Patent Litigation Associate

Work Experience Substantive patent litigation experience at a strong law firm EducationJ.D. from T1-T50 or strong national law school STEM degree; CS/EE preferred Hard SkillsStrong legal writing LocationLocal to or willing to relocate to target office Baseline Seniority2–6 years of patent litigation experience (Classes 2020–2024) Experience District court, ITC, or PTAB patent litigation Claim construction, discovery, and motion practice EducationStrong law school grades TechnicalDeep technical fluency in CS, EE, or life sciences Soft SkillsSelf-directed; thrives with minimal supervision Entrepreneurial; comfortable with free-market staffing BarActive or waivable bar admission in target state Nice-to-Have Experience Trial team or deposition experience Pharma/Hatch-Waxman litigation EducationAdvanced STEM degree (M.S. or Ph.D.)CredentialsUSPTO registration AdvocacyStrong oral advocacy/trial presence Traits to avoid Needs heavy structure, central staffing, or mentorship Demands full remote or work-from-anywhere arrangement Prosecution-only background with no litigation experience Salary$225K - $435KLaw Schools — T50 / Strong Patent Pipeline T1–T15Stanford | Yale | University of Chicago | Penn Carey | University of Virginia | Harvard | Duke | NYU | Columbia | Northwestern | University of Michigan | Vanderbilt | Cornell | UCLA | Washington University in St. LouisT16–T30 UC Berkeley | University of Texas at Austin | Georgetown | UNC–Chapel Hill | Boston College | Notre Dame | Texas A&M | University of Minnesota | Boston University | BYU | George Washington | University of Georgia | USC Gould | University of Wisconsin–Madison | Ohio State | Wake ForestT31–T50 George Mason (Scalia) | University of Iowa | Baylor | Florida State | UC Irvine | University of Florida | Washington and Lee | William & Mary | Emory | University of Alabama | Fordham | SMU | Arizona State | University of Utah | Pepperdine | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign | University of Kansas | Indiana University Bloomington | Temple | Villanova BigLaw + Elite Patent Litigation Firms Highest-priority patent litigation targets: Fish & Richardson, Finnegan, Kirkland & Ellis, Morrison Foerster, Cooley, WilmerHale, Latham & Watkins, Irell & Manella, Wilson Sonsini, Gibson Dunn, Sidley Austin, Jones Day, Perkins Coie, Baker Botts, Covington & Burling, Arnold & Porter, Paul Weiss, Skadden, Ropes & Gray, Goodwin, Orrick, Fenwick & West, Hogan Lovells, DLA Piper, Mayer Brown, McDermott Will & Schulte, Morgan Lewis, Reed Smith, Winston & Strawn, Weil Gotshal, White & Case, A&O Shearman, King & Spalding, Alston & Bird, Kilpatrick Townsend, Foley & Lardner, Troutman Pepper Locke, Mintz, Sterne Kessler, Knobbe Martens. Elite Patent/IP Boutiques: Desmarais, McKool Smith, Keker Van Nest & Peters, Wolf Greenfield, Banner Witcoff, Susman Godfrey, Hueston Hennigan, Reichman Jorgensen, Durie Tangri, Tensegrity Law Group. Location San Francisco, CA, Silicon Valley, CA