Theodore C. Theofrastous

Ted Theofrastous has extensive experience in high-technology development and commercialization, both as a business architect and manager and as a legal professional.

He is a partner at Kohrman Jackson & Krantz in Cleveland, where he chairs the firm's Intellectual Property, Technology & New Ventures practice group and its AI Strategy, Risk Management & Compliance practice. His practice spans corporate and securities work, intellectual property and technology, and start-ups and capitalization — which is to say, the same territory the Fusion curriculum covers, worked for clients rather than taught.

Earlier he served as managing director and fund counsel for a small family venture fund, where he created and managed a portfolio of new and existing technology startup investments. Before the fund, he managed a diverse IP portfolio and launched startup companies for the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, built to commercialize products based on CCF intellectual property.

Before that, he practiced in the Cleveland and London offices of Squire, Sanders & Dempsey L.L.P., where his work focused on the nexus of investment capital and technology. At Squire Sanders and at CCF he handled matters ranging from high-technology start-up ventures to multi-billion dollar domestic and offshore private equity fund offerings.

His role with the technology startups he works with typically spans business structuring and operational planning, developing intellectual property strategy, negotiating financial investment, and serving actively as a manager or director.

Ted's business background comprises more than twenty years working as a technologist, executive, and board member, designing and implementing new and re-engineered products and business systems.

At Case Western Reserve he is Managing Director of Fusion, which he has led since 2010, Distinguished Practitioner in Residence at the School of Law, and Adjunct Professor of Law and Engineering. He serves as Managing Attorney for the School of Law's IP Venture Clinic, has taught Venture Law and Finance since 2014, and has taught The Management and Commercialization of Intellectual Property at the Weatherhead School of Management since 2009.

He has authored a number of peer-reviewed articles across a range of technology and legal topics, and speaks frequently on technology commercialization, regulation, and finance.

International Commercial Arbitration in Europe: Subsidiarity and Supremacy in the Light of the Delocalization Debate, 31 Case W. Res. J. Int'l L. 455 (1999).

From Nuremberg to Rome: A Step Backward for U.S. Foreign Policy, 31 Case W. Res. J. Int'l L. 47 (1999) (with Henry T. King).

Security and the Economy: The North American Computer and Communication Infrastructure, 29 Can.-U.S. L.J. 225 (2003).