McCurdy Laud, LLC

What McCurdy Laud, LLC does

McCurdy Laud, LLC is a woman-owned boutique intellectual property law firm established in 2021 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and certified as a Women's Business Enterprise (WBENC) and Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB). The firm delivers legal services across three core practice areas: Transactions & Licensing (commercial agreements, NDAs, collaboration and licensing deals), Litigation & Disputes (patent, trademark, copyright, trade secret, and antitrust matters), and Strategic Counseling (IP portfolio strategy, agreement playbooks, and outside general counsel work). Its client base consists of technology-focused organizations, research institutions engaged in university-industry collaborations, and companies with IP disputes.

The firm is staffed by five attorneys supported by a Chief of Operations, Executive Assistant, Senior Paralegal, and Law Clerk. Attorneys are drawn from top-tier firms including Jones Day, Dorsey & Whitney, Hogan Lovells, Williams & Connolly, Jenner & Block, and include former Federal Circuit and Eighth Circuit clerks. Co-Principals Catlan McCurdy (founder) and Sanjiv Laud lead the transactional and litigation practices respectively; Of Counsel Tom Vitt and attorneys Lucien Wang and Melissa Nelson round out the legal team.

McCurdy Laud generates revenue through four pricing models — hourly billing, flat fees for template-based transactional work, contingency fees for disputes where the client receives payment, and a fixed-fee "General Counsel for a Day" eight-hour engagement. The firm operates a sales-led, exclusively referral-based go-to-market motion (the firm's website states all clients come from direct referrals) and supplements demand generation with quarterly newsletters, UIDP thought leadership, conference participation, and bespoke client training. There is no disclosed external funding, parent company, or subsidiary ownership; the firm is founder-controlled.

Name

McCurdy Laud, LLC

Legal name

McCurdy Laud, LLC

Website

https://mccurdylaud.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

McCurdy Laud is a woman-owned Minneapolis boutique intellectual property law firm serving technology-focused organizations with IP transactions, licensing, litigation, and strategic counseling, delivered through five attorneys operating on a 100% direct-referral basis.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Intellectual Property Law Services

NAICS

Legal Services (5411), All Other Legal Services (541199)

SIC

Services-Legal Services (8111)

akta.pro primary industry

Litigation Support & Expert Witness Services (BPAHALAG)

Keywords

• Intellectual property law
• Technology transactions
• Patent litigation
• IP licensing services
• Strategic IP counseling

Headquarters

HQ city

Minneapolis

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Legal Services - Hourly Rate: Traditional hourly billing at a fixed rate for all types of legal work. Services are invoiced monthly with optional project budgets and weekly/bi-weekly hour updates for transparency.
2. Legal Services - Flat Fee: One fixed fee for transactional work that does not involve negotiating with another party, including NDAs, template agreements, employee handbooks, agreement playbooks, and initial evaluation of vendor agreements. Paid in installments during the project.
3. Contingency Fees: Available for agreements and disputes where clients receive payment(s) from the other party. McCurdy Laud is paid a fixed percentage of the payment(s) received by the client once the agreement is signed or dispute is settled/adjudicated. No fees are paid by the client upfront.
4. General Counsel for a Day: Eight unbroken hours devoted to the client, onsite or remote, for one flat fee. Includes prep work in advance and summary notes/to-do lists afterward. Does not include travel expenses.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

McCurdy Laud is a boutique intellectual property law firm providing legal services in three core areas: Transactions & Licensing (drafting and negotiating NDAs, collaboration agreements, licensing agreements, and technology transfer agreements), Litigation & Disputes (representing clients in patent, copyright, trademark, trade secret, and licensing disputes including appeals), and Strategic Counseling (IP portfolio evaluation, development planning, agreement playbooks, employee invention incentive programs, and outside general counsel services).

Product overview

McCurdy Laud is a woman-owned intellectual property and technology law firm offering legal services through three core practice areas: Transactions & Licensing, Litigation & Disputes, and Strategic Counseling. The firm provides bespoke IP and technology legal services delivered by experienced attorneys. The firm offers various pricing models including hourly rate, flat fee, contingency fees, and 'General Counsel for a Day' services. As a WBENC-certified WBE, the firm supports clients with supplier diversity initiatives.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Transactions & Licensing Services

Named customers5 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• University-Industry Demonstration Partnership (UIDP)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMcCurdy Laud is a Community Partner with UIDP, an organization where representatives from top-tier innovation companies and world-class research universities collaborate. The firm actively participates in UIDP events, panels, and initiatives including UIDP Europe conferences, HBCU Engage programs, and webinars on sponsored research contracting. Catlan McCurdy serves as a panel moderator and contributor to UIDP publications.
• Brickhouse CreativeminorOthersCreative agency that designed McCurdy Laud's fresh website, logo, and additional branding as part of the firm's 2024 rebranding from McCurdy, LLC to McCurdy Laud, LLC.
• Minnesota CLEminorOthersMinnesota Continuing Legal Education organization that hosted Catlan McCurdy's virtual course on navigating SaaS contracts from the customer's perspective, covering master services agreements, SLAs, and data protection standards.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Fish & Richardson: Largest US patent litigation boutique with deep IP transaction capabilities. Directly comparable to McCurdy Laud's full-stack IP model but at vastly greater scale; serves as the aspirational benchmark for boutique-to-incumbent growth.
• Finnegan: Premier IP boutique specializing in patent litigation and complex IP transactions. Comparable in service mix (IP transactions + litigation + counseling) and target customers (technology-focused organizations), but with national/international scale.
• Knobbe Martens: West Coast-focused IP boutique combining patent prosecution, litigation, and technology transactions. Closely comparable practice mix to McCurdy Laud but with a much larger attorney bench and established brand in IP.
• Dorsey & Whitney: Large full-service firm with a notable IP practice (where founder Catlan McCurdy was formerly a partner). Overlaps with McCurdy Laud in IP transactions and technology commerce, but offers broader corporate and litigation services.
• Cooley LLP: Major tech-focused law firm with significant IP litigation and technology transactions practice serving venture-backed and public technology clients. Comparable technology client focus but at much larger scale and broader service range.

Direct peers

• Harness IP (formerly Harness Dickey): Mid-size IP boutique with strong patent prosecution and litigation practices serving technology clients. Similar boutique positioning and technology/IP focus as McCurdy Laud, with overlapping service areas and target customer base.
• Rothwell Figg: DC-based IP boutique focused on patent litigation, licensing, and counseling for tech and life sciences clients. Closely matched in boutique IP service model, technology focus, and partner-driven culture.
• Oblon: Mid-size IP boutique with prosecution, litigation, and technology transaction capabilities, particularly strong in patent licensing. Comparable practice mix to McCurdy Laud with similar target clients in tech and research sectors.

Regional players

• Patterson Thuente IP: Minneapolis-based IP boutique providing patent prosecution, litigation, and IP strategy services. Strong geographic overlap with McCurdy Laud in the Twin Cities market with comparable boutique IP service offerings.
• McAndrews Held & Malloy: Chicago-based IP boutique with patent prosecution, litigation, and IP transactions practice. Closely comparable boutique IP model serving similar technology and research clients in the Midwest region.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/mccurdylaud
• Facebookfacebook.com/mccurdylaud
• Instagraminstagram.com/mccurdylaud

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about McCurdy Laud, LLC