About Our Founder
You made something. Maybe it’s a brand, a beat, an app, a design, or an invention that kept you up at night until you figured it out. Whatever it is — it’s yours. And Al Davis has spent his career making sure it stays that way.
Known to his clients as the “ideas lawyer,” Al has been protecting the creative work of inventors, artists, entrepreneurs, and businesses since 1995. His clients have ranged from independent songwriters and solo inventors to nationally recognized organizations — including the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, whose ©OSCAR® he has guarded, and the Recording Academy, home of the GRAMMY®. If you’ve got an idea worth protecting, he’s likely seen something like it before.
Al Davis, Esq.
What makes Al different isn’t just his track record — it’s where he started. Before law school, Al earned a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from the University of Illinois and worked as a project engineer at Amoco Oil Company (now BP). He understands what it takes to build something from scratch, not just how to file paperwork around it. That technical instinct, paired with legal training sharpened at the University of Wisconsin School of Law (where he served as a managing editor of the Law Review), gives him a perspective most IP attorneys simply don’t have.
Al’s legal career began at Merchant & Gould, one of the nation’s premier intellectual property firms, where he developed his practice securing patent and trademark rights before the USPTO and litigating those rights in federal court. He further sharpened his litigation skills at Quinn Emanuel, one of the most respected business litigation firms in the country, before founding A.F. Davis Law® in April 2003.
Al is admitted to practice in California, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Texas, before the U.S. District Courts of those states, and before the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Federal, Seventh, and Ninth Circuits, as well as the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
Recognized by peers. Vetted independently. Every year.
Since 2023, Al has been selected annually to the National Black Lawyers Top 100 — an invitation-only distinction limited to the top 100 attorneys per state, evaluated on peer reputation, professional achievement, bar certifications, and leadership in legal organizations. Memberships are reviewed annually, and acceptance is never guaranteed — meaning consecutive selection reflects sustained excellence, not a one-time honor.
He has also been recognized each year since 2023 by Elite Lawyer, whose advisory panel evaluates attorneys across multiple indicators of professional achievement, reputation, community commitment, and legal competence. Because attorneys are prohibited from nominating themselves or campaigning for nominations, the process is designed to filter out those who try to game the system. Only a small percentage of nominated attorneys ultimately receive the recognition.
For a younger creative or a growing business navigating IP for the first time, these distinctions matter for a simple reason: you don’t always know what you don’t know when it comes to protecting your work. These recognitions are independent confirmation — from Al’s peers in the legal community — that you’re in capable hands.