L-R: Dale Cendali is a partner at Kirkland & Ellis who heads its copyright, trademark, internet and advertising practice group; Shanti Conway is a partner in Kirkland’s New York office; Claudia Ray is a partner in Kirkland’s New York office and a member of the firm’s IP department; and Mary Mazzello is an intellectual property litigation partner in Kirkland’s New York office. (Photo by David Handschuh/NYLJ)
Diana Torres just wanted to help out. It was 2001 and her partners Dale Cendali and Claudia Ray were speeding to trial on behalf of the Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance. Torres flew from her home base in Los Angeles to spend a month living out of a New York hotel managing the rest of the group’s IP practice so that her partners could focus on the high-stakes trial.
Cendali and Ray had lined up witnesses to testify that Graham, the legendary choreographer, had sold her name to the dance company in the 1950s. But no record of the transaction had been uncovered.
