Neal D.L. Black

Neal Black is a partner at Adkins Black, where he focuses on advising clients in the software technology and interactive media industries, including creators of video games, online games, VR games, mobile games, mobile applications, casual and social games, virtual worlds, various types of other software applications, hosted software solutions, embedded software solutions, middleware, platforms, AI solutions, and other creative and innovative works.

Before joining Adkins Black in 2007, Neal was Vice President and General Counsel of Square Enix, a global developer and publisher of interactive entertainment content. He managed the legal affairs of Square Enix’s North American subsidiaries, including UIEvolution, a leading developer of middleware for cross-platform distribution of apps, data, and content. Neal also served as Vice President and General Counsel of Emergent Payments (formerly Live Gamer).

At Adkins Black, Neal works directly with the CEOs, CFOs, and in-house legal departments of established and start-up companies. He provides a wide range of services, including senior management over complex legal matters, such as interactive software product releases; negotiation of complex legal relationships with customers, contractors, publishers, developers, vendors, suppliers, and other business partners; and providing business-oriented counseling to executive management teams on a full range of other legal matters.

Neal received an undergraduate degree in engineering from Stanford University, and his J.D. from Georgetown University. He has taught intellectual-property and business law courses as an adjunct professor at Seattle University and a part-time lecturer at the University of Washington School of Law, where he lectured on emerging legal issues in video games and virtual worlds.

Neal was born on Adak Island, Alaska, which, in case you didn’t know, is located in the middle of the Bering Sea at the far southwestern tip of the Aleutian Islands. He grew up in Prineville, Oregon, and now lives in the decidedly more urban environment of Kirkland, Washington, with his wife Joanna, and their two sons. He is an elected member of the Kirkland City Council, a member of the Board of Trustees of the King County Bar Association, and, from 2014 through 2019, the chair of the King County Bar Association's Public Policy Committee.