John Ritsick

John’s practice focuses on business transactions, commercial and technology law, intellectual property licenses and strategy, and dispute management and resolution. Although John regularly teaches law school courses on contracts and negotiations and can go deep into theory with the best of them, he tries to anchor his approach with clients on pragmatic real-world approaches and the understanding that doing business means being willing to make tough decisions, often with imperfect information.

John has enjoyed a varied and rich legal career, working at large law firms, boutique firms, and has been a founding partner of a law firm in the past. He has also worked in-house at startups and multinational public companies, acting as a trusted advisor and business counsellor to CEOs, finance and accounting departments, and engineering and operational teams. John has assisted clients on deals ranging from software and SaaS contracts, construction and architectural agreements, design and development deals, IT and business outsourcing agreements, and large-scale manufacturing engagements. John has also assisted clients with patent and trademark strategy and licensing, IP litigation management, and IP sales and licensing agreements, and he has supported major corporate transactions in M&A, divestitures, and bankruptcies. He has experience in a wide variety of industries, including in the automotive section (including autonomous driving and EVs), data centers, financial services, healthcare, telecommunications, higher education, software and SaaS, entertainment and sports licensing (NIL) deals, and product design and manufacturing. John is also routinely engaged by clients to help negotiate resolutions to complex business disputes, including intellectual property infringing/licensing and contract matters. John has represented clients in deals with many of the largest and most sophisticated companies and universities in the world, including Microsoft, Huawei, Ericsson, Cigna, Xiaomi, Cisco Systems, Disney, JPMorgan Chase, Wal-Mart, Harvard University, MIT, the University of Pennsylvania, and the University of Arizona.

After clerking for the Hon. Justice Michael Bender on the Colorado State Supreme Court, John began his legal career working for major international law firms at Cooley and Faegre.  John has worked in-house at Exclusive Resorts, Flex (formerly Flextronics), Gates, and Guild Education. John attended Colorado State University for his undergraduate degree, received a Master’s degree at Columbia University, and attended law school at Georgetown University Law Center.

While never taking himself too seriously, John is known for offering thoughtful opinions, which are sometimes considered bold (or boldly offered), especially by his wife and two children.