Profile

With more than 20 years of luxury retail experience, Joseph M. Forgione is General Counsel at Jacob & Co., a luxury timepiece and jewelry company based in New York. As a senior member of the executive team, he leads and protects all corporate functions for the company’s global operations across luxury watchmaking, fine jewelry, retail, and brand partnerships. Professor Forgione provides counsel in areas including global intellectual property (IP) protection and enforcement, commercial contracts and strategic transactions, corporate governance, compliance, and other legal and business-related matters. Professor Forgione previously worked at Richemont Americas, handling a wide variety of commercial legal transactions and advising on IP matters for a large portfolio of luxury brands including Alaïa, Baume & Mercier, Buccellati, Cartier, Chloé, Delvaux, Dunhill, IWC, Jaeger‑LeCoultre, Montblanc, Panerai, Piaget, Vacheron Constantin, Van Cleef & Arpels, and others. Professor Forgione has over a decade of experience in private practice, working on IP matters with brands including Burberry, Casio, Coach, Crocs, Estée Lauder, Ferragamo, Hermès, Michael Kors, Stuart Weitzman, Tiffany & Co., and others. Professor Forgione also worked on IP matters in the corporate legal department at Chanel for several years and participated in legal internships at Kate Spade, 7 Jeans, and Time Inc. (InStyle, Real Simple, and Sports Illustrated magazines) as a law student. His professional career in law 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 at Esquire and GQ magazines.

Professor Forgione serves as a Distinguished Adjunct Professor of Law at New York Law School, teaching several upper-level IP courses and acting as a faculty advisor to the NYLS Law Review and the Christian Legal Society; he has been teaching at NYLS since 2012. In addition, as a Senior Fellow at NYLS, Professor Forgione oversees the Fashion Law Initiative, the only full-service legal initiative in the U.S. focused on coursework, clinical and experiential learning, externship opportunities, and hands-on exposure to new technology in fashion. Professor Forgione is the Founding Director and Advisory Board Chair of this program and has held numerous 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 legal scholarship typically focuses on Internet counterfeiting, online social networks, and IP in the fashion industry.