Business Advisory Council Membership

Joseph M. Vanek
Partner, Vanek, Vickers & Masini, P.C.

Mr. Vanek earned his Juris Doctor from Boston College in May, 1987, where he graduated with honors. Mr. Vanek received his undergraduate degree Magna Cum Laude, from Creighton University in 1984.

Upon graduating from law school, Mr. Vanek became a member of the bar in the State of Illinois and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Mr. Vanek is also admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the United States, as well as the Court of Appeals for the Third, Fifth and Ninth Federal Circuits and the United States District Court for the Northern and Central Districts of Illinois. In addition, Mr. Vanek has practiced on a pro hac vice basis throughout the country.

Mr. Vanek’s practice has focused primarily on trial work in the areas of intellectual property, anti-trust litigation, and commercial litigation. The clients represented by Mr. Vanek in these matters have resided throughout the United States, as well as a number of other countries such as France, Canada, Taiwan, Bermuda, Japan, and Argentina.

An example of a case Mr. Vanek recently tried involved the infringement of a copyright for the developer of a video amusement game. The court awarded both damages and attorney’s fees to Mr. Vanek’s client. Mr. Vanek has also represented the inventor of critical functions to DVD technology that has resulted in a successful licensing campaign. In addition, Mr. Vanek currently represents the inventors of ergonomic keyboards, and has recently enforced a portfolio of patents relating to digital broadcast technology against an industry leading supplier.

Mr. Vanek has also focused quite heavily in the area of trademark law. In this regard, Mr. Vanek has presented numerous multi-national corporations in the selection and registration of their service marks and trade marks. Mr. Vanek has also acted as counsel in several lawsuits involving trade marks and has been repeatedly retained to evaluate the level of professional services rendered by counsel in trade mark and patent matters.

In the anti-trust area, Mr. Vanek has successfully represented a number of individual plaintiffs in price fixing claims, including cases involving territorial allocation, as well as horizontal price conspiracy. Over the past eight years, the price fixing claims in which Mr. Vanek has participated have included some of the largest and best known cases, including the In Re Vitamin Litigation, both rounds of the Visa and Mastercard Litigation, the In Re Transparent Tape Litigation, and the In Re Children’s Ibuprofen claim. Additionally, Mr. Vanek has been involved in several pharmaceutical claims involving anti-trust violations arising from the misuse of patents.

Beyond the strict confines of the practice of law, Mr. Vanek has been involved in founding and fostering several companies. Recently, Mr. Vanek helped create Automark Technical Systems, LLC., which designs and sells voting solutions for the disabled. Mr. Vanek has also had the privilege of assisting in the founding of Simple Truths LLC., a publishing company focused on motivational and inspirational books and movies.

Aaron von Staats
Corporate Vice President, General Counsel, PTC

Aaron von Staats is corporate vice president, general counsel for PTC.  In this position, Mr. von Staats manages PTC’s worldwide legal team and is responsible for worldwide legal matters, including corporate governance, securities compliance, mergers and acquisitions, intellectual property, technology licensing, litigation, employment, real estate and corporate maintenance. 
 
Experience
Since joining PTC in 1997, Mr. von Staats has held various legal positions, including Vice President -- North American Counsel, Regional Corporate Counsel – North America and Senior Staff Attorney.  Prior to joining PTC Mr. von Staats practiced for five years as an associate with the Boston law firm Palmer & Dodge LLP.   He began his legal career as a law clerk for the Honorable Paul J. Liacos, chief justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.

Mr. von Staats is a member of the Association of Corporate Counsel, the New England Corporate Counsel Association, the Boston Bar Association, and the Massachusetts Bar Association.
 
Education
Mr. von Staats attended Boston College Law School, where he earned his juris doctor, cum laude.  He received a bachelor of arts in psychology, cum laude, from the University of Massachusetts.

Joseph P. J. Vrabel
Vice President and General Counsel, Endurance Asset  Management, Inc.

Mr. Vrabel is Vice President and General Counsel to Endurance Asset Management, Inc.  He is currently President of the Board of Overseers of Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education Inc. (MCLE).  He is the Immediate Past-President of MCLE and is also a Past-President of the Massachusetts Bar Association (MBA) and of the Massachusetts City Solicitor and Town Counsel Association. He was a Senior Partner for 22 years at the law firm of Bowditch & Dewey, LLP, where he founded their Framingham office of approximately 25 attorneys.  His expertise has been primarily in corporate governance, commercial finance and commercial real estate.  He also has extensive experience in all varieties of commercial bank loans, bond financings, health care financings, private placements, workout situations, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, and all types of business transactions.  His other areas of practice have included general corporate representation, particularly situations including investment strategies, and business planning.
 
He serves on numerous not-for-profit Boards of Directors/Trustees, including Longfellow’s Wayside Inn (where he is the current Treasurer), the Massachusetts Bar Foundation (where he is the current Treasurer) the InternetBar.org and Framingham State College.  He was a Founding Trustee of Crossroads Community Foundation and is the current Massachusetts State Chair for the American Bar Foundation.  He serves on the American Bar Association’s House of Delegates, its Standing Committee for Continuing Legal Education and is also a member of the ABA International Law Section’s Non-Governmental Organizations committee.
 
He is a mediator and arbitrator of commercial, real estate, and business disputes and currently serves as an arbitrator and mediator for the American Arbitration Association and for the Real Estate Bar Association.
 
Education: Lake Forest College (B.A., 1970); Boston College (J.D., 1973); Harvard Law School (Mediator Certification, 1997).


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