Final week, I offered Part I of my written interview with a former patent litigator turned authorized recruiter, Khurram Naik. That column offered his reply to the primary of my three questions and centered on the elements that result in the evergreen demand for elite patent litigation expertise. What follows are Khurram’s solutions to my remaining two questions. As common, I’ve added some transient commentary to his solutions beneath, however have in any other case offered his solutions as he offered them.
GK: As a former practising patent litigator turned recruiter, what are the teachings you discovered at Biglaw that you simply apply to your present follow most recurrently?
KN: Positioning a lawyer for the appropriate agency is a type of advocacy, and my background as a patent litigator formed how I method it. I used to be lucky to coach below a mentor with deep Federal Circuit expertise who emphasised being useful to the courtroom. He centered on framing outcomes that made it simple for judges to undertake his place, as a result of judges need assist reaching the appropriate outcome.
I apply the identical advocacy precept in recruiting. We counsel attorneys on how you can current their expertise in a means that’s genuinely useful to companies: clearly explaining how they’ll contribute and the way they match right into a follow’s wants. When a lawyer establishes that worth throughout interviews, they’re convert extra interviews into provides, even when a job wasn’t initially outlined.
This advocacy precept can be worthwhile in supply negotiations. We concentrate on structuring phrases as win-wins, not zero-sum trades. A signing bonus, for instance, isn’t simply money; it reduces a agency’s danger in securing an distinctive lawyer and provides the lawyer confidence within the agency’s dedication and match.
GK: We are able to all profit from efficient advocacy on our behalf, significantly on the subject of profession counseling. That want is probably most acute for busy IP litigators, who are likely to have gotten to that degree of follow exactly as a result of they’ve performed such job of prioritizing the wants of their purchasers. Each lawyer hopes to discover a follow setting that may be a good match and in addition offers them room for development, however everyone knows that there aren’t any ensures on that entrance — and that many toil in practices that don’t profit from their skills and potential. Gathering the braveness to discover alternate options just isn’t simple, however as soon as somebody begins down that path, having a information like Khurram may be important to reaching the appropriate vacation spot.
GK: The place are the largest wants for IP teams and boutiques proper now on the subject of including expertise?
KN: There’s at all times some cyclicality in hiring, however the core demand in patent litigation is remarkably secure. Throughout BigLaw and boutiques alike, the largest want is for litigators who can run circumstances: attorneys trusted to take depositions, handle specialists, draft dispositive briefs, and train judgment with out supervision. These abilities take years to develop, so they’re coveted.
Trial readiness continues to matter even when trials themselves are rare. Legal professionals who perceive how circumstances are constructed end-to-end convey a degree of judgment that companies worth throughout issues. Cross-forum fluency, whether or not throughout district courtroom, PTAB, ITC, or appellate work, additional compounds that worth and provides practices flexibility when workloads shift.
We’re seeing specific demand for all times science patent litigators. For the explanations mentioned above, life sciences issues are each high-stakes and evergreen, so companies need to ramp up their groups.
Skilled ITC attorneys are additionally extremely in demand. These disputes aren’t for everybody — they’re a frenzy and infrequently extremely technical. However they provide nice expertise in a brief time period, and sure companies have gotten specialists within the follow and have to ramp up hiring in brief order. Legal professionals with engineering or CS backgrounds are significantly in demand.
GK: Khurram’s reply could be very worthwhile, regardless of the place somebody is likely to be of their profession cycle. In case you are a junior affiliate, it’s useful to know what abilities are marketable and the onus is on you to do your finest to accumulate these abilities at your present agency – or to hunt a brand new agency if that proves inconceivable. You will have much less time than you suppose. Likewise, midlevel to senior associates and junior companions should be trustworthy with themselves about how prepared they’re to handle a patent dispute from starting to finish. After all it is a workforce sport and trial expertise is tremendous tough to get. On the similar time, the extra you put money into ability growth and enchancment, the extra doubtless it will likely be that if the time ever comes the place you want Khurram’s companies, he’ll have the ability to assist. The patent litigation market is ever-changing, however the mixture of technical authorized abilities, consumer administration abilities, and business judgment crucial to offer top-level consumer service will at all times be the benchmark that enables patent litigators to craft the careers that they crave – versus the careers they’re requested to endure.
My because of Khurram for the insights and cooperation, and I want him continued success along with his recruiting company. There isn’t a extra thrilling or difficult space of authorized follow than patent litigation — and the conflict amongst companies for expertise able to offering distinctive consumer service in such a aggressive self-discipline is displaying no indicators of abating. Serving to these able to find the appropriate place for them to flourish is a superb factor, and we should always all be grateful that recruiters as considerate and efficient as Khurram are there to make that occur for his or her purchasers and companies. I’m at all times open to conducting interviews of this kind with different IP thought leaders, so be happy to achieve out you probably have a compelling perspective to supply.
Please be happy to ship feedback or inquiries to me at [email protected] or through Twitter: @gkroub. Any subject strategies or ideas are most welcome.
Gaston Kroub lives in Brooklyn and is a founding companion of Kroub, Silbersher & Kolmykov PLLC, an mental property litigation boutique, and Markman Advisors LLC, a number one consultancy on patent points for the funding neighborhood. Gaston’s follow focuses on mental property litigation and associated counseling, with a robust concentrate on patent issues. You’ll be able to attain him at [email protected] or observe him on Twitter: @gkroub.
