Software Licensing-Contracting Expert
Areas of Expertise: Software
I am widely published and my book on software licensing published by the American Bar Association, now in its seventh edition, has been widely cited and quoted both by courts and academic institutions including the American Law Institute in its treatise: Principles of the Law of Software Contracts.
WARD CLASSEN
7822 Chelsea Street ▪ Towson, MD 21204 ▪ 410- 967-0102 ▪ Ward.Classen@gmail.com
EDUCATION:
GRADUATE
The Wharton School
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Master of Business Administration received May 1990
LEGAL
The Columbus School of Law
The Catholic University of America
Washington, D.C.
Juris Doctor received May 1985
Awards
Corpus Juris Secundum Award for significant legal scholarship
Honors
Staff Member
Catholic University Law Review
Best Competition Article
Editor‑in‑Chief
The Journal of Contemporary Health Law and Policy
Catholic University of America
COLLEGE
Trinity College
Hartford, Connecticut
Bachelor of Arts in Economics received May 1982
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:
Senior Counsel, Discovery Education, Inc., Silver Spring, Maryland (2018 to Present)
Responsible for licensing activities for a global private equity owned company including drafting and negotiating software licenses, SaaS/hosting/cloud agreements, and intellectual property protection.
General Counsel, Astea International Inc., Horsham, Pennsylvania (2016 to 2018)
Responsible for all legal and human resources matters of a publicly held global software company including drafting and negotiating software licenses and development agreements, SaaS/hosting/cloud agreements, litigation, general corporate matters and intellectual property protection. Develop and draft all corporate policies and procedures as well as template agreements for use by Astea's global sales teams. Advise executive management on all legal issues including potential litigation and intellectual property matters.
Accenture LLP., Arlington, Virginia (2014 to 2016) a $33B NYSE company
- Supported the development of Accenture's Internet of Things (IoT) platform on a global basis including drafting and negotiating agreements for all third party components (software, hosting, APIs, and SDKs), client agreements (both for SaaS and on-premises licenses), mobile app EULAs, and open source components.
- Advised Accenture's Mobility development teams on the creation and development of new IoT vertical offerings and mobile apps including potential regulatory issues, privacy/data impact assessments and all related marketing collateral.
Developed Accenture Digital's offshore non-disclosure (NDA) review process and managed the review of all NDAs and open source software for Accenture's Mobility practice.
H. Ward Classen Consulting, Baltimore, Maryland (2013 to Present)
- Drafted and negotiated a broad range of global commercial agreements and documents including software licenses, hosting and cloud agreements, mobile application and development agreements, distribution agreements, procurement and purchase agreements, services agreements, SOWs, marketing and sales agreements, global OEM and reseller agreements, and equipment manufacturing agreements. Representative clients include: Accenture, LLP, Air Distribution Technologies, Inc., Air System Components, Hart & Cooley, Johnson Controls Corporation, Koch Filter, Pace Harmon, Inc., Philo Broadcasting, Inc., Ridge Partners, LLC, Ruskin Companies, Secure-24, Inc., Selkirk Corporation, TheoremReach LLC and Wink N Nod, LLC.
Computer Sciences Corporation (now DXC Technology), Falls Church, Virginia, a $15.5B NYSE company
- Deputy General Counsel, Hanover, Maryland (2008 to 2013)
- Assistant General Counsel, Hanover, Maryland (1996 to 2004)
- General Counsel, Secretary, CSC Intelicom, Inc., Bethesda, Maryland (1990 to 1996)
- Associate Deputy General Counsel, Hanover, Maryland (2004 to 2008)
- Drafted, negotiated and advised on complex global commercial agreements including software development agreements and licenses, cloud (SaaS and IaaS), hosting and subscription agreements, professional and IT services agreements, SOWs, marketing and sales agreements, procurement agreements, global alliance and reseller agreements.
- Lead attorney for CSC's $10B domestic commercial business units, including Outsourcing, Business Solutions, World Sourcing and all industry verticals including Financial Services, Banking, Insurance, Healthcare and Technology.
- Spearheaded development of CSC's evolving global IP policies and global IP portfolio.
- Significant international experience in Europe, South and Latin America, Africa, Middle East, and Asia handling all aspects of commercial transactions and local compliance issues.
- Led legal support for CSC's $6B global supply chain and successfully transitioned legal support for CSC's supply chain to India.
- Associate General Counsel, Assistant Secretary, International Mobile Machines Corporation (now
Interdigital Corporation), King of Prussia, Pennsylvania (1987 to 1990) - Provided legal support for all commercial operations for a $30MM publicly held technology/manufacturing company, including technology development and licensing agreements, investment banking activities and litigation management.
- Coordinated preparation and approval of all public materials, press releases and shareholder communications. Initiated and implemented corporate export and trademark policies and securities compliance procedures.
- Managed risk management program, and all securities filings.
Associate, Weinberg and Green (now Saul, Ewing), Baltimore, Maryland (1985 to 1987)
- Associate in corporate and healthcare departments.
- Editorial Board, The Computer & Internet Lawyer
Past President, Association of Corporate Counsel, Baltimore Chapter - Past Chair, Business Law Section, Maryland State Bar Association
BAR ADMISSIONS:
Admitted to Maryland and the District of Columbia
OTHER ACTIVITIES:
Author, The Practical Guide to Software Licensing and Cloud Computing (7th ed. 2020 ABA Press)