Biglaw, Intellectual Property

3 Tips For First-Year IP Associates

The first year of practice is both exhilarating and challenging for IP associates.

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It was just weeks after 9/11 that I started my first gig as a lawyer, at a now-defunct but then prominent intellectual property boutique firm in New York City. Because I had not yet taken the patent bar, I was technically treated as a contract attorney and not an associate, even though I spent my time at that firm performing first-year associate tasks on a sizable patent case. By the following summer, I had joined another firm as a full associate, but the experience of working at two law firms in my first year of practice imparted some lessons that I think are worthwhile for first-year associates today.

What follows is an idiosyncratic set of tips, ideally considered in conjunction with the usual platitudes about making a good first impression, acting professionally, and billing as many hours as you can. Part of the sensibility behind these ideas is the sense that the first year of practice — particularly in a challenging field like IP — is fraught with anxiety for new lawyers. On top of the unfamiliar work environment, first-years must learn to handle their dread at making an error; those can be of a professional or cultural kind. At the same time, the first year of practice is the best time to cultivate one’s professional curiosity, and learn to enjoy the intellectual challenge of lP law.

So the first tip is to do what you can to avoid being pigeonholed into a narrow field of practice early on. The time for hyper-specialization is later. With that in mind, first-year IP associates must realize that while you are at your most fragile from the point of view of professional autonomy, you also may never be as free to discover what aspects of IP law actually appeal to you. Even if you are stuck on various matters of the same type, there will inevitably be opportunity to investigate (on your own time) other areas of IP law, or even different aspects of the IP field (patent, trademark, etc.) you are primarily working in to start. If you are assigned to assist on the invalidity analysis in a patent case, you can use your spare time to start educating yourself about damages law in patent cases, as an example.

The goal of course is to achieve a wide-ranging familiarity with all aspects of IP law, so that even if you don’t have an actual assignment in a particular area, you will be ready when and if an assignment does come along. But a first-year’s curiosity should not be limited to IP law issues. One of the most exciting parts about starting a law firm career is the opportunity to actually work on client matters. Clients are often an abstraction during a summer associateship or during the recruiting process. Now that a firm has actually brought you on to work, however, you have an opportunity to see precisely which clients are giving the firm IP business.

As a second tip, it is imperative that even if you will never even sniff a call with the client directly, you take the opportunity to learn about the breadth and depth of your firm’s IP client roster. Try to understand what kind of IP work different clients are giving the firm, and analyze whether that work is centered on a particular industry or area of IP law. Perhaps most important, for clients whose matters you are staffed on, do as much background research on the client and its business as you can. Learn about the client’s industry, why IP issues are important to the client, and try and determine how the client interacts with competitors on IP issues. Make sure you understand the value of the matters you are working on for the client, and where your matters fit into the client’s IP strategy. On top of making you a better lawyer and motivating you to work harder for the client, engaging in this type of study is good practice for when you become more senior, and need to prepare for beauty contests and the like.

Third, remember that as important as it is to build your network within the IP department at your firm, and with other IP-focused colleagues at other firms, it is just as important to build your network of lawyers practicing in other disciplines. If you work at a larger firm with other practice groups, take advantage of the associate mixers and training programs offered to get to know your colleagues toiling away in corporate or real estate. At the same time, make sure you are at least passingly familiar with your IP colleagues, including associates and partners in other offices. If you work in a smaller firm, perhaps one focused on IP issues only, then try and get to know the patent associates if you are mostly focused on trademark/copyright and vice versa. Considering as well how most, if not all, states put a premium on live CLE for junior lawyers, use the opportunity of attending those CLEs to get to know other juniors at different firms and companies. Finally, be a good friend to your law school classmates, who are probably going through the same intensive adjustment as you are to work life. Be a sympathetic ear and source of support, and make clear that you are interested in maintaining your relationship even after law school.

Ultimately, the first year of practice is both exhilarating and challenging for IP associates. That said, there are concrete steps any associate can take to develop good work habits, expose themselves to as wide a variety of IP issues as possible, and start to grow their professional networks. It may not seem like it, but these steps are the foundation for an interesting and opportunity-filled career as an IP lawyer. Yes, it all starts with a professional attitude and doing great work. But don’t forget that the key to lasting success is often in the extra effort you make. Whether you practice for one year or fifty, it is that extra effort that will sustain and enrich life as an IP lawyer.

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Please feel free to send comments or questions to me at gkroub@kskiplaw.com or via Twitter: @gkroub. Any topic suggestions or thoughts are most welcome.

Gaston Kroub lives in Brooklyn and is a founding partner of Kroub, Silbersher & Kolmykov PLLC, an intellectual property litigation boutique, and Markman Advisors LLC, a leading consultancy on patent issues for the investment community. Gaston’s practice focuses on intellectual property litigation and related counseling, with a strong focus on patent matters. You can reach him at gkroub@kskiplaw.com or follow him on Twitter: @gkroub.

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