Prior to joining Stein McEwen LLP, he was with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of General Counsel from 1991 to 2004, and was Patent Counsel from 1995 through 2004. From 1992 to 1997 he was also an Associate Professorial Lecturer in Law (adjunct) at the George Washington University Law School. From 1967 to 1991, he held various positions as a scientist in industry and government. After leaving the Government, he was in private practice specializing in the field of intellectual property.

Dr. Ehrlich’s major practice area is in the chemical arts and transactional matters such as licensing agreements and cooperative research agreements. While in EPA's Office of General Counsel, Dr. Ehrlich supervised the writing and prosecution of over 100 applications for pollution control technology, energy saving engine technology (including hybrids), pollution detection methods, environmental monitoring methods, and computer modeling. He negotiated, wrote or reviewed over 100 patent license agreements and cooperative research and development agreements.
He was the EPA official representing EPA's position in the litigation surrounding Unocal's patents for reformulated gasoline, including arguing EPA's position on certiorari directly before the Solicitor General. He served as inside counsel to the Department of Justice on the patent infringement case, Chemical Separation Technology v. United States, 53 USPQ2d 1419 (Fed. Cl. 1999) and 63 USPQ2d 1114 (Fed. Cl. 2002) and the employee rights case, Breton v. Evans, both of which led to decisions in the government’s favor in 2006.

Dr. Ehrlich has also been very active in professional associations and outreach and education on intellectual property, law, technical, and other issues. He has over 90 publications and presentations. He has been active in the American Chemical Society. He serves on its Committee on Patents and Related Matters, where he was Chair from 2000-2002, and its Committee on Constitution & Bylaws, where he is currently a subcommittee chair. He also has participated actively in the Division of Chemistry and the Law where he has been Chair-Elect, Chair, Immediate Past Chair, and Councilor, the latter since 2002. For CHAL, he has organized or co-organized 6 symposia at regional and national meetings of the ACS, and has frequently made presentations on intellectual property and other issues. While with the Government, he was President of the Government Intellectual Property Law Association. He is also a member of the American Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists, the American Bar Association and its Intellectual Property Law Section, the American Intellectual Property Law Association, the District of Columbia Bar and its Intellectual Property Law Section, the Federal Bar Association, and the Bar Association of Maryland.

Publications & Presentations
Dr. Ehrlich has also been very active in professional associations and outreach and education on intellectual property, law, technical, and other issues. He has over 90 publications and presentations, including those listed below:

“EPA Invention Rights Appeal and Review by the District Court”, a discussion on Breton v. Evans, 81 USPQ2d 1701 (D.DC 2006), before the Government Intellectual Property Law Association (May 15, 2009)

Alan Ehrlich and Valerie McDevitt, organizers, Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer, presented at Mid-West Regional Mtg., Am. Chem. Soc., Quincy, IL, October, 2006.

Alan Ehrlich, The Bayh-Dole Act at Twenty Five Years, to be presented at Symp. on Patent Issues in Academe and the Petroleum Research Fund (PRF) Grants, Div. of Chem. & Law, 232 Natl Mtg. Am. Chem. Soc., San Francisco, CA, September 11, 2006.

Alan Ehrlich, Introduction; Careers in Government, presented at Symp. on Alternative Careers for Chemists & The Lawyer Is In, 38th Mid-Atlantic Regional Meeting, Am. Chem. Soc., MARM 2006: Progress In Chemistry; Chemistry in Chocolate Town, Hershey, Pa, June 5, 2006.

Alan Ehrlich, organizer and presiding, Alternative Careers for Chemists & The Lawyer Is In, symposium presented at 38th Mid-Atlantic Regional Meeting, Am. Chem. Soc., MARM 2006: Progress In Chemistry; Chemistry in Chocolate Town, Hershey, Pa, June 5, 2006 (summary by A. Ehrlich, Oh, How Sweet it is! MARM 2006, published in 22 Newsletter: Division of Chemistry and the Law, Fall, 2006 (Vol. 22 No. 2 at 19).

Alan Ehrlich, Publish And Your Patent Rights May Perish, presented at the Symp. on What Chemists Need to Know About Intellectual Property, Div. of Chem. Information, 230th Natl. Mtg. Am. Chem. Soc., Washington, D.C., August 28, 2005.

Driving While Intoxicated, 19 Newsletter: Division of Chemistry and the Law, Fall, 2003 at 13 (Vol. 19 No. 2)(co-author).

Union Oil Company (Unocal) v. Atlantic Richfield, et al. (Arco), 18 Newsletter: Division of Chemistry and the Law, Fall, 2002 at 24 (Vol. 18 No 2).

New Law Protects U.S. Inventors [American Inventors Protection Act], ACS Comment, Chem. & Eng. News, May 1, 2000 at 66 (co-author)

EPA’s Proposed Standards for Particulate Matter and Hydrocarbons, 13 Newsletter: Division of Chemistry and Law, Fall, 1997 (Vol. 13 #2).

Words from Waterside Mall, regular column for Environmental Voice, newsletter of Envtl. L. Assn, Natl. L. Ctr., Geo. Wash. U. (1987 - 1991).

The Environmental Protection Agency's Risk Assessment Guidelines, 37 J. Air Pollution Control A. 784 (1987) (co-author).

New Risk Assessment Initiatives in EPA, 1 Toxicology Indus. Health 7 (1985)(co-author).

Consumer Protection and the Consumer Product Safety Commission in Dusts and Diseases at 511 (R. Lemen & J. Dement eds. 1979) (co-author).

Regulations of the Consumer Product Safety Commission in Radioactivity in Consumer Products at 59 (A. Moghissi, P. Paras, M. Carter & R. Barker eds. 1978; U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Comm'n Rep. No. NUREG/CP-0001)