With more than thirty-five years of experience as a general corporate and commercial attorney, Mr. Certilman has been engaged in matters across a wide range of areas including:
Corporate governance
Investor agreements and disputes
Acquisitions and divestitures, both asset and equity
Lender financing transactions and collateralization
Private investment capital raises
Transaction due diligence
Drafting and negotiating a broad range of commercial agreements such as marketing and distribution agreements, trademark and copyright licenses, technology license and service agreements, computer services agreements, software development
Preparation and negotiation of commercial leases and real property development agreements such as architect, project manager and contractor agreements
Business operating agreements and joint venture agreements with both domestic and international application
Mr. Certilman’s experience is particularly extensive in the technology law and business process outsourcing fields. Significant projects have included:
Representation of vendors and clients in more than 200 computer services and business process outsourcing transactions. Transactions have included engagements for IT department outsourcing from 10 to 19,000 seats, desktop and network migrations, technology refresh of both hardware and operating systems, general acquisition and asset management services, desktop and network maintenance services, help desk and call center services, enterprise software licensing, and professional consulting services
Drafting and negotiation of agreements including e-commerce, online marketing, software, content and technology development agreements, licenses, maintenance agreements and distribution agreements, website development and hosting agreements, online publishing agreements and consulting agreements
Legal review and assistance preparing and responding to IT services RFP’s
Domain name disputes
Trademark prosecutions including TTAB appeals
General representation of a wide variety of IT and technology businesses
From his unusual experience as both a commercial litigator and a corporate and commercial attorney, Mr. Certilman places great emphasis on preventive lawyering, an approach which requires a litigator’s perspective in the structuring of transactions and drafting of agreements. To help to avoid unexpected outcomes and reduce business risk, he believes that the interests of clients are best served when clients choose to proactively prioritize conflict avoidance over merely reacting to conflicts as they arise.
Mr. Certilman has heard more than thirty cases as a Trial Referee for the Superior Court of the State of Connecticut, which he also serves as a magistrate. He has received a Martindale-Hubbell rating of AV, the highest possible peer review rating for legal ability and ethical standards. He is regularly recognized as a New York Metro, Connecticut and New England “Super Lawyer” and has been listed in Best Lawyers in New York City and Connecticut, listed among “200 Outstanding Lawyers of Fairfield County” and has been named one of America’s Most Honored Professionals in New York and Connecticut.
His hobbies include photography, art collecting and travel.
