Indiana University Research and Technology Corporation created a new summer associate partnership for students of the Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law, and 2L Megan Little was the first participant. She worked with IURTC and the intellectual property lawyers at Stinson Leonard Street in the firm’s St. Louis office.
“My summer with IURTC and Stinson Leonard Street was great,” Little said. She was able to write a case summary, draft two patent applications, work on a few office actions and multiple patent searches. “It gave me a really good idea of the projects patent attorneys deal with daily, and how the patent process works within a university.”
Little traveled to Stinson Leonard Street’s St. Louis office three times and got to see first-hand how a large law firm works.
“The attorneys I got to work with were very helpful, and gave me a lot of feedback on my projects,” she said. “I really enjoyed my time and felt like I learned a lot by getting hands-on experience really quickly. I highly recommend the program for anyone that has an interest in patent work.”
Little graduated with a bachelor of arts in biology, and received her master of science degree in biology from Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis before beginning law school at IU McKinney.
As the job market has changed for law students and new lawyers, IURTC has moved quickly to partner with the law school to find innovative ways to prepare students for life after graduation and help them land their first legal job in the intellectual property field. IURTC’s goal is to expand this program to include more law students in the coming years, said Brion St. Amour, ’04, IURTC’s General Counsel.
“We are grateful for Stinson Leonard Street’s commitment to helping our students learn the skills and make the relationships that will form the foundation of their legal career,” St. Amour said. “The IP team at Stinson has a reputation for knowing the science and technology in each matter and working closely with our inventors to develop strategies that encourage innovation and growth while maximizing value and opportunity.”
Stinson Leonard Street is pleased to partner with IURTC on this first-of-its-kind arrangement, said Jeannie Boettler and Steven T. Kazmierski, Ph.D., attorneys in the firm’s Intellectual Property & Technology Division.
“This is a competitive legal market and our summer associate program is our pipeline for identifying the next generation of top legal talent,” Boettler said.
“We set high expectations for our summer associates and this program allows us to access talent at an early stage,” Kazmierski said.
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