven’t done it before, they can work out quickly how to manage it. Another thing that makes them stand out is their accessibility and responsiveness - our people got very used to the efficient, prompt turnaround.
FAL always look for the outcome that will be of maximum benefit to all parties, in the minimum time and at the minimum cost. And they make it simple, straight-forward, clear. They aren’t interested in dragging things out.
They are also able to work in the international sphere – we did a huge amount of work overseas and FAL were highly skilled in managing the potential differences and any complexity or uncertainty.
As an example, we were approached by a Mexican-based supplier to a major automobile manufacturer. The future of the plant and its employees was dependent on securing a patent we owned so they could fulfil a contract they were about to sign.
Although they had set aside three days for the negotiations, because we were prepared to assign the patent and had our lawyers with us, we were able to resolve this in half a day. Our company got a good return for something that was largely worthless to us, and the Mexican firm got what they needed to win a contract. I heard indirectly that when the supplier company met the auto manufacturer, they were extolling our virtues.
FAL consistently do their job fairly, promptly and well. That’s what we got from them that I don’t believe you can get anywhere else. It all comes down to their ethics, their principles. It was a relationship that was truly mutual – it worked well for both of us.
Janet Elliott,
Former Commercial Manager, Rio Tinto
