Patricia L. Glaser

Glaser is blessed with the ability to try almost any kind of business case, she said. Her firm represents a wide range of clients, from technology companies to real estate developers.

“I think that there is an advantage of not being a specialist,” Glaser said. “By that, I mean, if I do nothing but employment litigation, I think that I don’t have context for solving problems for clients.”

Glaser prevailed in a copyright dispute over Hasbro’s “The Game of Life.” Glaser’s client, Reuben Klamer, created the game in 1959 based on a much older game. Klamer collaborated with Bill Markham to create a prototype that became a success.

But a dispute arose when Markham’s widow sought to upend the profit-sharing between the partners.

A Rhode Island court determined that Klamer was the sole author under the Copyright Act of 1909. Markham Concepts Inc. v. Hasbro Inc., 1:15-cv-00419 (D. R.I., filed Oct. 2, 2015).

The case is pending in the first circuit court of appeals.

“There’s a lot of technical argument about which copyright statute was in play, Glaser said. “Was it the 1909 Copyright Act? Or was it the 1975 Copyright Act? So there are all sorts of technical issues. It was just one of those fun cases.”

Glaser and partner Andrew Baum also negotiated a reported $20 million settlement for Josh Goldstine, a former executive at Universal Pictures, after he was fired on an accusation of undisclosed “inappropriate conduct.”

“A truism for almost any case we handle is that you hear this story, the other side through a particular witness,” Glaser said. “And then my job is to undercut that story with facts and documents. And it’s one of the pure joys of practicing law when you can effectively cross-examine somebody.”

Glaser said she went into her practice area because she loves business and being in court.

“The only thing that would tempt me to leave the practice of law is if someone gave me one of their boutique hotels and said, ‘Patty, run the hotel.’ That would be OK,” she said.

— Henrik Nilsson