Law firm will add corporate group

Lee & Hayes, one of the Northwest’s premier intellectual property law firms, announced Wednesday it will launch a corporate practice group based in Spokane.

Heading the new seven-person group will be Terry Kelly, who has worked for more than 20 years in Spokane representing corporations, nonprofits and educational institutions.

Also joining the group is George Nethercutt, the former U.S. congressman from Spokane. Nethercutt will help the group focus on work within the expanding energy sector and will help clients address regulatory and legislative issues, said Shaun Cross, CEO of Lee & Hayes.

Over 15 years Lee & Hayes has grown to more than 60 people in the Spokane office. It has roughly 25 more employees in offices in Seattle, Austin, Texas and Beijing.

Lewis Lee, who co-founded the firm with Dan Hayes, said the new corporate practice group will concentrate on helping primarily technology-focused companies with legal matters such as taxation, partnerships and overseas expansion.

“We’ve helped large companies such as Microsoft and Intel,” said Lee. “Now this is a time for growth by smaller companies, and we have a good opportunity to help them with corporate formation, intellectual property needs and what it takes to get them going.”

Lee & Hayes’ local tech clients include Signature Genomics and Advantage IQ. “This growth will allow us to bundle legal services for our clients in an effective way,” Lee said.