Hilary Bienstock
Hilary Bienstock
Email: info@grayverlaw.com
Office: 1.310.372.5770
Hilary Bienstock has always been interested in psychology, computer interfaces, and the place where the two intersect. She received her B.A. and M.S. degrees in Communications and Human-Computer Interaction from Stanford University. After taking a year off to teach English to college students in Beijing, she returned to California to work in the new field of User Experience. Since then she’s been a part of UX teams in a wide variety of settings: from a governmental engineering laboratory (Sandia National Laboratories) to (at the time) one of the world’s most trafficked internet portals (Yahoo!) to a media company with a hundred-plus-year history (LA Times).
Hilary provides user research and information architecture to a variety of clients and is considered by many to be one of premiere UX research consultants in California. Her specialty is providing insight into consumers’ mindsets and motivations by conducting foundational and summative user research, and then analyzing and interpreting that research to guide new web site and application designs. User research may take the form of usability testing, participatory design, A/B testing, metrics analysis, ethnographic research, contextual inquiries, focus groups, surveys, card sorts, desirability studies, or a custom study designed to suit the client’s unique needs. In addition to practicing these techniques on an everyday basis, Hilary also teaches courses on foundational research and usability testing methodologies at the User Experience certificate program at California State University at Fullerton.
Some of Hilary’s clients are listed below:
Commercial and IP Litigation
Practice Areas
Commercial and IP Litigation
Grayver Law Group, P.C. has a wealth of experience in all aspects of business litigation, including alternative dispute resolution, trials in state and federal courts, and appeals. Our lawyers have successfully represented clients through every stage of the litigation process. We have skilled practitioners with deep experience in handling contract, complex commercial, partnership/shareholder, accounting, trade secret, right of publicity, right of privacy, fiduciary duty, and unfair competition.
Through our affiliation with Allan Litovsky, we can also offer our clients quality representation in IP litigation, including patent infringement actions, trademark infringement and dilution actions, cybersquatting claims (through ICANN’s Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy), rights of privacy and publicity disputes, etc.
Representative Matters:
• Successful defense of a civil RICO action brought against a leading Russian consulting firm
• Successful defense of a lawsuit against a US subsidiary of a large Japanese defense contractor
• Successful prosecution of a lawsuit against former executives of a large Japanese technology company, leading to a $25 million judgment
• Successful motion to compel arbitration involving a large public Japanese pharmaceutical company
• Successful prosecution of a breach of fiduciary duty action against a former CEO of a prominent hardware manufacturer
• Successful prosecutions and defenses of trade secret/fiduciary duty actions
• Successful prosecutions and defenses of partnership and shareholder disputes
Russian Language Startup Resources
Russian Language Startup Resources
Russian Language Startup Law Blog
Grayver Law Group is proud to host a Russian-language blog by Leonard Grayver on matters relevant to technology startups that want to enter the U.S. market. The blog is updated regularly and can be accessed at www.startupjurist.com
Russian Language Guide to Venture Capital Term Sheet
Grayver Law Group’s founding partner, Leonard Grayver, publishes a Russian-language Guide to Venture Capital Term Sheet that explains all standard term sheet provisions along with supporting statistics updated on an annual basis. The Guide is now in its 9th edition and at over 120 pages.
For a copy, please contact us at info@grayverlawgroup.com
Mergers & Acquisitions
Practice Areas
Mergers & Acquisitions
Grayver Law Group routinely advises clients in exit opportunities. The firm provides counsel in connection with a full range of mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures and other strategic transactions. Our lawyers have extensive experience across a wide spectrum of business combinations, including mergers and acquisitions; stock and asset acquisitions; strategic investments and joint ventures; corporate restructurings, recapitalizations and workouts; spin-offs and divestitures; and IPOs.
Our lawyers have participated in a wide variety of transactions, including:
• $20 million acquisition of a software company by a Chinese conglomerate
• $30 million acquisition of a software company by a US public company
• Partial $38 million asset sale of a software division to a US public company
• $450 million restructuring and sale of a hotel chain to a competitor
• $5.5 billion acquisition of Capsugel SA, a KKR + Co. L.P. portfolio company by a Swiss-based Lonza Group Ltd
• $180 million acquisition of a Russian telecommunication company
• representation of Clementia Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq: CMTA) in its $138 million initial public offering
• representation of a second-largest food distributor in the United States in $1 billion secondary public offering
• various M&A transactions in the real estate and oil and gas industries with a total value of the deals up to $ 150 million
Patents and Trademarks
Practice Areas
Patents and Trademarks
Through our affiliation with Allan Litovsky, we can handle the complete range of patent law matters, including domestic and foreign patent prosecution, IP due diligence, and related matters. We can help you assess and implement a prudent and cost-effective patent strategy, obtain patent protection for your technologies, receive counsel on ongoing patent matters, and manage a patent portfolio comprised of intellectual property assets.
We have extensive experience in IP litigation, including patent infringement actions, trademark infringement and dilution actions, cybersquatting claims (through ICANN’s Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy), rights of privacy and publicity disputes, etc.
We also have a thriving trademark practice. We provide representation in the selection, registration, enforcement and defense of trademarks both in the US and abroad. Additionally, we have considerable experience in the opposition and cancellation proceedings before the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, where we successfully defended our startup clients’ trademarks against claims brought by billion-dollar corporations.
We work with a network of agents worldwide to perform trademark filings, oppositions, cancellations, and co-existence negotiations outside the United States.
Our trademark services include:
- Global Trademark Strategy
- Trademark Searches, Clearance, Registration, and Enforcement
- Trademark Oppositions and Cancellations
- Negotiation of Licenses and Co-Existence Agreements
- Trademark Due Diligence
- Portfolio Management
- Global Trademark and Domain Name Enforcement, Acquisition and Disputes
- Brand Usage Guidelines & Policies
- Global Anti-Counterfeiting Programs including ICANN Protocols
Through our patent law colleagues, we can prepare and prosecute patent applications for all types of inventions including software, hardware, microelectronics, artificial intelligence, computer networking, and telecommunications.
Our patent services include:
- Planning and Implementation of Patent Portfolios
- Preparation and Prosecution of Patent Applications
- Patent Review, Evaluation, and Valuation
- Offensive and Defensive Patent Strategy
- Freedom to Operate Analysis
- Implementation of “Best Practice” Processes
- Patent Oversight and Operational Implementation
- Patent Licensing
- Patent Litigation Strategy
DANIEL GARZON
DANIEL GARZON
Office: 1.310.372.5770
Email: daniel@grayverlaw.com
Daniel Garzon is as a corporate paralegal for Grayver Law Group. Daniel’s experience includes the preparation and filing of entity formation documents, preparation of resolutions, limited liability company and partnership documents. He routinely assists with due diligence projects, both for startup companies and investment funds.
Daniel grew up minutes away from Grayver Law’s Los Angeles office and is an alum of New York University, where he majored in Economics.
Daniel was born in Bogota, Colombia and is fluent in Spanish.
MARYLOUISE WEISSER
MARYLOUISE WEISSER
Office: 1.310.372.5770
Email: molly@grayverlaw.com
Grayver Law Group is proud to offer a unique resource to its clients – an in-house technical writer and investor pitch coach.
Marylouise Weisser is an experienced technical writer and a speech coach. She closely works with our clients to create technical documents and manuals and helps them explain complex information in a clear and concise manner. Marylouise has extensive knowledge in creating white papers, web site materials, and investor pitch decks.
She also uses her experience in theater and acting to improve oral presentations and routinely coaches our clients before investor meetings.
Marylouise received a B.A. degree in Theater and Music from Brandeis University and completed her coursework towards a PhD degree (ABD) in Theater Theory from Bowling Green State University. Between college and graduate school, she worked as an actress and musician in Hollywood.
ALLAN LITOVSKY
ALLAN LITOVSKY
Office: +1.310.372.5770
Email: allan@grayverlaw.com
LinkedIn: 
Grayver Law Group is proud to be affiliated with one of the top Intellectual Property lawyers in California. Allan Litovsky offers services to our clients in a variety of matters related to intellectual property prosecution, counseling and litigation.
As a litigator, Mr. Litovsky serves as lead counsel in commercial litigation and arbitration matters, including patent, domain name, trade secret, copyright, unfair competition, anti-counterfeiting and contract disputes. He has handled numerous disputes for businesses ranging from start-ups to international corporations in state and Federal courts across the U.S., in the International Trade Commission as well as in various arbitration forums (AAA, ICC, etc.), both domestic and international.
As a registered patent attorney, Mr. Litovsky counsels clients in the fields of patents, trade secrets, trademarks (including domain names), and copyrights, as well as computer and Internet law and assist clients with the strategic development of their patent portfolios. In addition to his litigation and patent counseling practices, Mr. Litovsky handles technology-related transactions, including joint venture agreements, research agreements, license, and outsourcing arrangements. As an independent arbitrator and mediator, he has been retained in a variety of commercial disputes in the fields of patents, trademarks, domain names, copyrights, and contracts. He has been appointed and, for the past six years, has served as an approved mediator on the Mediation Panel for the Federal Court for the Central District of California.
Mr. Litovsky has handled matters in a wide range of technologies, including pharmaceuticals, biologics, optics, semiconductor circuitry and manufacturing processes, semiconductor manufacturing equipment, medical devices, software, satellite control systems, digital satellite television systems, audio and video processing and equipment, automotive technologies, and avionics.
Prior to opening his own practice, Mr. Litovsky served as of counsel and partner at the leading global law firms, such as Latham and Watkins and Greenberg Traurig.
Allan Litovsky received a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the Moscow Mining Academy and a law degree from the Arizona State University School of Law.
BENJAMIN DAVIDSON
BENJAMIN DAVIDSON
Office: +1.310.372.5770
Email: benjamin@grayverlaw.com
Benjamin Davidson is of counsel in the firm’s employment counseling and litigation group. Ben supports our clients’ commercial and employment litigation needs. In fact, our relationship with Ben goes all the way to the early 90s when Leonard and Ben shared a dorm room at UCLA.
Ben Davidson was born and raised in California. He is a graduate of UCLA and Cornell Law School. At Cornell, he made the Dean’s List, was selected as an Honor’s Fellow for Cornell’s Legal Writing program for two years, became Managing Editor of the Cornell International Law Journal, and he was the first in his class to have a Note selected for publication by the Cornell International Law Journal. A fluent Spanish speaker who lived and worked in Costa Rica before attending law school, Ben also served as Academic Chair in Cornell’s chapter of LALSA (Latin American Law Students Association) and represented an asylum applicant in Cornell’s Asylum and Convention Against Torture Clinic.
Following graduation in 2005, Ben returned to California and worked as a litigation attorney for the preeminent national law firms of Proskauer Rose LLP and Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP. During his career, Ben has handled a wide variety of claims arising in the workplace, including discrimination, harassment, wrongful termination, pregnancy leave, breach of contract, and wage and hour claims, representing both employers and employees. He has frequently also represented high-level executives and public officers in severance negotiations, obtaining six- and seven-figure settlements on behalf of his clients.
Apart from his litigation practice, Benjamin provides advice and counseling to employers to ensure compliance with California and Federal employment laws and regulations. He is intimately familiar with California wage and hour laws and has a knack for implementing policies that protect employers from frivolous litigation with minimal interruption to the business.
Benjamin Davidson is licensed and admitted to practice in all courts in the State of California and in the Eastern, Northern, Central, and Southern District Courts of California. He has served as a member of the executive committee of the Beverly Hills Bar Association and was named a “Rising Star” by Superlawyers Magazine.
Benjamin is fluent in Spanish and conversational in Hebrew.
Employment Counseling & Litigation
Practice Areas
Employment Counseling & Litigation
We understand the complex nature of employment and labor law disputes. These issues can significantly impact your business.
Our lawyers represent employers throughout California in all types of employment law matters. We provide personal attention and tailor advice to help you protect yourself from legal disputes and lawsuits. Our services include preventative counseling and litigation involving:
• Employee, Contractor, and Executive Agreements
• Termination and Misconduct
• Compensation
• Stock Plans and Other Equity Incentives
• Employee Handbooks
• Onboarding and Separation
• Harassment and Discrimination Prevention
• Independent Contractor Classification
• Non-Competes
• IP and Trade Secrets Ownership
Our clients come from a variety of industries, including medical practices, real estate development, resort operation, cities, counties, nonprofits, restaurants, local manufacturing and other service industries.
Our litigation background helps us provide effective and responsible representation and counseling to assist businesses in preventing and/or resolving costly lawsuits. We are proud of our ability to navigate difficult situations on behalf of our clients.
Our attorneys have the talent and ability to defend employers aggressively and efficiently in all types of litigation and arbitration. We are known for being able to favorably resolve cases at the early stages and obtain favorable results for our clients in all types of employment law disputes.
Importantly, in providing an effective and concise defense, we send a message to future litigants to find another defendant. We take pride in our employment-client relationships which have spanned decades.
Our proactive consultative approach helps us eliminate employment disputes and legal matters affecting businesses. We are well-versed in all aspects of defending companies against labor law violations.
We encourage you to contact us before making any termination decisions that will impact an employee of a protected class. We are able to anticipate and prevent problems before they arise, saving you time and money. We find that this approach significantly minimizes the risk of litigation and administrative claims against our clients.