Diversity and Inclusion is extremely important to our firm for a multitude of reasons. The dearth of diverse patent practitioners is unconscionable when compared to the general population demographics. Rather than accept the scarcity of minority patent counsel as an excuse, however, we have taken significant and actionable steps to change the paradigm.
Diversity and inclusion were forefront objectives when we set up Advent’s internal model for hiring and retaining patent professionals. All of us involved with the founding of Advent had experience with large national firms using traditional lock-step hierarchical structures. This system may work when a general practice firm has a large pool of candidates and professionals are more fungible. Yet, for a boutique patent practice this type of model is a hindrance for retention and advancement of individuals who do not fit the traditional model — which is characteristic of many diverse candidates.
As context to the above, a recent review on diversity for patent professionals found that there are 1.3 million licensed US attorneys, of which only 34,000 are registered patent attorneys (less than 3% of all licensed attorneys). Another study found that for attorneys specializing in IP law, around 30% (10,200) are female, 1.7% (578) are African American, 1.9% (850) are Hispanic or Latino, and less than 0.1% (34) are Native American.
Again, this study is for IP law in general, not just licensed patent professionals. Given that IP law also includes trademarks, copyrights, licensing and technology agreements, and IP litigation, the diversity of patent practitioners who are licensed to practice before the Patent Office is clearly much lower (8.6% not admitted to the patent bar). Given this reality, our ability to find any talented patent practitioners has been an expensive and exhausting uphill battle, and the resulting lack of diversity in those candidates has been nothing short of dismal. This highlights one of the major issues we set out to solve at Advent through a rethinking of the business of law at the highest level.
We refused to accept the status quo. Instead, we developed a three-pronged approach to address these issues:
We invented a new non-hierarchical system for implementing a multitude of models within the same firm that are hyper-focused on inclusivity and retention of our patent practitioners;
We implemented programs to recruit and engage undergraduate students from all backgrounds to educate them about potential career paths as a patent practitioner; and
We developed a highly customizable program for hiring engineers from colleges and thereafter mentoring those engineers through the patent bar examination process and potentially through law school in order to organically grow new talent in an inclusive environment.
A New Non-Hierarchical Model
We chose the name ADVENT because it means something very dear to us. It means “the beginning.” We set out to be the beginning of something very different. At Advent, we scrapped the traditional top-down approach of most law firms and implemented a lateral flow internal structure. We knew that work-life and wellness initiatives promote a healthy and welcoming environment for all. Thus, for example, we do not use the billable-hour or time as any type of internal indicator of our attorney’s profitability. Additionally, for the most part since opening Advent, we have never had a “time” in the office requirement or required our people to work from the office (unless they are being mentored). Yet, most of our professionals choose to do so much of the time. Moreover — and this is a key benefit leading to enhanced recruitment and retention — we allow all our employees to take unlimited days off work for any reason (including staff).
Professionals work with the hiring and/or management team to develop their own individualized model based on their particular life circumstances, and that model can be modified by them at any time during their employment based on changing circumstances. Our professionals choose their initial starting salary (within objective reason) under their individual model and have some discretion to accept or reject any project on which they work, along with the value associated with those projects. In addition, our compensation model is set up so associates can earn more than partners and patent agents can earn more than attorneys (even partners). This egalitarian approach happens regularly and puts everyone on a level playing field.
We have developed a unique software program to account for the system and all models under the system in a completely transparent and objective manner. We have found that the system provides inclusiveness for almost any life circumstance and the ability to organically grow within the system based on the professional’s choices and preferences that they dictate. Because we are not an “eat what you kill” model, the risk of any professional’s underperformance is typically on the firm. Yet, we have found that the power of choice creates freedom, great empowerment, responsibility, personal ownership, and trust within the team. Most of all, we have seen a great amount of creativity and diverse new ideas regarding how we conduct business.
Changing the Recruiting & Mentoring Paradigm
Given the demographic statistics indicated above, the fact we were not seeing law schools graduate adequate numbers of diverse (or other) attorneys with the right technical backgrounds, and the fact we were finding very few youth who even knew about patent law, we had to rethink how we recruited new talent and educated high school and engineering students about opportunities as a patent professionals. The need to cultivate a diverse tech-savvy workforce is one of the reasons Advent is involved with and supports the AIM Institute, a nonprofit that is building the tech community in Omaha. In addition to the professional development and industry events that AIM facilitates for current tech professionals, AIM also helps build the next generation of tech talent by providing free, hands-on tech education — including 3D printing, CAD designing, coding and more — to youth who would not otherwise have the chance to take part.
Additionally, several years ago we started engaging the local engineering colleges to give them exposure to the patent profession. We also proposed clerkship and full-time roles to around 10 engineering schools in the Midwest. We reached out to the University of Arizona and the University of Minneapolis which are unique in that they offer a Master of Patent Law to their engineering students (not a legal degree). These efforts are continuous and on-going in hopes of continuing to organically develop diverse talent in the patent profession generally, and more importantly, for Advent.
Examples of Our Success with Our DI initiative
Mallory Henninger is a great example of the success of our DI initiative and the effects of our system to create diversity and inclusivity for a variety of life circumstances. We initially brought Mallory into Advent through Creighton Law School’s clerkship program and she was our first female hire. Her clerkship program was a split clerkship between Advent and Conagra. This experience was enlightening because she was able to see both sides of the attorney-client relationship and different perspectives from a variety of individuals. After working in our system over the school year and graduating, we worked through a model where we could mentor her for the patent bar. After becoming a patent attorney with Advent about 5 years ago, Mallory has graduated with a Master of Science in Intellectual Property Law, is studying for her PhD in Intellectual Property Law, and is an adjunct professor at Creighton Law School. She has achieved these great accomplishments while living and maintaining a 4-H farm in her family’s hometown about an hour and a half from our offices. Mallory has developed into one of the most productive attorneys in the firm. Over the span of her employment at Advent she proposed, and we implemented, several different models to facilitate her changing life circumstances, enabling her to achieve her objectives.
Andrea Rodriguez is another illustration of how Advent is implementing its DI initiatives and systems to create diversity and an inclusive environment. Andrea came to the United States from Managua, Nicaragua. She moved to Omaha shortly after receiving her engineering degree from John Brown University in Arkansas. She heard about Advent’s opportunities for engineers through our recruiting and mentoring initiative with the engineering schools. When she started with Advent, we implemented a model where she would primarily be working on patent searching and landscape analysis while being mentored on traditional patent preparation and prosecution projects. She requested that we increase her mentoring on traditional patent preparation projects and subsidize a course to put her on a fast track for taking the patent bar, which she then passed on her first attempt. Additionally, Andrea came to us with a proposal to spearhead our marketing initiatives, which we accepted. She also took an active role during a pitch to a major US client, which the firm was ultimately awarded. During the pitch, the group expressed an interest in working with her as she progressed toward becoming a patent agent and after she became a patent agent.
Daneis Barber is yet another example of how Advent is implementing its DI initiative and systems to create diversity and an inclusive environment. Interestingly, the word “Daneis” means “Bear” in his native Cherokee and maybe it is not a fitting name because nobody can figure out when he has time to sleep. Daneis came to us as an attorney with no engineering or technical background (not patent bar eligible). He proposed a model where he would have billing requirements for contract drafting and other IP related agreements, we would mentor him on traditional patent preparation and prosecution, and he would begin school to receive a degree in electrical engineering and simultaneously a Masters in Law. We agreed to his proposal, the business risk associated with the proposal, and the 3 to 4-year process for him to obtain his engineering degree and become a patent attorney. We are confident that our investment in his future will inure to the benefit of the firm and our clients.
By no means do we believe that we understand the full extent of the diversity and inclusion issues in the patent profession in the United States. We believe it is a combination of traditional models, the demographics of individual choices to go into the profession, how firms are recruiting from the pool of eligible candidates — and the odious history of slavery and discrimination that persists to this day. Over the past several years, we have taken proactive steps and have expended substantial resources to develop new systems and processes to account for the different life situations of recruits and our employees in hopes of continuing the success we have achieved with our initiatives.