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_INVENTING THE MEANS TO SPECIALIZE
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BY CATHARINE HANSFORD
There’s a shortage of patent attorneys these days, which might account for the fact that they’re among the most sought-after lawyers. Addressing that demand and responding to students with an interest in this area of the law, MSU-DCL introduced its newest specialty curriculum—intellectual property law. The Intellectual Property Law Concentration is designed to give students the knowledge and experience they need to be proficient in such a practice.
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One of the greatest assets available to students who choose the concentration is a training opportunity unlike any other. Created and sponsored by Howard & Howard, a major Midwest law firm headquartered in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, the Intellectual Property Intern Program provides a long-term, hands-on experience and is arguably the only one of its kind in the country.
For law students to be selected as interns, they must have an engineering or equivalent technical degree. Some join the program following their undergraduate or graduate training before actually starting law school. Others come directly from jobs in engineering, and still others enter while in law school. Interns are required to make a two- to four-year commitment, during which they work up to 40 hours per week at Howard & Howard during the school year, and 40 to 50 hours per week during the summer. By necessity, they must be evening law students and have at least two years of school remaining to join the program.
That sounds like a major commitment, but there are perks. Participants are paid to learn from the first day of their internship and are rewarded with pay increases as their skill level improves. More importantly, completing the program means becoming competent in a highly technical area of the law, which translates to incomes beyond those of usual law school graduates.
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Hal Milton
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The force behind the Howard & Howard program is firm shareholder Hal Milton, whose esteemed 40-year career in intellectual property law has earned him a place on Woodward/White, Inc.’s listing of America’s Best Lawyers. The concept for the intern program was implemented at Howard & Howard when Milton joined the firm in the mid-1990s after participating in a similar program at a previous firm. Since then, more than 50 graduates have successfully completed the program.
“Law firms really don’t train,” says Milton, speaking of those that recruit law school graduates. “They hire 20 and hope three or four survive.” Commenting on the difference the intern program makes, he estimates that it would cost $200,000 and take one to two years to train a law graduate who had no previous training. “Our investment is a lot less, Milton points out, “but productivity is very high.” Not only do interns learn from Milton’s vast experience, but they also teach each other. At their disposal at all times is a master trainer or what Milton refers to as their “go-to guy.”
Sam Haidle
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Currently, the point man of whom Milton speaks is MSU-DCL alumnus Sam Haidle, ’98, a former five-year intern who is now a Howard & Howard attorney, having set a record for making partner in just over two years. “Patent law is a skill you need to do repeatedly and continually,” Haidle notes. “We want interns to see patents go from start to finish, a two-and-a-half-year process.” Haidle anticipates a long and rewarding career with Howard & Howard and has aspirations of taking over management of the intern program in the future.
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Michael Shariff
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Two of the five interns currently under Haidle’s tutelage are MSU-DCL students Michael Shariff and Trent English, both front-row supporters of the program. English just finished two years as an intern, and Shariff is completing his first year. Both speak with reverence about Howard & Howard and the unique aspects of the program.
When English took part in the interview process to become an intern, he says, “everyone at Howard & Howard was pretty excited about the work, and it made me excited. By far, the best decision I ever made was when I accepted their offer. It’s that good a program. And it’s unbelievable to learn so much about patent law while a law student.”
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Trent English
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“[Intellectual property law] is a really interesting field,” English adds. “Before I met with Howard & Howard, it had always been in the back of my mind.” Underscoring how Milton is attentive to interns focusing only on intellectual property work, including copyright and trademark law, English notes, “I don’t feel anything they said in the interview hasn’t happened. We’re here to draft patent applications, understand inventions, analyze patents and support the attorneys in the firm.”
For Shariff, being a patent attorney was his dream. Born and raised in one of the republics of the former USSR, he earned his undergraduate and master’s degrees in engineering from the renowned Azerbaijan State Academy of Oil and Gas before immigrating to the United States. Since a legal career was among his areas of interest, Shariff thought it natural to combine his engineering background with the law.
Completing his first year as an intern, Shariff confirms, “It’s excellent. It puts an intern in the shoes of a real patent attorney. When I complete the program, I’ll know what I’m supposed to do. It’s a boot camp.” Shariff interviewed with, and rejected, other firms that sponsored three-month summer associate programs. “It’s an ocean of knowledge,” he says. “Within three months, there’s no way to learn it. Summer programs work well for other areas of the law, but not the patent field.”
Gina M. Torielli
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Gina M. Torielli, president and CEO of Howard & Howard, touts the strengths of the intern program and the students who participate. “We’ve had good results from MSU-DCL students,” acknowledges Torielli. “The law school has a focus on attracting students with the technical knowledge needed for intellectual property law.”
About the training process, Torielli adds, “It gets better and better in terms of how the training happens. Usually if a student is with us through graduation, they generally get an offer from us…we get students coming out of law school with a very good idea of how our firm works and with good habits and good technical knowledge. So we get graduates with a high level of performance.” As a result, she foresees continued expansion of the program and highly productive future associates at Howard & Howard.
The Intellectual Property Law Concentration
Students who wish to develop special expertise in intellectual property may enroll in the Intellectual Property Law Concentration, MSU-DCL’s newest specialty curriculum. Students selecting this concentration take the two-credit course, Intellectual Property Law, in addition to 12 or more credits from the following electives:
Antitrust Law
Administrative Law
Advanced Intellectual Property Law
Copyright Law
Cyber Law
Directed Study
E-Commerce
Entertainment Law
Externship
International Intellectual Property Law
Licensing Intellectual Property
Patent Litigation
Rights in Art
Trademark and Unfair Competition
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