Profile: Stephen H Rovak

Franchise

Biography: Franchise

Mr Rovak is a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, and a fellow of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers.

Mr Rovak is chair of the general commercial and specialty litigation practice of the firm. He has a broad background in commercial, franchise and intellectual property matters and distribution law and trials, as well as substantial expertise in medical-legal issues. Mr Rovak has represented franchisers in a number of trials, and frequently advises franchise clients on the franchisor/franchisee relationship. He has handled cases involving franchise and dealership issues for firms such as Toyota, Volvo, Car-X Service Systems, Porsche, and Medicine Shoppe International, the world's largest franchiser of pharmacies. He lectures before such groups as the International Franchise Association's Annual Legal Symposium, and the ABA's Forum on Franchising.

Mr Rovak successfully defended Michael Crichton, Steven Spielberg, Amblin' Entertainment, Universal Studios and Warner Bros in a lengthy trial in which a writer alleged that the script for the film Twister had been taken from an earlier work in violation of the Copyright Act. Acting with another firm as co-lead trial counsel, Mr Rovak obtained a jury verdict in favour of all defendants. He is currently engaged in the defence of the world's leading producer of genetically modified agricultural products in various class actions alleging violations of the antitrust laws, and the leading manufacturer of commercial aircraft in multi-district litigation arising out of a recent aviation disaster.

Mr Rovak has particular expertise in alternative dispute resolution, and is on both the AAA's National Construction Arbitrator Training Faculty and National Commercial Arbitrator Training Faculty. He is a member of the Human Studies Committee of the Washington University School of Medicine. He retired from the United States Air Force Reserve in 2000, as a colonel.