Jennifer Criss

Jennifer's practice focuses on negotiating the intellectual property and information technology aspects of complex commercial and corporate transactions, from mergers and acquisitions to financing transactions to corporate divestitures and spin-offs. She also works with technology companies to more mature entities on complex commercial transactions.

Jennifer routinely advises clients on strategic partnerships and guides companies at every stage of corporate acquisitions where intellectual property and technology are key assets. She drafts, negotiates, and advises clients on various software commercial and IP licenses, software as a service (SaaS) and cloud services agreements, software and product development agreements, joint development agreements, software and hardware contracts, and related consulting agreements. Jennifer works with cross-border clients across numerous technology-driven sectors, including entertainment, media, clean energy, biotechnology, and retail.

Additionally, Jennifer has extensive knowledge of copyright law and counsels clients on all aspects of copyright protection.

Jennifer has been an active member of the American Bar Association's Section of Intellectual Property Law and involved in its leadership for over 10 years. In August 2023, she began a 4-year position as one of 16 members of the Section's Council, helping to establish policy and resolutions on behalf of the IP Section. Jennifer has also been a member of its Continuing Legal Education (CLE) Board since 2016. She previously served on the Section's Nominating Committee. She previously served as vice chair of the ABA's Copyright Division (2020-2021) and was chair of the Committee on Copyright & Social Media. 

Jennifer is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation. Her speaking engagements and publications have addressed topics such as asset sales involving intellectual property, ownership matters, copyright permissions, fair use, online harassment, and data privacy and cybersecurity.

Before her legal career, Jennifer earned her Ph.D. in the History of Art from the University of Pennsylvania. She taught art history at The George Washington University and American University. She received fellowships from the French Ministry of Education (Chateaubriand Fellowship), the Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Phillips Collection, and the University of Pennsylvania.