IP/Entertainment Attorney Lawrence Waks Joins Wilson Elser’s Dallas Office

Lawrence Waks, of counsel at Wilson Elser

To bolster its intellectual property practice, national law firm Wilson Elser hired premier IP/entertainment attorney Lawrence Waks, formerly of Jackson Walker LLP, as of counsel in its Dallas office.

Waks’s practice of more than 30 years has focused primarily on IP litigation and transactional matters, serving a national and international client base that hails from industries such as entertainment, music, sports, electronic gaming, publishing, fashion, consumer goods, media and more.

Fluent in Spanish, French and Russian, Waks, who has lived in Argentina and Bolivia, uses his multilingual skills to represent U.S. clients abroad as well as global clients in the United States.

“We are fortunate to have such a formidable, well-respected IP attorney join our ranks,” said E. Stratton Horres, regional managing partner of the Dallas office and the partner in charge of lateral hires. “Larry has built a thriving entertainment/IP practice with an impressive list of clients and accomplishments, including contributing to Austin’s emergence as the “Live Music Capital of the World” and helping to foster Texas’s reputation as a “Third Coast” entertainment destination. His outstanding capabilities support the firm’s ongoing diversification and expansion of services we offer our clients to better serve them locally and nationally.”

“We are excited about the new dimension Larry’s practice adds to the firm,” Horres added.

In addition to intellectual property, Waks, who has degrees in geology and engineering, practices in the areas of environmental, energy and admiralty and marine law.

Recognized as a leader in the legal community, Waks is a fellow of the American Bar Association Foundation and the Texas Bar Foundation, and a member of the Governing Committee of the American Bar Association Forum on Entertainment and Sports Industries and chair of its Litigation Division. He is also chair of the Texas State Bar Copyright Section.

Waks is a member of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) and the Latin Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (LARAS), best known for the Grammy Awards and the Latin Grammy Awards, respectively, and the Texas chapter of NARAS. Waks also serves on the board of the Dallas Film Society and the Advisory Board of the Austin Theater Alliance.

Waks has earned an AV® Preeminent Rating by Martindale-Hubbell and has been named to the Super Lawyers and Best Lawyers in America lists, and the Who’s Who Legal (International) in the entertainment and media law categories.

Waks earned his J.D. degree from St. Mary’s University and his B.A. degree, with honors, from Trinity University.