WHGC, P.L.C. - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Counsel of WHGC
- of Counsel / International Corporate Transaction Practice Group
- Retired
Mr. Calvin Yap is an Of Counsel of WHGC. Mr. Yap practices real property law, financing and secured transactions. His experience ranges from representation of small family owned businesses to international publicly traded companies.
Mr. Yap's representative transactions include the purchase and sale of on-going businesses and commercial properties; establishment of distributorship and licensing arrangements; mixed collateral and judicial foreclosures; corporate and financial restructurings; mergers and acquisitions for various industry sectors; seller financed transactions; and Uniform Commercial Code matters. He is well versed in both interstate and international transactions. Mr. Yap's clients include foreign-based companies seeking to establish a presence in the United States.
Job Titles:
- Managing Partner / Litigation Practice Group International Corporate Transaction Group
Jeffrey C.P. Wang's practice focuses on handling the legal concerns of international and domestic corporations, with a special emphasis on international technology corporations. In addition to his J.D., Mr. Wang has two advanced Masters of Law Degrees from the University of Washington and the Southern Methodist University School of Law. Mr. Wang started with the tax department of the public accounting firm of Pricewaterhouse in San Jose, California. He then became a litigation attorney at several reputable, AV-rated litigation law firms in Northern and Southern California. Mr. Wang started this firm in 1994, and has since built a substantial client portfolio in Northern and Southern California, as well as in the Pacific Rim countries.
Mr. Wang has been a frequent commentator in Chinese language newspapers regarding the legal significance of recent events that have impacted trans-Pacific international commerce and the Chinese American business community. Mr. Wang has also been a frequent speaker in events and seminars sponsored by international government agencies, think tank, and public accounting firms that are designed for international corporations focused on the political, business, legal and intellectual property issues related to doing business in America.
Job Titles:
- of Counsel and USPTO Registered Patent Attorney Licensed in PA and D.C. / IP Prosecution Practice Group
John O'Rourke is a registered patent attorney with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office who has attained Senior Member status in the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE). He serves as a key member of WHGC's Intellectual Property Group. Mr. O'Rourke earned his J.D. from Temple University School of Law and received his M.S. and B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Villanova University. His areas of practice include matters related to technology and intellectual property law with emphasis in the areas of patent assertion, validity, right-to-use, claim coverage, infringement and enforcement, strategic foreign patent filing, design patents, trademark selection, and the identification and preservation of trade secrets.
Mr. O'Rourke has a reputation for tackling complex cases, and has prepared over 500 original U.S. patent applications across a spectrum of technical disciplines. In 1998, Mr. O'Rourke prosecuted the first social network news aggregator technology with one of the largest search engine websites in the 1990's. This technology remains critical to certain search engine platforms today. In another notable example, Mr. O'Rourke was responsible for drafting the patent for the current air traffic control system which monitors airport air and ground traffic. This system is now owned by Northrop Grumman's aerospace sector. It is mandated by the Federal Aviation Administration to be present in all large airports and nationwide.
His industries of experience include semiconductor and optical devices, materials and fabrication, computer, communication and network components, interfaces, systems, and protocols, adaptive and multidimensional signal processing architectures and techniques, coding and error-correction devices and protocols, embedded systems and multimode human-computer interfaces, operating systems, compilers, and applications programs, biometric, cryptographic, and secure communication systems, biomedical and radiological devices, biological and molecular computing, safety devices, shredding and comminuting systems, simple mechanical devices, optics and cameras.
Prior to practicing as an attorney, Mr. O'Rourke served as a Research Engineer at Villanova University where he developed unique solutions for Space Systems Division of the General Electric Corporation. Well-versed with the medical and healthcare industries, Mr. O'Rourke has more than 20 years of experience as a Clinical Research Nurse where he worked with medical devices, medical research protocols, and drug and device studies, and the like. In 1998, he was awarded the John J. Gallen Memorial Award at Villanova University in recognition of his contributions to the fields of healthcare, computer engineering, telecommunications, aerospace, and intellectual property. He is the first attorney to ever receive that award.
Job Titles:
- Partner / International Corporate Transaction Practice Group
Michael York is a seasoned litigator with 35 years of experience and he serves as an Of Counsel to WHGC. He has extensive appellate experience and is in the final stage of becoming certified as an Appellate Specialist by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization. He has handled over 50 appeals, including 3 appeals before the California Supreme Court, and has prepared over 100 briefs for the appellate courts. His appeals have covered such issues as punitive damages, priorities among claims and liens, the proper measure of damages, and attorney's fees. His success rate in appeals is four times higher than the average. One of his greatest successes was winning an appeal worth $40 million dollars.
His practice focuses on complex civil litigation, business law and litigation, bankruptcy and all areas of real estate law. He has handled virtually every kind of issue that arises in these areas of law. His clients have included large corporations, small businesses, individual entrepreneurs and even other attorneys.
He also has over 30 years' experience as a temporary judge (Judge Pro Tem) and 15 years' experience as an arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association. He has also served as an arbitrator for the Orange County Superior Court Judicial Arbitration Program and has served as a lecturer for Continuing Education of the Bar.
Job Titles:
- Counsel to WHGC
- of Counsel / Criminal Law Specialist
Robert Hartmann is Of Counsel to WHGC. Mr. Hartmann has been practicing civil law and criminal defense for more than 27 years. He has completed over 150 jury trials, over 1,000 preliminary hearings, and handled thousands of criminal cases. He began his career as a deputy district attorney with the Orange County District Attorney's Office before moving to the criminal defense side in 1987.
Mr. Hartmann represents individuals and corporations in state and federal courts throughout the United States who have already been indicted or who the Government designates as targets or subjects of investigation and prosecution. He represents clients accused of many different types of federal and state offenses, ranging from white-collar cases (examples include securities violations, ITAR/export violations, thefts of technology from companies, espionage, all types of fraud and perjury) to felonies such as homicides, three-strikes, crimes of violence and property crimes, to misdemeanors such as environmental crimes, drunk-driving and more minor charges, to juvenile cases both in delinquency and dependency court. He also does appellate and writ work in federal and state court.