About

Mission Statement

Businesses need legal advice and services that assist them in complying with the law and in pursuing their legitimate interest in enriching owners and investors. They also need legal advice and services that guide them into ethical practices that further the common good. Gonzaga's School of Law, through its Center for Law, Ethics & Commerce, helps train lawyers and law students to provide such advice and services, thereby extending the School of Law's commitment to furthering social justice in all dimensions of society.

About the Center

The Center for Law, Ethics & Commerce was established in 2006 and has been one of the nation’s leaders in providing both law students and lawyers with the skills they need to be effective business-minded advocates. Substantially expanded in 2019, the Center now offers students interdisciplinary programming in business, technology, and innovation – all with an eye toward the public good.

The Center engages in a variety of cutting-edge programs and initiatives. The Center:

• Hosts events that bring national experts to speak on law, ethics, and business topics;
• Sponsors clinical legal education;
• Sponsors the Gonzaga University Wine Institute, which offers a first-of-its-kind certificate in the business and legal aspects of the wine industry;
• Coordinates interdisciplinary programming across campus, including with Gonzaga’s School of Business Administration and School of Leadership Studies;
• Supports and promotes faculty scholarship, conferences, and presentations, particularly among junior scholars;
• Serves as a research hub for faculty, students, and scholars interested in business and technology;
• Promotes curricular offerings on experimental, creative, and cutting-edge topics in business, leadership, and new technology; and
• Fosters community and alumni relationships at the intersection of law, ethics, and commerce.

The Center works closely with the Executive JD Program, the Gonzaga University Wine Institute, the Clarke Prize Program, and the Commercial Law Amicus Initiative. It is affiliated with the Tax Law Clinic and Business Innovation Clinic.

Center Leadership

Jessica M. Kiser

Professor Kiser teaches various courses including Property, Business Associations, Agency and Noncorporate Entities, Advanced Trademarks and Unfair Competition Law, Intellectual Property, and International and Comparative Intellectual Property. Her research focuses on intellectual property law, especially as it relates to trademarks, brand development and contractual relationships. Before joining the Gonzaga faculty, Professor Kiser practiced law as a member of the Transactional Intellectual Property group in Kirkland & Ellis LLP’s New York City office. This work focused on transactions involving intellectual property and technology, including licensing, settlement, development, manufacturing, and distribution agreements, as well as product acquisitions, mergers and acquisitions, private equity investments and restructuring matters where intellectual property and technology were of significant importance.

Christopher Mercado

Co-Director for the Center of Law, Ethics, and Commerce, Supervising Attorney for the Sports Law Clinic, and Lecturer

Professor Mercado is also a Judge pro tem at Snohomish County Superior Court and a Commissioner pro tem at Spokane County Superior Court. Prior to joining the Gonzaga Law School faculty, Professor Mercado was in-house counsel of a business and real estate company, managing attorney for a creditors’ rights law firm, and counsel in the Office of the Chapter 13 Trustee. He was also an adjunct law professor at Seattle University School of Law.

Executive-in-Residence 

Gonzaga Law's unique Executive-in-Residence program allows faculty and students to work with and learn from an experienced business expert who will lend their specialized industry knowledge to our learning community. The Executive-in-Residence delivers and attends CLEC-related lectures, is available for student consultation, and otherwise enriches the programming and student support offered in the areas of business, technology, and innovation. The role is a part-time affiliation without a faculty designation with a one-year renewable appointment.

Britten Sessions

Britten Sessions has years of experience in every stage of the patent process, including early-stage IP opportunities, strategic preparation and procurement of patents and alignment of patent portfolios with business strategies.

As a principal attorney at Zilka-Kotab PC, he provides patent and licensing-related legal counsel to groups of all sizes – from individual inventors to Fortune 500-sized companies. Mr. Sessions has advised on hundreds of patent enforcement, acquisition, licensing and other monetization transactions. To that end, he has assisted companies in monetizing patent assets yielding over $120 million in returns. Additionally, he has assisted in turning unmarketable pending patent portfolios into viable revenue streams supported by seven to eight-digit transactions.

Additionally, Mr. Sessions is the founder and supervising attorney of the Intellectual Property Clinic at Gonzaga University School of Law. In that capacity, he teaches IP-related classes, and manages student/clientele interactions with the IP Clinic. He previously was Associated Dean of Intellectual Property at Lincoln Law School of San Jose, where he also founded and directed its IP Clinic, and the school’s MLS and LLM IP-focused programs. He has also authored several peer-reviewed publications and many IP-related books and textbooks.

Learn more about Britten Sessions on the Executive-in-Residence page.