Webcast: Anticipating and Resolving Potential Licensing and Collaboration Disputes Before They Arise
Webcasts | September 17, 2026
Join Gibson Dunn lawyers for the first recorded session of a three-part series following a single life sciences collaboration and licensing dispute across its full lifecycle to explore how contract language, forum selection, and science shape leverage, timing, proof, and outcomes.
The series opens where disputes begin: the agreement itself. This session examines how licensing and collaboration terms create or avoid conflict, where leverage develops as the parties’ relationship evolves, and how parties can resolve emerging disagreements—ideally preserving the business relationship—before anyone reaches the courthouse or arbitration table.
MCLE CREDIT INFORMATION:
This program has been approved for credit in accordance with the requirements of the New York State Continuing Legal Education Board for a maximum of 1 credit hour, of which 1 credit hour may be applied toward the areas of professional practice requirement. This course is approved for transitional/non-transitional credit.
Attorneys seeking New York credit must obtain an Affirmation Form prior to watching the archived version of this webcast. Please contact CLE@gibsondunn.com to request the MCLE form.
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP certifies that this activity has been approved for MCLE credit by the State Bar of California in the amount of 1 hour in the General Category.
California attorneys may claim “self-study” credit for viewing the archived version of this webcast. No certificate of attendance is required for California “self-study” credit.
PANELISTS:
Charlotte Jacobsen is a USPTO-qualified, first-chair litigator with advanced scientific degrees and a deep understanding of chemistry, biology and biotechnology. For 20 years, Charlotte has represented clients in complex chemical, pharmaceutical and biotechnology patent and licensing disputes. She has been lead trial counsel and won cases in the federal district courts, before the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and inter partes review proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. She also has experience with arbitrations before the American Arbitration Association (AAA) and the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), and with pre-litigation work having handled comprehensive preparatory investigations for numerous blockbuster products.
Mary Beth Maloney is a first-chair trial lawyer for public companies, their boards, and senior executives in their highest-stakes federal and state court litigation, securities matters, government enforcement actions, and complex commercial disputes, with a particular focus on healthcare, life sciences, and financial services. She is regularly retained as lead trial counsel when public companies face existential threats—from regulators and watchdog organizations, in securities class actions and SEC enforcement matters, and in bet-the-company commercial disputes.
Ryan Murr is widely recognized as one of the nation’s leading corporate lawyers in the life sciences industry. Over his career, he has advised on more than 500 transactions representing over $100 billion in aggregate transaction value, spanning mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, royalty monetizations, and structured financings, reflecting a combination of scale and breadth matched by few practices in the United States. Ryan has more than 25 years of experience representing public and private life sciences companies and investors in connection with securities offerings and business combination transactions. Ryan serves as principal outside counsel for publicly traded companies and private venture-backed companies, advising management teams and boards of directors on corporate law matters, SEC reporting, corporate governance, and M&A transactions.
As the founder of Delaware ADR, Judge Andrea Rocanelli (Ret.) draws on over three decades of legal and judicial experience to guide parties toward practical and durable mediated resolutions. Judge Rocanelli is a member of the National Association of Distinguished Neutrals; certified as a Commercial Law Arbitrator in Delaware; and trained in dispute resolution at Harvard Law School’s Negotiation Workshop and Pepperdine’s Straus Institute. Judge Rocanelli is also trained in de-escalation techniques by the National Alliance of Mental Illness (NAMI)’s Crisis Intervention Team (CIT). Judge Rocanelli received her J.D. from Harvard Law School, and her B.A., summa cum laude, from Boston College where she was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. After several years of private practice in Boston, Judge Rocanelli practiced law in Delaware prior to serving as Chief Counsel of the Office of Disciplinary Counsel for the Delaware Supreme Court, with responsibility for the practice of law and legal ethics in the state of Delaware. As a former judge on both the Delaware Superior Court and the Court of Common Pleas, Judge Rocanelli has presided over hundreds of jury and bench trials and is known for fairness, legal insight, and strong command of complex issues.
Lindsey D. Schmidt is a partner in the New York office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher and a member of Gibson Dunn’s Litigation, International Arbitration and Judgment and Arbitral Award Enforcement Practice Groups. Lindsey focuses her practice on international arbitration and has extensive experience in both international commercial arbitration and investor-state arbitrations. She has a wide range of experience in all areas of international arbitration, but particularly in disputes relating to mining, steel, telecommunications, insurance, aviation and financial services. She represents clients across the globe in a variety of arbitration proceedings, including those before the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) and International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).
Karen Spindler is a corporate partner in the San Francisco office of Gibson Dunn where her practice focuses on advising life sciences companies and investors on a variety of intellectual property transactions. Karen represents the full spectrum of companies in the life sciences sector, including companies operating in the areas of pharmaceuticals, biologics, diagnostics, and medical devices. Karen has considerable experience structuring complex strategic collaboration and partnering transactions, including co-development, co-commercialization and joint venture arrangements, and advising on manufacturing and supply agreements, services arrangements, and academic licenses.
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