Attorneys

The Firm

Wilftek provides technology, intellectual property and business law services at reasonable prices!

Wilftek lawyers on their own and partnered with other law firms provide each client with the legal services it needs when it needs them, including securities law, labor law, international law and litigation.

Fred Wilf

Fred Wilf is the founder and managing partner of Wilftek. He has been helping his clients succeed for over 30 years.

Fred was fascinated by the technology zeitgeist while in college, and worked briefly as a programmer to pay for law school. Fred understood early on that as it became less expensive and more powerful, information technology would be an ever-growing component of each person’s life, and eventually technology would empower virtually all businesses.

After graduating law school, Fred began his law career as a technology lawyer, at a time when very few attorneys practiced technology law, and even fewer practiced technology law outside of Silicon Valley. Fred was grateful to be mentored by pioneering technology attorneys, and in the three decades since then, Fred has been paying it forward by mentoring and training attorneys to practice technology law. Fred continues to mentor attorneys, entrepreneurs and other business people at the intersection of technology, intellectual property and business.

In addition to information technology, Fred works with other technologies across multiple industries, including healthcare, chemicals, electronics, and business services. His work covers the entire lifecycle of a technology, from initial idea, through development, bringing it to market, commercialization, and then sale or sunset (often in favor of a newer technology). From strategy to implementation, Fred partners with his clients to achieve the results they seek.

Wilftek is a boutique law firm, but Fred has also worked with a large regional firm (Saul Ewing) and an international law firm (Morgan, Lewis & Bockius). Fred has also briefly worked in-house with a chemical company and with a telecommunications company.

In addition to his transactional work, Fred serves as an arbitrator of disputes involving business, technology and intellectual property issues, mostly through the American Arbitration Association and the International Centre for Dispute Resolution. Serving as an arbitrator provides an additional dimension to his transactional work, as it helps him and his clients build better business and legal relationships at the outset.

For publisher Thomson Reuters West, Fred edited and contributed to a four-volume treatise entitled Computer Software, which was originally written by L.J. Kutten. Fred has volunteered with the American Bar Association, the Philadelphia Bar Association, and Pennsylvania Bar Institute. In addition to early continuing legal education (CLE) seminars on telecommunications and the law, Fred organized and ran CLE and other seminars on Internet law issues for over 20 years. More recently, Fred has spoken on blockchain and NFTs. He also works with charities and non-profits, and provides services pro bono publico.

Fred has received recognition for his work:

• Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent® Peer Review Rated awarded in accordance with the Martindale-Hubbell certification procedures, standards and policies at www.martindale.com.
• Best Lawyers® recognition for Information Technology Law (2011-Present)
• Volunteer of the Year honored by Philadelphia Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts (2007). One of two volunteers honored that year.
• Milton Schwartz Award by the Independent Computer Consultants Association (ICCA) “for outstanding legal contributions to the computer consulting industry and to the Association” (2001).

Fred is a member of the Pennsylvania and New Jersey Bars, as well as the Bars of several federal courts.

View Fred’s detailed biography on LinkedIn.

Josh Waterston

Josh Waterston is a senior attorney with Wilftek. He practices intellectual property and technology law, with a focus on enabling business owners and entrepreneurs to prevent or resolve legal issues. He has managed people and budgets, and applies this practical knowledge to his practice.

Josh has spent much of his career as a litigator. He has handled civil and criminal litigation from trial through appellate stages, having litigated well over 30,000 cases in two decades. Josh is admitted to practice in Pennsylvania state courts, as well as the United States District Courts in the Eastern, Middle, and Western districts of Pennsylvania.

He served for over seven years as Chief Counsel of the Delaware County Office of Support Enforcement, managing the law office of Pennsylvania’s third-largest child support agency, and was previously an Assistant Public Defender for Delaware County. Prior to joining Wilftek, Josh was associated with two other firms, practicing intellectual property and technology law. He has represented clients in Federal copyright, trademark, and patent infringement litigation.

While attending Widener University School of Law, Josh served as a legal intern to the Honorable Joseph F. Battle. He is a member of the Delaware County Bar Association, the Pennsylvania Bar Association, and the Pennsylvania Intellectual Property Forum, and is a current member and former board member of the Cloud Security Alliance – Delaware Valley Chapter.

He has been voted one of the top attorneys in Delaware County and the Main Line over the last several years.

View Josh’s detailed biography on LinkedIn.

Liliane Cooper

Liliane Cooper is an associate attorney with Wilftek, where she practices intellectual property and technology law. Her focus is on the legal issues arising from the use and implementation of technology in businesses.

Prior to attending law school, Liliane was a computer consultant with Accenture, where she designed and implemented new and improved technology in the life sciences, financial and technical sectors, and managed development teams. She also founded and operated an online children’s toy store.

Liliane is a graduate of Villanova Charles Widger School of Law, as well as Drexel University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in biology and environmental science. During law school, she clerked with several businesses and courts. After law school, she clerked for the Hon. Arlene M. Coppadge of the Family Court of the State of Delaware.

Liliane is admitted to the Bar of Pennsylvania. In addition to English, Liliane is fluent in French and Lingala.

View Liliane’s detailed biography on LinkedIn.

James Ottavio Castagnera, Ph.D.

Dr. Jim Castagnera is of counsel with Wilftek. He practices labor, employment, and intellectual property law. In addition to his legal work, Jim consults on all aspects of HR policies and procedures with an emphasis on HR compliance, employee communications, and crisis management.  He also writes and speaks extensively on labor and employment topics, via his numerous books, newsletters, articles and webinars.

Formerly, he worked 10 years as an attorney with Saul Ewing LLP, and 23 years as associate provost and legal counsel for academic affairs at Rider University, where in 2018 he received the university’s highest annual award for distinguished service. He also did stints as a full-time law professor at UT-Austin and Widener University Law School.

Jim holds an M.A. in Journalism from Kent State University, and a J.D. and Ph.D. (American Studies) from Case Western Reserve University.

He is the President of Dr. Jim’s One-Stop HR Shop, a full-service human resources law and compliance company; Partner with Portum Group International LLC, a data-privacy & compliance-consulting firm; an Adjunct Professor of Law in the Kline School of Law at Drexel University; and an arbitrator for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Jim is admitted to the Bar of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. View Jim’s bio on LinkedIn.