From Patent Bar to Patent Litigator: Carving Your Own Path in IP | IPWatchdog Unleashed

This week on IPWatchdog Unleashed, I speak with Nancy Braman. Recorded before a live audience at IPWatchdog’s 2026 Women’s IP Forum, our conversation explores how practitioners create opportunities, develop professional relationships, and build the skills necessary to succeed in patent law. Nancy’s path from commercial fishing in Alaska to patent prosecution and then patent litigation offers an unusual perspective on those questions. But the lessons extend well beyond her experience. They matter to young attorneys establishing themselves, experienced practitioners mentoring colleagues, and firms deciding how to identify and develop their next generation of talent.

With this conversation, Nancy’s journey through intellectual property returns to where it all began. From taking PLI patent bar review course before law school, to attending Franklin Pierce Law School, to spending more than three years writing and researching for IPWatchdog and now litigating high-stakes patent and intellectual property disputes for life sciences and technology companies. She has already had quite the journey, and I sense it is really just beginning.

When I first met Nancy as she studied for the patent bar before starting law school, she expressed interest in contributing to IPWatchdog. I encouraged her to concentrate on her first semester and then reconnect with me once she had her grades. She did exactly that, which shouldn’t be surprising, but that follow-through is quite surprising. Ultimately, we hired Nancy to do research and writing, a position she held throughout her entire law school career. The broader point is straightforward: expressing interest opens a conversation, but acting on advice and demonstrating that you can deliver gives someone a reason to invest in you. Professional relationships develop through those repeated interactions.

Nancy approaches networking with that same sense of purpose. Her advice to aspiring practitioners emphasizes thoughtful outreach, a genuine interest in the other person’s experience, and a willingness to learn. Asking someone about their career creates a different conversation than immediately asking for a job. For students and younger attorneys, that distinction can determine whether an introduction develops into an ongoing relationship. For established practitioners, the discussion is also a reminder that responding to an inquiry or making an introduction can have consequences far beyond the time invested.

Those relationships are especially important as law firm recruiting moves earlier in the educational process. Nancy describes students facing interviews for summer associate positions before receiving their first-semester grades. Students are being asked to make consequential choices while still learning what the profession offers, and firms are competing for candidates with limited information about their legal abilities. Our discussion raises a practical question for those hiring in patent law: how do you recognize potential when grades and conventional credentials provide only part of the picture? Technical preparation matters, but so does demonstrating initiative, communication skills, and the ability to handle demanding work—even if that work is not legal in nature. Look for those who are unafraid of hard work and seek to challenge themselves. And if that is you as a candidate make sure that message shines through on your resume and in your cover letters.

The demands of being a young associate in a big-city law firm become clear when the conversation turns to patent litigation. Nancy discusses discovery, witness preparation, and the detailed analysis required for infringement and invalidity contentions. She also discusses the long hours necessary to succeed as a patent litigator. And much of the work takes place outside the courtroom, where teams must master complicated technology and connect the evidence to specific claim limitations. Her enthusiasm for working with witnesses underscores the interpersonal dimension of a practice often associated primarily with technical and legal complexity, but at the core like every other industry revolves around people and interaction.

Electronic discovery tools have changed how those teams locate, analyze, and use evidence, including when testimony creates an unexpected need during trial. But effective execution still depends on coordination among attorneys, paralegals, and administrative professionals. For firms developing associates and in-house counsel working with litigation teams, these observations highlight the range of capabilities behind effective representation. Our conversation offers a candid look at how those capabilities are built—and why professional growth depends on the opportunities people pursue, the relationships they sustain, and the work they are prepared to do.

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