Previous Law Firm Name

• Balough, Richard C.

Law Firm Overview

General Overview

Richard C. Balough focuses his practice in the areas of e-commerce, Internet, trademarks and copyrights, privacy concerns, trade secrets and utility services. He carefully listens to his clients and provides innovative solutions in a professional, personal and cost-effective manner.

With more than 20 years of experience in counseling, negotiating and litigating complex technical and financial matters, his sophisticated client base includes:

• Software development companies
• Internet service provider
• Web design firms
• Marketing and advertising firms
• Start-up companies

He serves as chairman of both the Chicago Bar Association's Computer Law Committee and the Intellectual Property Law Association of Chicago's Internet Law Committee. His articles on e-commerce have appeared in the Illinois Bar Journal, the Chicago Law Bulletin, the Illinois legal Times and Marketing News. He has a masters of law degree cum laude in Intellectual Property.

Law Office of Richard C. Balough, Chicago, Illinois, 1998-Present

Solo practitioner specializing in representing large entities in

intellectual property matters including copyright, Internet, licensing, year 2000 and complex technical and financial matters.

Citizens Utility Board, Chicago, Illinois, 1996-1998

One of three in-house counsels for the statewide consumer

advocacy organization, representing CUB before the Illinois

Commerce Commission (ICC) and appellate courts.

Law Office of Richard C. Balough, Austin, Texas, 1988-1996

Solo practitioner specializing in representing large entities in their

complex technical and financial matters.

Winstead, McGuire, Sechrest & Minick, Austin, Texas, 1987-1988

Administrative and litigation counsel in the Austin office of this

Dallas-based law firm.

Heron, Burchette, Ruckert & Rothwell, Austin, Texas, 1983-1987

Founding Austin managing partner for this Washington, D.C.-based

law firm. Responsible for operating the office and acting as liaison

with the Washington, D.C. office as well as maintaining and expanding

the firm's client base.

Assistant City Attorney, Austin, Texas, 1977-1983

Primary responsibility for all legal matters for the city-owned

electric utility that generated revenues of over $400 million

annually. Represented the utility in negotiations and litigated

matters for the utility in state and federal courts.

Assistant State's Attorney, Joliet, Illinois, 1976-1977

Prepared and tried jury and non-jury criminal cases and grand jury

presentations. I also prepared a murder case appeal.

State of Texas v. Houston Lighting & Power Co., 609 S.W. 2d

263 (Tex. Civ. App.-Corpus Christi 1980, writ ref'd n.r.e.).

Property tax case of first impression. Represented City of

Austin, saving the city millions of dollars annually.

Pedernales Electric Cooperative, Inc. v. Public Utility Commission,

809 S.W. 2d 332 (Tex. App.-Austin, 1991, no writ). Appeal of Public

Utility Commission rate case.

Areas of Practice

• Intellectual Property Law

Published Works

• "The 2000 Presidential Election Shattered the Myth that Every Vote is Counted", The John Marshall Journal of Computer Information Law, Vol. 23 No.3, Spring, 2005
• "The Do-Not-Call Registry Model is Not the Answer to Spam", The John Marshall Journal of Computer Information Law, Vol. 22 No.1, Fall, 2003
• 11 Texas Jurisprudence Pleadings and practice Forms 2d, Public Utilities (Contributing Author), 1993
• Drafting Contract Provisions for E-Commerce Sites, Illinois Bar Journal, January, 2000
• Web Sites Shouldn't Advertise Trouble, Marketing News, August 16, 1999
• Global Positioning System and the Internet, Chicago Bar Assocation Record, October, 2001

Classes and Seminars

• Speaker, Various Seminars in Illinois and Texas, Legal Issues

Representative Clients

• WebSolutions Technology, Inc
• Distant Horizon
• IT Map, Inc.

Representative Cases

• People v. Elwell, 362 N.E.2d 830 (Ill.App. 3 Dist. 1977)
• State v. Houston Lighting & Power Co., 609 S.W.2d 263 (TexCiv.App. 1980)
• City of Austin v. Schonfeld, 622 S.W.2d 896 (Tex.App. 1981)
• City of Austin v. North Austin State Bank, 631 S.W.2d 564 (Tex.App. 1982)
• Pedernales Electric Cooperative, Inc. v. Public Utility Commission, 809 S.W. 2d 332 (Tex. App. 1991)
• Budget Rent A Car Corporation v. Harvey Kidd Automotive, 249 F.Supp.2d 1048 (Northern District Illinois 2003)

West Practice Categories

Intellectual Property Law