BPLA’s Law Schools Committee hosted “Making Connections in Boston’s IP Community” on the evening of Tuesday, February 4, 2020 at District Hall in Boston. This annual event featured two panels of intellectual property (IP) lawyers who practice in a variety of law firm and in-house settings. Panelists discussed their career paths and the nature of their practices. This was followed by a networking reception with connection stations hosted by 18 Boston area IP law firms. The event was held to give information about practicing IP law to law students, recent law school graduates, STEM students, and others interested in careers in IP law.

From left to right, Anita L. Meiklejohn, Ph.D., Principal, Fish & Richardson; Leslie Pearlson, Senior Litigation Counsel, LogMeIn, Inc.; Nicole Palmer, Partner, Lando & Anastasi, LLP; Kelli J. Powell, Counsel, WilmerHale; David Olson

The event started with two concurrent panel discussions: “Practicing Patent Law” and “Practicing TM, Copyright, IP & Related Areas of Law.” The “Practicing Patent Law” panel was moderated by BPLA Law School’s Committee Co-Chair, David Olson, Boston College Law School. The panel featured Anita L. Meiklejohn, Ph.D., Principal, at Fish & Richardson; Leslie Pearlson, Senior Litigation Counsel at LogMeIn, Inc.; Kelli J. Powell, Counsel at WilmerHale; and Nichole A. Palmer, Partner at Lando & Anastasi, LLP. The “Practicing TM, Copyright, IP & Related Areas of Law” panel was moderated by BPLA Law School’s Committee Co-Chair, Susan Barbieri Montgomery, Executive Professor of Law and Business, Northeastern University. The panel featured Christina Licursi, Shareholder at Wolf Greenfield & Sacks PC; Brian Focarino, Associate at Cooley; Gregory O’Brien, Counsel, DraftKings, Inc.; Andrea Mealey, Partner at FisherBroyles; and Dimitry Marcelin, Associate Legal Counsel at The Kraft Group & Affiliates. Approximately 100 participants attended the panels. The participants then met with over 40 lawyers from the following IP practices of Boston-area law offices: Burns Levinson, Choate, Finnegan, Fish & Richardson, Foley Hoag, Foley Lardner, Goodwin, Hamilton Brook Smith Reynolds, K&L Gates, Kirkland & Ellis, Lando & Anastasi, McCarter & English, Mintz, Nutter, Orrick, Ropes & Gray, WilmerHale, and Wolf Greenfield.

Co-Chairs David Olson and Susan Barbieri Montgomery