Billie founded the Zermatt Legal Group in 2008 to help private clients protect and commercialize their IP assets. Today, ZLG lawyers advise clients in industries ranging from arts and entertainment to specialty retail and technology, as well as museums and higher education.
Prior to ZLG, Billie spent several years in London as an international corporate lawyer for two Silicon Valley companies where she was responsible for all legal matters across Europe, the Middle East and Africa; and five years in San Francisco as the Legal Director for Commercial Transactions for Gap, Inc. Early in her career, she was an associate with Covington & Burling and a business affairs lawyer for the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC.
As ZLG’s Managing Partner, Billie advises tech companies, artists, sports personalities and specialty retailers on a wide-range of IP and commercial matters, including technology licensing, film distribution, book publishing, IT acquisition, strategic sourcing and merchandising deals. She also handles copyright registrations and federal trademark prosecution for clients and manages the firm.
Billie teaches International Intellectual Property Law at Vermont Law School and she frequently lectures at Tuck Business School (Dartmouth College), Suffolk Law School, Boston University, and the Association of Corporate Counsel conferences. Her publications include: Your First Licensing Deal, Managing a Pan-European Reduction in Forces, So You Want an ® Rating and Intellectual Property in Academia: A Practical Guide for Scientists and Engineers, published by CRC Press.
When not advising clients, you might find Billie chasing her family down the ski slopes in Colorado or competing in sprint triathlons in New England. Billie is a member of the ski patrol at Okemo Mountain Resort in Vermont, and serves on the board of the Upper Valley Aquatic Center. Through her leadership and participation in the annual Harpoon Point-to-Point cycling event, her team has raised more than $24,000 for the Vermont Food Bank.