Intellectual Property

3 Questions For An IP Trial Lawyer And New Boutique Founding Partner (Part I)

A chat with Jennifer Wu, a new name partner of Groombridge, Wu, Baughman & Stone LLP.

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Intellectual PropertyEvery year, Thanksgiving comes and goes, bringing in its wake a reminder that yet another year is coming to a close. For me, however, it is also a reminder of the timing around the decision my partners and I made 10 years ago to launch our own IP litigation boutique and consulting practice. As a result of that experience, I am always keen to see what lateral moves happen in the IP litigation space as the close of another year approaches, especially when those moves involve significant practices. This year in particular has seen a number of high-profile announcements in the IP litigation ecosystem — in both directions — from boutique to Biglaw as well as from Biglaw to boutique. An example of the former is the October announcement that Durie Tangri would be joining MoFo’s IP litigation practice. And with respect to the latter, the departure from Paul Weiss of a powerhouse group of IP litigators was more than deserving of the media coverage the news received right before Thanksgiving. One of the former Paul Weiss lawyers — and new name partner of Groombridge, Wu, Baughman & Stone LLP — Jennifer Wu, has kindly agreed to discuss her move and new firm with this readership.

In light of the above, I am very pleased to share with this audience a written interview I did with Jennifer, who was gracious enough to agree despite her busy litigation docket. Her bio is reflective of her significant accomplishments and professional stature:

Jennifer H. Wu is a patent trial and appellate lawyer recognized for her “great advocacy skills at trials” and “outstanding work in cutting-edge biologics cases.” Wu has been widely recognized within the legal industry and the patent litigation bar for her achievements. In 2022, she was recognized by Chambers USA as an “Up and Coming” lawyer in the Intellectual Property: Patent (NY) category. In 2019, she was named to Benchmark Litigation’s “40 & Under Hot List — Northeast.” In 2018, she was selected by the New York Law Journal as a “Rising Star,” an award that recognizes top attorneys under the age of 40. In 2017, Wu was a recipient of the “Best Under 40” award from the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA). She is a member of the executive committee and the board of the Federal Circuit Bar Association (FCBA), and a former co-chair of the FCBA Patent Litigation Committee, the Mock Argument Committee, and the Rules Committee. Wu also has an active pro bono practice, and represents a number of Asian American victims of racially motivated violence and their families. She received the New York Law Journal’s Diversity Initiative Award in 2022 in recognition of her pro bono work.

Wu earned her A.B. in biochemical sciences from Harvard University and her J.D. from New York University School of Law, where she received the Vanderbilt Medal for Service to the Law School Community and the President’s Service Award for Leadership. Following law school, Wu clerked for the Hon. Alan D. Lourie of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

Now to the interview. As usual, I have added some brief commentary to Jennifer’s answer below but have otherwise presented her answer to my question as she provided it.

Gaston Kroub: What is most exciting about launching a new IP litigation boutique after such a successful run at a top Biglaw firm?

Jennifer Wu: The most exciting thing about launching our own firm is that it is our own. There is nothing more rewarding than building your own (work) home — you might not always get it right, but it is yours. And building our home from the ground up means that we have the opportunity to improve upon our patent litigation business. For example, our staffing model is more of a column than a pyramid. This model reflects our clients’ needs to have senior lawyers be involved in every aspect of high-stakes cases rather than just parachuting in for trial. And this model acknowledges the reality that we no longer need legions of junior associates to review litigation documents in hard copy as was the case when I began my career. It is also exciting to be at a smaller place because we are more nimble. We can make decisions that carry us forward more quickly. I was a crew coxswain for a period of time in college, and what I remember most about being in the boat is the feeling of momentum when everyone would row in the same direction. That’s the same feeling I have now.

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I am also excited because I never thought I would be a lawyer, let alone a Biglaw partner or a founding partner. I am the first lawyer in my immediate and extended family and my first language isn’t English. And I remember when I was interviewing at law firms in law school, all the names sounded the same to me.  It’s exciting to be at a place where my name is on the shingle because it reflects the changing demographics of the legal profession which are not apparent from the names of Biglaw firms. That being said, my parents — who are not lawyers and had full-time jobs as Merck research scientists developing diabetes drugs — were not as excited as me about the new firm. When I told them about our new venture, they asked whether being a small business owner would mean more work and less money as you would expect when you start your own laundromat or restaurant.  And I thought that was a great reminder of what it means to be the child of immigrants: my parents came here because they wanted their children to have an easier life than they did. And they don’t always appreciate that I might love my work so much that I will end up working just as hard as they did.

GK: I never met Jennifer before this interview, but as a first-generation American, her answer resonates with me in a deeply personal way. On a professional level, her understanding that sophisticated IP clients demand that senior lawyers be hands-on with respect to every element of their cases is of course 100% correct. She is also right that there is a lot of work associated with becoming a business owner midcareer. At the same time, there is nothing as rewarding as working hard to build your own business doing the work that you love with partners that you respect and who are equally committed to the effort.

Next week, we will hear from Jennifer about how she intends to further her commitment to pro bono work at her new firm, as well as her thoughts on why working at boutiques can be an attractive proposition for top-shelf IP litigators.

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.

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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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