Titans of Tech

Very happy to confirm Fenwick as one of the top-tier sponsors of the Summit in 2024! Sergei Klimov spoke to the co-leads of Fenwick’s Games Group, 🇺🇸 Jennifer Stanley in San Francisco and 🇺🇸 Kat Duncan in Seattle, about the firm’s footprint in the games industry –

► THE FIRM

Fenwick is a US firm, correct?

– Yes, born in Silicon Valley, with six offices strategically located in tech hubs across the United States, and one office in China.

How big are you?

– Not small: we have over 500 lawyers across our offices.

And where are you offices located?

– We follow tech and games: 🇺🇸 San Francisco (CA), 🇺🇸 Mountain View (CA), 🇺🇸 Santa Monica (CA), 🇺🇸 Seattle (WA), 🇺🇸 New York (NY), 🇺🇸 Washington D.C., and 🇨🇳 Shanghai.

Has Fenwick always been focused on the games industry, historically?

– Yes! We started with the very first games projects shortly after the firm was founded. Our industry practice traces back to almost 40 years ago, when we took Electronic Arts from inception to IPO.

► THE FOCUS

What's your firm's overall focus?

 – We focus on guiding visionary tech and life sciences companies, including pioneers in the games industry and their investors, through every stage of growth.

I remember you saying that in the future, every company will become a tech company. Is this turning out as expected?

– Yes, very much so!

– Aside from games and pure tech practices, we have a space law practice, which is obviously tech-heavy, and we also focus on life sciences, beauty and fashion, food, travel, entertainment… as these all industries eventually become tech-driven.

Life sciences and video games, that's quite a mix?

– Indeed. Internally, we define this as “helping people live longer – so that they can play more video games.”

Which areas of practice does the firm focus on?

– We focus on the areas where we deliver the most value: corporate, transactions, IP and IP counselling, litigation, regulatory, and tax.

Generally speaking, how would you define your clients? What do you find to be the common characteristic, across all the different sectors you work in?

– They're all innovators.

– We represent clients that are at the forefront of technology – whether in games, AI, blockchain, entertainment, finance, life sciences, energy, travel, retail, fashion, and beyond. And more often than you may think, we see a convergence of sectors, such as fashion getting integrated into video games, for example.

► THE GAMES TEAM

Who leads Fenwick’s Games Group?

– It’s both of us, 🇺🇸 Jennifer Stanley and 🇺🇸 Kat Duncan, as well as our colleague 🇺🇸 Joseph Schenck.

How would you define the group's expertise?

– IP, corporate transactions, regulatory, and litigation – essentially, the eco-system of video games.

What do you focus on, in the litigation area?

– Our litigators represent games on a broad range of matters – including IP, advertising and marketing, privacy and data security, and commercial disputes. 

– Our colleague 🇺🇸 Kimberly Culp, a litigator in the video game space, will be attending Summit On Tour in Limassol in April – come say Hi!

Looking at the last year, what did your games group work on the most?

– [Jennifer] Advisory work on all things related to AI – how do you apply AI in games, how do you minimize the risks, how do you navigate the regulations, establish policies and strategically approach building and leveraging LLMs, among other things.

– [Kat] Investment and M&A transactions and general corporate work, all of which are very robust areas for us.

Whom do you represent in the corporate practice? 

– Pretty much everyone, including studios, funds, developers of tools and technologies, and platforms. We help to structure financings, advise on investing in the games space and project financing. We call it “from incorporation to investment.”

– And in the M&A area, we represent both sell-side and buy-side clients. For example, we represented Gearbox in their sale to Embracer – as well as Embracer in some of their later acquisition deals.

– As a firm, we have a long history of working in tech and games, and we are very familiar with the constituencies, and the typical concerns, rights, and terms.

Do you see overlap of corporate and IP in some of these deals?

– Yes, those are more fun for us because we get to work with our colleagues in other disciplines, and be collaborative. For example, when you need to arrange financing that’s conditional to a licensing or a publishing deal. This is where we get to combine our expertise on a single project to deliver comprehensive advice to our clients.

Any special areas of focus from last year?

– Foreign investment issues – when a U.S.-based studio takes in foreign money or a U.S. investor is investing outside of the country.

– Web 3 – there’s still business happening in the token-based space, and we have one of the most prominent global Web3 practices. Our partner 🇺🇸 Andrew Klungness, who will be at the Limassol conference, is a leader in the field.

► THE CLIENTS 

Who are your clients, typically?

– Studios at the forefront of tech, redefining what’s possible in games.

– We work with clients of all sizes and at every stage of growth, including Bunch, Discord, Dream Sports, Epic Games, Nexon, Netflix Games, Playable Worlds, Razer, Riot Games, Roblox, Roboto Games, and Twitch, among others.

And do you also work with smaller outfits?

– Of course! We have clients with ten, or even with just two people – this typically would be industry veterans who decide to start a new studio. It’s not really about the team size, it’s about the team's ambition.

What makes you a good fit for these clients?

– Experience.

– Focus.

– Context.

– Creativity.

When you say "context", what do you mean?

– [Jennifer] We understand how the industry works – what is a battle pass, how did the loot box mechanics develop, and so on. We speak the same professional language as our clients.

– [Kat] Most people on our games team play video games. In fact, they came to work with us precisely because they play video games – it’s their passion, and as lawyers, they love the fact that we help studios create fun experiences.

– When you love games, it makes it much easier for you to counsel clients. And it also helps you anticipate the tech issues that are coming.

Sounds like a great recipe! Whom will we see at the upcoming conferences?

– Our core games team will be at the GDC in San Francisco next week.

– 🇺🇸 Andrew Klungness and 🇺🇸 Kimberley Culp will be at Summit On Tour in Limassol in April. And 🇺🇸 Jennifer Stanley, 🇺🇸 Kat Duncan, and 🇺🇸 Joseph Schenck will be at the Summit in September. We love meeting new people in the community!