Washington Lawyer - March/April 2024 - 22

FEATURE
second-guess yourself in law school. I know I have. That program really
made it known that we were meant to be there. "
Bates learned about the summit from Lynn Parker Dupree, leader of
Finnegan's privacy practice, when the firm hosted a career fair at his
school. At the summit, surrounded by diverse faces, Bates felt connected
to the law and the IP space for the first time. " Being in that space with all
those other law students gave me a sense of community that I have not
really had in law school, " says Bates, who started as a legal policy intern
at the Future of Privacy Forum in January. " I learned that I'm smart, I have
a voice, and I belong. "
SAME FIGHT, DIFFERENT SPACES
It's not lost on Abigail Idokogi that she's privileged to have attended
Howard University, a world-renowned HBCU to which Finnegan already
has strong ties. Idokogi earned both her bachelor's degree in clinical laboratory
science and her JD at Howard.
" [Finnegan] does a really good job of introducing patent law and patent
topics to the students there, " says Idokogi, who graduated in 2023. " I enjoyed
the partners who came and offered their time with us week after
week. They even extended it into coffee chats because, essentially, their
mission is to expose this area of the law to students who may not really
hear about it. "
Idokogi learned about the summit from Esther H. Lim, Finnegan's chief
diversity and inclusion officer who also teaches at Howard. Because she
had already graduated when the summit opened to applicants, Idokogi
was at first reluctant to apply, not wanting to take a valuable learning opportunity
from a first-year law student.
" But after going to the summit, I think anybody would benefit from it regardless
of where you are because it sort of breathes life into patent law, "
Idokogi says. " You could read a textbook about the federal circuit, the
Patent Trial and Appeal Board, but until you go to these places and actually
see them with your own eyes, all that seems far-fetched. The summit
makes [a career path in IP law] seem more attainable. "
Idokogi relished the opportunity to meet other African American students
who were not from HBCUs. " I remember when I first got to law
school and said, 'We are here! It is not strange; it is not unique.' In fact,
the only thing we need to do is assemble more, " says Idokogi, who started
clerking for the Patent Trial and Appeal Board in September.
" I am so thankful for the 14 other attendees because there were people
from Mississippi, Ohio, Boston, and all over the place. Once you got us in
the room, we saw that we are all fighting the same fight, just in different
spaces, " Idokogi adds.
Reach D.C. Bar staff writer John Murph at jmurph@dcbar.org.
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Washington Lawyer - March/April 2024

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