Meet Our Team
Dr. David A. Simon, Attorney & Owner
David founded simonlg to provide client-centered, high-quality legal services in real estate, corporate, and intellectual property law. Since 2008, Dr. Simon has represented clients in litigation, real estate transactions, corporate transactions, and intellectual property transactions. He also has worked in private practice, both state and federal judiciaries, and taught courses in law at Harvard University, the University of Kansas School of Law, the Hanken School of Economics, Universidad de Navarra in Pamplona (Spain), and Concordia University. While at Harvard Law School, Dr. Simon worked as an Academic Fellow. He currently serves as a Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of Kansas School of Law, and a Fellow at the Hanken School of Economics in Helsinki, Finland.
simonlg consults with clients and law firms on a variety of legal matters, including residential and commercial real estate closings & contract negotiations, international real estate investment, real property tax appeals, corporate formations, corporate governance & structuring, corporate and business acquisition & investment, contract drafting & review, copyright & trademark registrations, licensing agreements, and other intellectual property transactions. Dr. Simon has served as outside general counsel for a variety of businesses. He currently serves as a volunteer attorney at the Lawyers for the Creative Arts, a nonprofit based in Chicago.
After graduating with a B.A. magna cum laude from the University of Michigan, Dr. Simon earned his J.D. from Chicago-Kent College of Law, where he was selected to the Moot Court Honor Society, Order of the Coif, and Dean's List. He graduated in the top 5% of his class while earning several writing awards from outside organizations. Dr. Simon practiced law in Chicago for several years before earning an LL.M. from Harvard Law School. He also holds a Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge, UK, where he was a Cambridge International Scholar (full tuition scholarship & stipend) and member of Trinity College. His dissertation examined the philosophical underpinnings of so-called authors' rights (droit moral) in copyright law. He has published over 11 articles in scholarly journals on subjects ranging from constitutional law to intellectual property law.
Education
Ph.D., University of Cambridge (Trinity College), Cambridge, UK
Cambridge International Scholar (full tuition and stipend)
LL.M., Harvard Law School, Cambridge, MA
Harvard Journal of Law & Technology
Berkman Center for Internet & Society Clinic
J.D., Chicago-Kent College of Law, Chicago, IL
High Honors (Top 5% of class)
Order of the Coif
Moot Court Honor Society
Dean's List (all semesters)
Certificate in Intellectual Property law
CALI Award Professional Responsibility
B.A., University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
High Distinction (magna cum laude)
Dean's List (all semesters)
James B. Angell Scholar
Experience
Visiting Assistant Professor, University of Kansas School of Law, Lawrence, KS
Fellow, Hanken School of Economics, Helsinki, Finland
Attorney & Owner, simon law group llc, Chicago, IL
Fellow, Project on Law & Mind Scs., Harvard Law School, Cambridge, MA
Teaching Fellow, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
Visiting Professor, Universidad de Navarra, Pamplona, Spain
Summer Academic Fellow, Harvard Law School, Cambridge, MA
Judicial Law Clerk, Hon. Martin C. Ashman, United States District Court, Northern District of Illinois, Chicago, IL
Associate Attorney, Dahl & Bonadies, Chicago, IL
Adjunct Professor of Education Law, Concordia Unv., River Forest, IL
Summer Associate, Brinks, Hofer, Gilson, & Lione, Chicago, IL
Invited Lectures & Presentations
Problems in Theory: Intellectual Property
Fourth Annual IP Mosaic Conference
Maximizing Profit & Minimizing Tax Burdens: Business Entities
Aspects of Intellectual Property Law and Licensing in the U.S. and Europe (invited guest lecture)
European School of Economics, Florence, Italy
The Confusion Trap: Rethinking a Defense for Parody in Trademark Law
Intellectual Property Scholars Roundtable
Oxford Intellectual Property Discussion Group
An Empirical Analysis of Fair Use Decisions Under the Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution
Policy
Intellectual Property Scholars Conference
Culture, Creativity, & Copyright
8th Annual Works in Progress Intellectual Property Conference
Reasonable Perception and Parody in Copyright Law
Intellectual Property Scholars Roundtable
Teaching Without Infringement: A New Model for Educational Fair Use
7th Annual Works in Progress Intellectual Property Conference
In Search of (Maintaining) the Truth: The Use of Copyright Law by Religious Organizations
Intellectual Property Scholars Conference
Bar Admissions
Illinois (2008)
District of Columbia (2009) (retired/inactive)
Professional Associations
American Bar Association
Chicago Bar Association
Illinois Real Estate Lawyers Association
Lawyers for the Creative Arts
Publications
Trademark Law & Consumer Safety, 73 Florida Law Review __ (forthcoming 2020)
Analogies in IP: Moral Rights, 21 Yale Journal of Law & Technology __ (forthcoming 2019)
The Confusion Trap, 88 Washington Law Review 1021 (2013)
An Empirical Analysis of Fair Use Decisions Under the Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy, 53 Boston College Law Review 65 (2012),
covered by Managing IP Magazine in two articles (including interview).
Explaining the Supreme Court’s Shrinking Docket (with Ryan J. Owens), 53 William & Mary Law Review 1219 (2012)
Culture, Creativity, & Copyright, 28 Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal 279 (2011)
Reasonable Perception and Parody in Copyright Law, 2010 Utah Law Review 779 (2010)
In Search of (Maintaining) the Truth: The Use of Copyright Law by Religious Organizations, 16 Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review 355 (2010)
Teaching Without Infringement: A New Model for Educational Fair Use, 20 Fordham Intellectual Property Media & Entertainment Law Journal 453 (2010)
Mo’ Money, Mo’ Problems: Should Appellate Courts Have Nonparty Jurisdiction Over Lawyers’ Appeals From Nonmonetary Sanctions?, 78 University of Cincinnati Law Review 183 (2009)
Register Trademarks and Keep the Faith: Trademarks, Religion, and Identity, 49 IDEA 233 (2009), cited in
Sovereign Military Hospitaller v. Florida Priory of Knights Hospitallers, --- F. Supp. 2d ----, 2011 WL 4639824 (S.D. Fla. Sept. 29, 2011)
Appelant’s Brief in Seventh-Day Adventists v. McGill, No. 09-5723 (6th Cir. 2009)
Working Papers
Problems in Theory: Intellectual Property Law
A Philosophy of Moral Rights? Personality, Identity, & the Self
The Unimportance of the Author
An Empirical Analysis of Cases Decided Under the Visual
Artists Rights Act: 1990 - Present
Research Interests
Contracts
Intellectual Property
Law & Philosophy
Torts
SM
