Profile

Joseph M. Forgione is legal counsel at Richemont Americas, where he handles all commercial legal transactions and intellectual property-related (IP) matters for a large portfolio of luxury jewelry, watch, and fashion brands, including Alaïa, Buccellati, Cartier, Chloé, Delvaux, IWC, Jaeger LeCoultre, Montblanc, Panerai, Piaget, Vacheron Constantin, and Van Cleef & Arpels, among others. Professor Forgione has over a decade of experience in private practice, where he worked on IP-related matters in the fashion and beauty industries with well-known brands, including Burberry, Casio, Coach, Crocs, Estée Lauder, Ferragamo, Hermès, Michael Kors, Proraso, Sherri Hill, Stuart Weitzman, and Tiffany & Co. He also worked on IP-related matters in the corporate legal department at Chanel for several years, and he participated in legal internships at Kate Spade, 7 Jeans, and Time Inc. (with Real Simple and Sports Illustrated magazines) while he was a law student in New York City. His professional career in the legal field began as a law clerk in the legal department at HBO. Professor Forgione was first exposed to the fashion industry while working as an intern in both the fashion and editorial departments at Esquire magazine and, briefly, as an intern in the fashion department at GQ magazine.

Professor Forgione serves as an adjunct law professor at New York Law School (NYLS), teaching several upper-level IP courses and acting as a faculty advisor to the New York Law School Law Review; he has been teaching at NYLS since 2012. In addition, as a senior fellow at NYLS, he oversees the Fashion Law Initiative, the only full-service legal initiative in the United States focused on coursework, clinical and experiential learning, externship opportunities, and hands-on exposure to new technology in fashion. He is the founding director and advisory board chair of this program, and is responsible for developing academic events, workshops, and informational sessions designed to enrich students by exposing them to issues related to fashion law and technology. Professor Forgione also helps students explore careers and develop professional networks in the fashion industry, and he works with NYLS to strengthen its programming for students interested in fashion and the legal profession.

Professor Forgione's scholarship typically focuses on truth, technology, and the law, with a special emphasis on Internet counterfeiting, online social networks, and IP in the fashion industry.