Before his externship this summer, 2L Haakon Lien hadn't explored intellectual property (IP) law as a possible career path, but he was open to the idea.
"I did not really have an area of law in mind that I was considering when I started law school," Lien said. "I wanted to—and still do—explore every option available, and hopefully by doing so, I will find an area that I especially enjoy."
Letting law students explore career paths is one of the main goals at the University of St. Thomas School of Law's Legal Externship Program. Externships also allow students to use the skills and knowledge they have learned in their classes and to gain professional experience.
Lien was paired with patent attorney and alumnus Scott Pederson '11 J.D., a partner at Brooks, Cameron, and Huebsch in Minneapolis. Through Pederson's pro bono work with LegalCORPS, Lien is helping provide intellectual property legal services to entrepreneurs, inventors, small businesses and nonprofits while gaining firsthand experience in a specialized area of law.
Pederson established the externship with LegalCORPS to expose St. Thomas Law students to intellectual property law while expanding access to legal service for clients who might not otherwise be able to afford them.
"This is my first exposure to intellectual property and patent law and so far, I am really enjoying the work," Lien said. "Helping clients protect their ideas while trying to understand the case law and regulations has been a rewarding experience."
He said the legal research and writing skills he learned as a 1L helped to prepare him for the externship, but he was excited for the challenge of learning a specific area of the law.
"When I sat down with Scott for our first meeting, my knowledge of patent and IP law was essentially zero," Lien said. "I know I would need to ask a lot of questions. Now, being a little more than a month into the externship, I am conducting research on patentability and office action rejections. I've analyzed 35 USC § 101 rejections, drafted appeal briefs, and assisted with client legal needs assessments to determine what next steps are for them."
Lien will start his second year of law school this fall and says even if IP law is not where he ultimately ends up, having the opportunity to work on real cases and interact with clients is helping him to start to see himself as a lawyer, perhaps in a related practice area.
"One of the things that I have really appreciated from this summer's externship has been working with and helping small businesses and individuals," he said. "I could see myself pursuing business or transactional law in some capacity. The intersection of innovation and the law is really fascinating."
