Dallas law firm Ferguson Braswell Fraser Kubasta, PC (FBFK) announced on Tuesday it is launching an Austin office with intellectual property expert Kirby Cronin.
Cronin, who is the brother of FBFK litigation shareholder Tory Cronin, is making the move with his Cronin PLLC colleagues Allison Copeland and Jill Cronin.
“We’ve been looking for the right Austin-based partner to expand our already strong IP and technology practice and found that partner in Kirby,” FBFK CEO Kyle Ferguson said in a statement. “He’s the whole package – well-respected, entrepreneurial and committed to relationships and service, which is evident in his strong relationships with corporate leaders and the attorney team he brings with him.”
The new FBFK shareholder has handled IP matters for 15-plus years for well-known Texas businesses including Whataburger, Frost Bank and C.H. Guenther & Son.
Cronin and his team assist the iconic burger chain with trademark and copyright work; social media legal needs; legal aspects of Whataburger contests and promotions; and technology transactions and trademark licensing deals. They handle much of the same kind of work for Frost Bank, with a heavy emphasis on technology transactions.
“Coupling Cronin PLLC’s highly successful intellectual property and technology transaction specialties with FBFK’s full-service capabilities will allow us to ensure that our clients continue to receive the highest quality representation possible and with lawyers that they trust as much as their own in-house team,” Cronin said in a statement. “I look forward to growing FBFK’s IP practice and enhancing the services provided to my existing clients.”
The University of Texas School of Law graduate began his career as a litigator at Crain Caton & James in Houston and then Hohman & Taube in Austin. He later moved in-house at Computer Sciences Corporation, where he honed his technology transactions and IP skills. Cronin’s last stop before launching Cronin PLLC at the end of 2015 was the IP boutique Daffer McDaniel.
With the three Austin additions, FBFK opens its fourth outpost outside of Dallas and grows to 46 attorneys firmwide. The firm also has a presence in Houston and Silicon Valley.