What’s the best advice you ever received?
The best career advice I’ve ever received is that there’s no need to rush or plan too far ahead. Sometimes, it’s better to let things progress organically, and it’s really hard to know what’s best for our careers 10 or 20 years in advance. I’m very much a planner, so that’s been a hard lesson for me to learn. But I realized that, if we’re too directed and inflexible in our careers, it’s easier to miss great opportunities if they look different than what we originally planned for ourselves.

How did you get involved in technology transfer? 
Back in 2019, I went to trial for three weeks in a case where I represented the research arm of the Australian government, which is known as CSIRO (the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation). I had such a phenomenal time getting to know the scientists at CSIRO, learning about the decades of work they invested in developing groundbreaking genetic engineering technology and winning the trial for them. After that trial, I asked myself, “How can I do more of this work, where I’m representing true innovators who are bettering our society?” I quickly realized that it would be extremely fulfilling to help universities and research organizations protect their innovations through litigation, like I did for CSIRO and its scientists. I found my way to AUTM because it seemed like a great place to learn more about tech transfer, understand what universities are doing to build and protect their intellectual property portfolios, and meet the people who are at the center of those efforts.

What does a typical work day look like for you?
Every day is different than the last. Some of my favorite days involve working with fact witnesses and expert witnesses in my cases. Fact witnesses include the inventors, startup founders and business people involved with the patents in my cases. Expert witnesses are usually university professors who specialize in the subject matter of the patents.

With the fact witnesses in my cases, I have the privilege of talking with and getting to know the inventors and entrepreneurs behind the patents that are being litigated. One of my favorite parts of the job is learning the invention story directly from the inventors and helping them tell that narrative throughout a case. And with expert witnesses, I get to learn about the very cool area of technology that’s being litigated from one of the leaders in the field. 

What’s something you’re working on right now that really excites you? 
I’m working on an appeal to the Federal Circuit, the court of appeals that hears patent cases, in a case related to products that analyze whether there’s cancer in patients’ blood. It involves groundbreaking technology that has greatly advanced the treatment of cancer. I get really excited when I’m able to use my litigation skills to help protect inventions that make life better for all of us.

What do you like most about working with tech transfer professionals, inventors and entrepreneurs?
My favorite part about working in the tech transfer world is helping everyone in that community protect the incredible innovations that inventors and entrepreneurs are developing at our universities and research institutions. Being able to use my litigation skills to protect those precious innovations, and the hard work of the inventors, really makes my work meaningful and fulfilling. I’m always blown away by the incredible innovations that my clients have developed—from HIV drugs to solar panels to genetic engineering breakthroughs. It is a true honor to help those clients defend all that they have invested and sacrificed for those innovations.

You played rugby in college. How has that experience been helpful for your career?
Rugby taught me a lot about endurance and mental fortitude—getting through a hard-hitting rugby match isn’t so much different than getting through a tough litigation. It also confirmed that I like the rush of tough competition and pushing myself, and that I like the bigger rush of winning even more. Winning my cases gives me a similar rush.

Rugby also taught what it’s like to build an organization. As part of the rugby team’s leadership, I was able to grow our team from a losing squad of 15 players in my freshman year into a winning squad of over 50 players by my junior year. That transformation showed me how far willpower and vision can take us in pursuing our goals. In the same way, I think willpower and vision are really important in making sure we get what we want out of our careers.

February is Black History Month. What’s something you wish more people knew about Black innovators? 
As with a lot of professions, I wish more people knew that Black innovators struggle to get the same recognition as other innovators from less marginalized groups. And, unfortunately, with Black innovators and inventors, this bias can compromise the financial rewards and payoff that they receive from their inventive contributions. For example, it is incredibly hard for Black entrepreneurs to get venture capital funding; that challenge, in turn, makes it much harder for Black-owned startups to succeed. Prejudice and biases also make it harder for Black innovators to get credit for their inventions or the royalties they deserve. Money is not everything, but having it—or the support of someone who has it—surely makes it easier to continue innovating and inventing.   

Who is a historical figure that has inspired you, and why?
Is Obama an historical figure yet? Just kidding. Aside from Obama, Thurgood Marshall always comes to mind. He has been a huge inspiration for me and is one of the reasons I went to law school. I think Justice Marshall is one of the underestimated and underappreciated figures from the Civil Rights Movement—it seems like he is usually in the background. But, sometimes, that is how lawyers operate—most lawyers work outside of the public eye and may not have the flashiest roles. But lawyers like Justice Marshall are needed to solve certain deep-rooted problems and keep our society running. 

Without Justice Marshall, Brown v. Board of Education, the Supreme Court case that began the end of school segregation, would not have happened. And cases he litigated also helped to pave the way for the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act—both major pieces of legislation that secured the rights sought by the movement’s protests. In the same way that Justice Marshall used litigation as a tool to advance civil rights, I think the tech transfer community can use litigation as a tool to advance intellectual property rights for universities and research institutions.

What does AUTM Membership have to offer that you can’t get from other organizations?
For me, the best part of AUTM Membership is the community. AUTM is definitely one of the friendliest and most inviting professional organizations I’ve encountered. As a litigator from a law firm, I felt a bit like a fish out of water at my first in-person AUTM annual meeting, but soon made fast friends and had a great time. I also have been really impressed by the level of support, collaboration and camaraderie that AUTM Members share with each other. It’s tremendous to be part of an organization where everyone is working with each other toward a common goal.

What advice would you give to someone considering a career in tech transfer?
I wish I had thought about a career in tech transfer when I was still in undergrad. I remember first learning that my alma mater, Columbia, had a tech transfer office when I was in college, but I didn’t fully appreciate what that meant at the time. Knowing what I do now, I think I certainly would have applied for an internship with Columbia’s tech transfer office. So I would encourage students to get to know their tech transfer offices in undergrad and grad school. I think it’s fantastic that so many TTOs in the AUTM community provide internships for undergrads. 

The other piece of advice I would give is to think about tech transfer from every angle. The tech transfer world is like a prism, so it has many different lenses. Of course, you can find a career in tech transfer by working at a tech transfer office, but there are many other organizations and professions that support tech transfer offices. Law firms, like mine, are one way to work within tech transfer through intellectual property. Venture capital firms that invest in the startups spinning out of tech transfer offices offer another way to be part of the tech transfer ecosystem. Regardless of your primary area of interest, whether it’s the law, finance, policy work or even recruiting, there is likely a role for you in tech transfer.