Five keys for women in IP to become influential leaders

I will never forget the year I was up for partner. I was a patent litigator at a big firm, and I planned to work as hard as possible and prove myself. Instead, I had an experience that changed my legal career and my life – I landed in the hospital with a life-threatening condition caused by stress.

I remember lying in my hospital bed with some sense of relief. I could finally take a break and get some sleep. That day, I told myself there had to be a better way to practice law, and I was going to find it.

So I did what I had always done: I studied. I read everything I could find about increasing productivity, managing stress, developing leadership presence, negotiating for yourself, and handling difficult conversations. I also took movement and acting classes.

I found patterns in all of this disparate information, created strategies from them, and implemented them in my career. In a short period of time, I had attracted counseling and prosecution clients and was able to start my own firm. I loved the technical challenge of the work, the relationships I built with the inventors, and the freedom to decide how the work was done.  

As much as I enjoyed the work, though, the success I found made me passionate about helping others – particularly women in IP – find success and joy in their careers. I became a leadership coach and also serve as the President of the Women in IP Law Association.

I feel strongly that having women in leadership roles is important for the legal profession. When women are in leadership positions, their brilliant ideas are heard, and they have more flexibility for a great personal life. Also, law firms and legal departments serve their clients and employees better when there is diversity throughout the leadership ranks.  

While organizations need to change so that more women advance to leadership roles, I’ve found from my own experience and from coaching women in IP that there are things women can do to become influential leaders in the field and be treated fairly. Here are the five most important things for women in IP to take control of their careers and move into high-level leadership roles without sacrificing their authenticity or personal life:    

1. Develop an authentic leadership presence

If there’s one thing I wish I’d realized earlier, it’s the importance of a strong leadership presence. I remember feeling like guys with swagger got ahead without the talent to back it up, and I used to find this extremely annoying.     

But here’s what I’ve learned. When attorneys appear confident, they create a feeling of safety for those around them – the sense that “I’ve got this.” And swagger can be interpreted as confidence – even though it isn’t the best way to convey it.  

A strong leadership presence is much better – that grounded, assured presence and good posture that conveys you are comfortable, relaxed, and authentic.

While someone with swagger will get ahead of someone who appears unsure of themselves, a person with an authentic leadership presence will get ahead of someone with swagger.

2. Increase your visibility  

I’ve seen many women – like myself – given roles with a lot of responsibility but little visibility, often making sure everything gets done on the project.

 While executing these roles takes great leadership, there’s no big assignment that gets noticed. You can get blamed when things go wrong, but receive little credit when things go well.   

Even though you contributed so much to the success of the project, at review time a colleague who worked in a more visible role – like writing a key brief or playing a crucial role in closing a deal – will often be seen as more advanced.

It’s important to make sure you understand which assignments will give you the visibility to show you are advancing in your career, and land those assignments. Successfully doing so often requires the next skill – negotiating for yourself.

3. Negotiate for yourself

When I was a senior associate with an overwhelming workload, I hired a coach thinking she would help me become efficient enough to finish all the work I was assigned. She quickly sized up the situation and said, “Gina, this amount of work is completely unreasonable. You need to learn to negotiate for yourself.”

This was eye-opening to me. I was always told you got ahead by doing what you were told.  

Now I realize you must negotiate for yourself to succeed – to have a reasonable amount of work, to be assigned roles that have visibility and are a good fit, and to get the resources you need to do your job well.

When you learn to negotiate for yourself at work, you can also show up for the other important aspects of your life – like self-care, parenting, and pursuing other passions.   

4. Develop strong relationships inside and outside your firm

Early in my career, I generally stayed in my office working hard with my door closed. I always thought my work would speak for itself. I didn’t make an effort to build relationships with the partners I worked with.

But then I realized no one was keeping track of everything I was doing. The people getting noticed and assigned the best work had established trust by building a network of strong relationships in the firm.

Your relationships are as important to advancing in your legal career as the good work you do. You don’t have to be close friends with everyone you work with, but spending extra time showing an authentic interest in your colleagues’ lives and caring about their success goes a long way to creating the trust you need for your own success.  

5. Build your own book of business

Because I was able to land my own clients, I was able to start my own firm – where I did work I enjoyed, was paid well, and had the flexibility to have a great personal life. Most of my happiest and most successful friends have their own book of business.  

When you have your own clients, you can truly take control of your career. You determine how your cases are managed, what work you do, and what work you delegate. Also, because you’re in charge of what needs to get done, you have more control over your schedule.  

The best way to build a book of business is to start by building relationships with potential clients and lawyers outside your firm and establishing your expertise. Become active in lawyers’ associations, non-profit boards, and industry associations of interest to potential clients. Write articles that show your expertise. Focus on creating strong, mutually beneficial relationships – as you build trust over time, these will lead to clients.  

While there is still a gender gap in the leadership of IP firms, there are things women can do to increase their success in the profession – developing a strong leadership presence, seek assignments with visibility, learn to negotiate for yourself, build strong relationships inside the firm, and work on building your book of business.

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