Christopher Winters Email & Phone Number

Arlington, Va, Us

Mclean, Virginia, Us

Appian is changing the way software is made. Appian Legal has tried to do the same with how the function of Legal is performed. Since 2015, the Legal team has grown from 5 people working on a mix of things (including admin functions) with two automations (a contract onboarding system and electronic signatures) to over 20 people supported by 17 different automations (15 built in Appian) that streamline and give transparency to our operations. In the same time, Appian has gone from $100 million in revenue to a $400 million run rate with a 30%+ software revenue CAGR.We've also completed our IPO in 2017, raised capital four additional times (totaling over $500 million), completed two M&A transactions, moved our HQ, and Legal has introduced innovative new licensing and product packages.Some of the things we've done:*We built a self-service NDA portal that provides visibility and auditability of our Non-Disclosure Agreements in a workflow that allows in-app redlining.*We built a Vendor Contract Management system to take control of the process of requesting, approving, negotiating, executing and renewing vendor contracts that allows the Legal team to show the value of our negotiation efforts.*We built an automation for employees on the pre-clear list for stock trading to make their requests, receive trading approval, and automatically change their clearance status in Appian's equity platform through use of Appian's Robotic Process Automation technology.*We built a robust Price Quote Application in Appian to create software order forms and to automate approval processes.*We built individual small automations that allow security reports to be distributed when an NDA is detected, background checks to be requested on contractors, vendors to be onboarded, partner due diligence to be performed, and our contract repository to be searched.We won the ACCA National Capital Region 2017 Law Department of the Year

Arlington, Va, Us

•General Counsel of high-growth Big-Data Software-as-a-Service company. Led company through preparation of S-1 and response to several rounds of SEC comments. Also responsible for M&A agreements and due diligence process resulting in $600 million sale of company.•Lead negotiator of company’s commercial transactions. Known as strong negotiator who has improved business parts of deals while also securing favorable legal terms; asked by company to create and provide negotiation training to up-and-coming business leaders.•Led company through significant Asia-Pacific expansions in Japan and Australia, including selection of in-country back office providers and creation of corporate structure. Created international intra-company revenue agreements for tax purposes. Substantial responsibility for corporate governance activities of company and Board of Directors.•Responsible for developing and protecting company’s IP assets. Led process of identifying key new innovations and filing five patent applications; created regular innovation meetings where potentially patentable innovations are identified. Negotiated and signed more than 200 non-disclosure agreements to protect the confidentiality of company trade secrets.

Washington, Dc, Us

Generally responsible for day-to-day management of litigation matters at CoStar, engaged in reviewing and negotiating vendor agreements, negotiating and drafting customer agreements, providing internal legal counseling, handling employment matters, and assisting in managing antipiracy program.Part of legal team that won the 2012 WMACCA Legal Department of the Year Award.

Washington, Dc, Us

Generally responsible for managing the legal aspects of CoStar's intellectual property assets and litigation efforts. Involved in advising other departments with respect to their legal needs and responding to requests for legal advice on issues facing CoStar. Involved in drafting and reviewing legal agreements related to CoStar's activities, including litigation settlement agreements, content licensing agreements, and vendor agreements.

Founding partner of boutique firm specializing in intellectual property and commercial law for industry groups and Fortune 500 corporations. Practice included substantial corporate counseling, including preparing opinions and memoranda on pressing legal issues, serving as lead counsel on copyright and breach of contract litigations, and acting as co-counsel in patent and trade dress litigation.Counseled and represented clients in contractual and litigation matters, including representing major industry client in proceeding involving setting royalty rates for use of copyrighted material, negotiation of motion picture rights license for client, resolving royalty dispute between U.S. author and Japanese publisher, and establishing IP portfolios and drafting general employee and other agreements for startup Internet companies.

Washington, Dc, Us

 Designed strategies for and managed successful litigations involving copyrights, trademarks and trade secrets in the sports and entertainment industries, including high profile cases involving television programming valuation and Internet distribution of copyrighted material. Prepared briefs, memoranda and papers on issues of intellectual property law for closely-watched, front-page-news federal court litigation, regulatory matters, and legislative initiatives. Core member of team litigating precedent-setting antitrust case involving intersection of patent rights and antitrust law. Member of team that successfully prosecuted patent litigation against a strategic competitor of a client.

Jd, Law

B.A., History