Washington Lawyer - September/October 2023 - 31

MEMBER SPOTLIGHT
In IP Space, Deb Sengupta
Leverages Immigrant Identity
By John Murph
D
ebodhonyaa (Deb) Sengupta,
a partner in the
intellectual property and
technology practice at
Dentons US LLP, is keenly aware
that being a woman of South
Asian heritage is rare within the IP
legal space.
A 2021 study by Harrity & Harrity, LLP shows
that only 2.2 percent of registered patent practitioners
in the country are women of color.
" That includes all colors, " Sengupta says. " Black,
brown, Hispanic - everything. "
Overcoming the lack of diversity in IP law, Sengupta
faced a bigger obstacle to becoming
partner: being an immigrant. She came to
Washington, D.C., from Calcutta, India, after
earning a bachelor's degree in chemistry from
Miranda House, University of Delhi, followed by
a doctorate in chemistry and material science
from Cornell University. Arriving in the District
in 2007, she began work as a science technical
assistant at Sughrue Mion, a boutique IP law
firm. A year later, she enrolled at the George
Washington University Law School.
EMBRACING BEING DIFFERENT
As a young woman in a new city, Sengupta
didn't have any local connections, which presented
a major hurdle to her becoming a law
firm partner and generating revenue. " When
we are talking about being a rainmaker, it is
challenging when you do not know people, "
she says. " At law firms, building a book of business
is important, and having a big network of
people who know and trust you is important. It
has taken me a long time to build those connections
from scratch, and it is still a work in
progress. "
and was like, 'Hey, there are people like me.
I should make those connections.' That's when
I felt I should embrace who I am and go for it. "
Now that she is president of SABA-DC, Sengupta
says her family in India worries that she's
getting too involved with the voluntary bar
association instead of focusing on work. " In [the
Indian] community, you put your head down
and work, " she says. " And if you work, you get
what you deserve. That's not how [the legal
profession] works, really. "
At SABA-DC, Sengupta is developing a training
program to guide other attorneys to partnership.
" Law firms vary when it comes to how
someone becomes a partner, " she says. " [For]
any law firm, there's no clear, straightforward
pathway. Each law firm is different. Each practice
group is different. "
Sengupta believes that she made partner at
Dentons, in part, because she took the time to
participate in firm committees and activities
that allowed partners from outside the IP practice
to get to know her on a personal level and
advocate for her promotion.
As a first-generation immigrant, one of the
mindsets drilled into Sengupta was assimilation.
She became so focused on fitting into the
American culture that she downplayed her
South Asian heritage. " You want to be considered
as part of mainstream, " she says. " So, you
try to be like everybody else. But eventually,
I realized that I cannot not be different. I grew up
in a different country. I look different. I am different.
You do not yet see a lot of people like me at
law firms, especially at the partnership level. "
With that realization, Sengupta joined the
South Asian Bar Association of Washington,
D.C. (SABA-DC). " I was a late joiner, " she says.
" I did not find my groove until a few years ago
ROAD TO PARTNERSHIP
Like many IP attorneys, Sengupta entered the
profession with a strong focus on science. She
grew up in Calcutta as the only child of two scientists.
Her mother has a bachelor's degree in
zoology and now teaches chemistry. Her father
was a chemical engineer but is now a banker.
Sengupta followed her parents' professional trajectory
and pursued chemistry. But in her early
years as a chemist, she realized she didn't enjoy
working remotely in a basement laboratory. At
Cornell, one of her professors suggested patent
law as a career option. Sengupta worked as a
technical assistant at Sughrue Mion, where she
learned that she was performing many of the
same tasks as firm associates regarding patent
application review. So, in 2008, she enrolled in
law school as an evening student.
After earning her law degree, Sengupta served
as an associate at Sughrue Mion for a few
years before joining Dentons in 2015. She rose
through the ranks to become partner in 2023.
continued on page 32
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2023 * WASHINGTON LAWYER 31
Dentons
Washington Lawyer - September/October 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Washington Lawyer - September/October 2023
