Research Assessment #1

Date: September 15, 2017

Subject: Corporate Law

MLA or APA Citation: Kroub, Gaston. “3 Tips For First-Year IP Associates.” Above the Law ,
Above the Law, 12 Sept. 2017, abovethelaw.com/2017/09/3-tips-for-first-year-ip-associates/?rf.

Analysis:

As corporate law encompasses a variety of legal practices, it is essential for an individual’s

pursuing said field to have a general idea of what category they would hope to learn about. In my
personal case, I plan to delve into the intellectual property aspect of corporate law; this practice
entails patents, trademarks, copyright, and even design logos. The article I came upon, “3 Tips
For First-Year IP [Intellectual Property] Associates”, truly debunked a preconceived notion of
mine, as well as provided me with professional guidance.

Firstly, the author completely changed my perspective with his initial tip about specialization.
Specifically, he argued that while focus in a particular area of legal practice is important, first
year associates should absolutely not limit themselves to a narrow field. Not to be taken
dramatically, but this piece of advice was slightly mind blowing. Up until having read the article,
I was so caught up with this concept of “specializing” in an area of legal practice. However, it
makes complete sense that individuals fresh out of law school should absorb as much
information as they can on a variety of areas. There will be no other opportunity in their career to
do this, as time becomes increasingly limited higher up the career ladder. Yes, area focus is
important, but I learned that individuals new to the legal word should constantly be educating
and updating themselves, to remain as current as possible.

Next, the following tip gave me more explanation on how to improve personal performance at a
firm. In particular, the author calls upon new associates to really learn about the firm’s clients in
depth. After reading this tip, I can readily acknowledge the importance of the client in this
practice. After all, intellectual property practice falls under the overarching field of corporate
law, which consists of interactions and relationships between businesses and the people they
serve, or clients. If I want to be successful in this career, I need to become capable of analyzing
and devising strategies that will best protect my client. Intellectual property is a ruthless concept,
as people are always attempting to steal each other’s creative content. Thus clients need
knowledgeable and prepared attorneys representing them in this competitive struggle.
Finally, the author’s last tip provided me with an angle I had not thought about. He explained
how first year associates should network with more people outside of their practice. Upon more
thought, it makes sense to network with people in other legal disciplines, because one’s
perspectives on issues is bound to expand. As a result of networking with a diverse range of
people, I gain more knowledge on different matters, as well as contacts for potential future
projects. Truly, the types of people one networks with impacts their overall performance.

After reading this article, I have a better perspective of how the corporate legal world operates in
practice. As the author of this piece focused on intellectual property associates, I received a more
in depth guidance in the specific category of corporate law I wish to pursue as well. Though my
actual working experience will occur much later in life, I plan to soon conduct and in depth
professional observation and understanding of my career, through the ISM Program.

(Article on next page)

3 Tips For First-Year IP Associates The first year of practice is both exhilarating and
challenging for IP associates.

By GASTON KROUB

Sep 12, 2017 at 10:09 AM

27 SHARES

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, y ou 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 program s 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.

Please feel free to send comments or questions to me at g kroub@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 K roub, 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 .