Clause 8, Episode 17: Frank Jakes – Legendary Trial Attorney

This episode features an interview with trial attorney Frank Jakes – the founder of the Intellectual Property Group at the firm of Johnson Pope in Tampa, FL. There’s a good chance that you have recently seen him questioning Joe Exotic in the Netflix documentary Tiger King. However, even before successfully representing Carole Baskin and Big Cat Rescue, Frank Jakes was already a legendary trial attorney in Tampa who handled lots of cases involving high-profile parties and interesting personalities and won many millions of dollars in verdicts. Many of those cases involved a wide variety of IP rights.

During this episode, Franks talks about:
• practicing IP law in Tampa, FL;
• his acting background;
• what makes someone a great trial lawyer;
• handling IP cases on a contingency basis;
• how IP owners should go about finding the best attorney to represent them;
• representing a computer programmer who developed the Wheel of Fortune computer game on a contingency basis;
• creatively pursuing contract and misappropriation theories in state court instead of a copyright infringement lawsuit in federal court;
• facing opponents with endless resources;
• his experience with patent infringement cases;
• representing Larry Flynt in a case involving a promise of a $1 million reward for proving who actually killed JFK;
• representing Carol Baskin and Big Cat Rescue versus Joe Exotic;
• whether he ever feared for his life after the Tiger King case; and
• much more!