Meet the Team

Sean T. O’Kelly

Sean T. O’Kelly practices in all areas of litigation, including patent and commercial litigation, contract breach actions, and personal injury matters. Before establishing O’Kelly & O’Rourke, LLC, Sean was a partner at O’Kelly & Ernst, LLC and Cross & Simon, and was an attorney with Morris, Nichols, Arsht & Tunnell, practicing primarily in the Intellectual Property Litigation Group. Prior to that, Sean was a Lead Structural Engineer at Boeing, working on such programs as the Apache AH-64, 757, 767, and 777 commercial jet aircraft. Sean has acted both as lead and local counsel in a variety of matters. He has been before all judges in the District of Delaware, plus Delaware’s Magistrate Judges. He has also litigated in Delaware’s Chancery and Superior Courts and has appeared before the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Bench. Sean received BS Eng., and BA degrees from the University of Connecticut, an MS degree in Mechanical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and a JD degree, magna cum laude, from Temple University Beasley School of Law, where he received the Raynes, McCarty Prize for scholarly achievement in the law and the Kozart Prize for excellence in products liability.

Sean can be reached via email at sokelly@okorlaw.com or by phone at (302) 778-4001.

Gerard M. O’Rourke

Mr. O’Rourke practices in the areas of intellectual property litigation, counseling, and intellectual property procurement. He also has significant commercial litigation and arbitration experience. A registered patent attorney, Mr. O’Rourke has served as lead trial counsel in patent litigation in jurisdictions throughout the United States.  He has litigated patent cases in a wide variety of technical fields including consumer electronics, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology and specialty chemicals. Mr. O’Rourke has drafted and prosecuted patent applications relating to commercial products in varied technical arts.  These include both U.S. and foreign origin applications.  Patents Mr. O’Rourke has prosecuted have been successfully litigated on behalf of his clients in U.S. District Courts.  He has also represented clients in inter partes review proceedings and reexamination proceedings in the USPTO. Mr. O’Rourke frequently is asked to serve as local counsel in the District of Delaware, the Delaware Court of Chancery, and the Delaware Superior Court.  Having appeared before all judges in the District on multiple occasions, Mr. O’Rourke brings valuable insight to the firms that retain him to assist in the litigation efforts in the District. Mr. O’Rourke has assisted clients in offensive, defensive, and cross licensing negotiations. In addition, he has reviewed patent portfolios in connection with due diligence activities in multi-million dollar acquisitions. He has also prepared intellectual property opinions relating to commercial products.

Jerry can be reached via email at gorourke@okorlaw.com or by phone at (302) 778-4002.

George Pazuniak

George Pazuniak is a skilled intellectual property attorney with extensive experience in all facets of enforcement, protection, arbitration, licensing, and counseling. His diverse client base has included start-ups and small to medium-sized businesses as well as global Fortune 50 companies. George has been lead counsel in over forty IP cases, including ten jury trials and several arbitrations, in venues ranging from Delaware to East Texas to California. Many of these have been complex, high-profile cases involving, for example, telecommunications, biotechnology, chemicals, software, and medical and mechanical devices. He has also handled appeals before the Delaware Supreme Court, the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, and the United States Supreme Court. George has been responsible for cases that have led to governing law in patent-marking, bona fide purchaser, and licensing issues. George recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for client companies in jury trials and through arbitration. George negotiated and prepared significant agreements that have operated for many years. George successfully opened and managed a new office for an AmLaw 100 firm. Best Lawyers in America has listed George since 1995. Prior to becoming affiliated with O’Kelly & O’Rourke, LLC as Of Counsel, George started his own firm, was a partner at two other major firms, and led the opening of a Wilmington, Delaware office for one of those firms.

George can be reached via email at gpazuniak@okorlaw.com or by phone at (207) 359-8576.

Richard G. Funke

Richard Gabler “Gabe” Funke is a Delaware-licensed attorney who practiced in the field of insurance defense in the Delaware office of Mintzer Sarowitz Zeris Ledva & Meyers, LLP before joining O’Kelly & O’Rourke, LLC. He handles most forms of civil litigation including, among other matters, breach of contract, personal injury, environmental law, civil rights violations, and constitutional law. He earned his J.D. at Widener University’s Delaware Law School, where he served as an editor for the Widener Law Review and received the Charles J. Zencey Memorial Award in large part for his work in Widener’s environmental law clinic. He earned his undergraduate degree in anthropology and philosophy at Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland, where he was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa in the Theta Chapter of Maryland.

Gabe can be reached via email at rfunke@okorlaw.com or by phone at (302) 426-2136.