
ABOUT DUNNER LAW
We are not your typical law firm; we work in a brownstone in historic Georgetown on a pretty cobblestone street with trolley tracks. Our clients don’t pay for fancy marbled walls and expensively leased space. We appreciate our clients’ business needs and demands, and we practice accordingly.

Lisa Dunner
Managing partner
Lisa is Managing Partner at Dunner Law and a past Chair of the ABA Section of Intellectual Property Law (ABA-IPL). She is recognized as one of the world’s top 250 women in IP and by World Trademark Review 1000 as one of the top 1000 trademark attorneys in the world. She was appointed by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce in 2016 to serve a 3-year term as a member of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Trademark Public Advisory Committee and to advise the Under Secretary of Commerce for IP and Director of the USPTO. Lisa’s practice focus is on strategic counseling related to a wide variety of trademark, unfair competition, false advertising, copyright, e-commerce and transactional matters. Formerly a partner at McDermott Will & Emery, Lisa has extensive experience in protection and enforcement of intellectual property and unfair competition rights for domestic and international issues.
She regularly counsels clients on best practices related to IP asset protection and management, finding efficient and strategic ways to maximize and manage IP assets. She also has significant experience in handling opposition and cancellation proceedings before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, litigation disputes in state and federal court, and contract negotiation and disputes. Lisa has testified before the U.S. Congress House of Representatives, Committee on the Judiciary, regarding the U.S. Copyright Office, Its Function and Resources, and she has spoken and written on numerous other occasions on trademark and copyright issues. Lisa is a Delegate for ABA-IPL, a former Commissioner on the ABA Commission for Women in the Profession and Founding Editor-in-Chief of the ABA IPL’s flagship IP magazine, Landslide. Prior to practicing law, Lisa was a touring professional tennis player and achieved world rankings in both singles and doubles. She enjoys playing tennis, golf, hiking, gardening and rescuing animals.
Accomplishments
- Appointed to ABA Commission on Women in the Profession by ABA President-Elect, 2018
- Voted top 250 Women in IP, 2016 - 2020 by "Managing Intellectual Property"
- Voted IP Star, 2016 - 2020 by "Managing Intellectual Property"
- Listed in WTR 1000, 2016 - 2020
- Appointed in 2016 by U.S. Secretary of Commerce to serve on U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Public Advisory Committee (TPAC)
- Past Chair, ABA Section of Intellectual Property Law, 2014-2015
- Contributing Writer to "The Road to Independence: 101 Women's Journeys to Starting Their Own Law Firms" https://shop.americanbar.org/eBus/Store/ProductDetails.aspx?productId=213652
- AV Rated, Martindale Hubbell
Bar Admission
District of Columbia, District of Columbia Court of Appeals, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, and the U.S. Supreme Court.
Professional Organizations
NAMWOLF
ABA Section of Intellectual Property Law, Delegate and Officer; Founder, ABA Section of IP Women in IP
AIPLA
INTA
Women’s Bar Association of the District of Columbia
WBENC member
Education
The John Marshall Law School, JD.
Rollins College, BA.

Adam Sikich
Senior Counsel
Adam is a Senior Counsel at Dunner Law, and he regularly counsels clients on the selection, clearance, protection, and enforcement of trademarks and copyrights throughout the world. He has extensive experience in managing clients’ portfolios, and he represents clients in opposition and cancellation proceedings before the U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, conducts intellectual property audits, and prepares intellectual property protection protocols for Dunner Law’s clients. Adam also counsels in the areas of false advertising, trade secrets, open source, and enforcement of IP rights on the Internet, including representing clients in domain name disputes, social media IP infringements, domain name monitoring, illegal streaming and downloading, drafting web site legal policies, ensuring compliance with DMCA provisions, and drafting domain name policies.
Adam has extensive transactional experience, including drafting and negotiating work-for-hire, joint development, partnership, hosting and website development, publishing, copyright permissions, IP settlement, licenses, assignments and non-disclosure agreements. Adam is a die-hard Chicago White Sox, a Star Wars aficionado, and the world’s greatest Little League coach.
Bar Admission
District of Columbia, Illinois
Professional Organizations
ABA Section of Intellectual Property Law
INTA
NAMWOLF
Education
The John Marshall Law School, J.D.
American University, B.A., magna cum laude.
Riva-Niger Smith
ASSOCIATE
Accomplishments
Alpha Lambda Delta Honor Society and Psi Chi Honors Society, Univ. of MD-Baltimore County
Bar Admission
D.C., pending
Professional Organizations
Women's Bar Association of D.C.
Education
American University College of Law, J.D.
University of Maryland-Baltimore County

Ngoc K. Fig
Director of Operations
Ngoc K. Fig is Director of Operations at the merged firm of Dunner Law/Raphael Bellum. Ngoc manages the operational processes and staff for the combined firm, and she makes decisions relating to process improvements, technology adoption, operational changes and budget allocation. She has extensive experience providing both domestic and international patent prosecution support, and is responsible for developing, executing, and overseeing intellectual property procedures and portfolio management. Prior to serving in this role at the firm, Ngoc spent 20 years in Big Law as a Senior Paralegal in a fast-paced IP practice. Ngoc uses this past experience to ensure the firm’s operations and finances are up to date, and she manages client and vendor accounts as well.
Accomplishments
IP Paralegal Certificate
Education
University of California at Irvine, Bachelor of Arts in Political Science