Sterne Kessler Recognized by Financial Times as One of 2016’s Most Innovative Law Firms

WASHINGTON, D.C. (December 8, 2016) – Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox P.L.L.C. is pleased to announce that the firm has been recognized as winner of the Financial Times’ Most Innovative North American Law Firms 2016 award in the category of “Use of Technology.”

Reporting on Sterne Kessler’s innovative docketing app that was ranked first out of eight recognized firms, the editors noted that the app, “Allows lawyers to make patent applications faster, manage risk better, and track lawyer performance metrics from their mobile phones.”

With the goal of streamlining the docketing process, a Sterne Kessler team created an iPhone and Android compatible mobile docketing app that is completely secure and uses the Six Sigma approach to ensure quality, reduce process time, and cut costs associated with patent prosecution. The app features an intuitive user interface and is accurate on a real-time basis, allowing our attorneys to track the U.S. and international patent systems and track over 100,000 dates and deadlines.

“Our attorneys used to be burdened with an extremely time consuming task of tracking their deadlines and now our mobile docketing app not only puts the power of tracking and clearing a docket in the palm of their hand, it cuts the process to 20-30 seconds, giving back two to three hours a week of valuable billable or family time to our attorneys,” said Robert K. Burger, chief operating officer of Sterne Kessler.

“Since there is no software on the market (that we know of) that specifically allows IP attorneys to monitor and track important deadlines from their smart phones, we set out to create one,” said Shawn Mitkowski, chief information officer. “We’re proud to support our attorneys in providing top-notch service to our clients, and to be acknowledged with the FT award is an honor, ” said Katrina Braden-Elliott, manager of practice support systems.

About Financial Times’ Most Innovative North American Law Firms Awards

The annual Financial Times “Innovative Lawyers” program, including a FT special report supplement and an awards gala, recognizes law firms for innovation in a variety of practice areas based on the originality of legal work, the rationale behind strategy, and the impact of the work on clients’ business. Telephone interviews and feedback from clients and independent references are used to assess each nominee. The report is compiled in partnership with RSG Consulting and is the only legal industry ranking of lawyers by innovation.

About Sterne Kessler

Founded in 1978 and based in Washington, D.C., Sterne Kessler is dedicated exclusively to the protection, transfer and enforcement of intellectual property rights. Our team of attorneys, registered patent agents, students and technical specialists include some of the country’s most respected practitioners of intellectual property law. Most of our professionals hold an advanced level degree, including 55 masters degrees and more than 60 with a doctorate in science or engineering — credentials wide and deep enough to fill the faculty of a science-oriented university.