Patent Litigation Associate

Dilectus Workforce Solutions; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 225,000 - 435,000; Full time

Job summary

Dilectus Workforce Solutions seeks a patent litigator in the San Francisco area. Ideal candidates bring substantive patent litigation experience at a strong law firm, with top law school credentials and a STEM background.

Local or relocation to the target office is required, with strong legal writing and independent work style emphasized. Qualifications include 2–6 years in patent litigation across district court, ITC, or PTAB, and deep fluency in CS/EE or life sciences.

Qualifications

• Strong law school grades
• District court, ITC, or PTAB patent litigation
• Education: J.D. from top law school or strong national law school; STEM degree preferred

Skills

Strong legal writing

Technical fluency CS/EE/life sciences

Self-directed

Entrepreneurial; free-market staffing

Education

J.D. from top law school

STEM degree; CS/EE preferred

Tools

USPTO registration

Job description

Work Experience

• Substantive patent litigation experience at a strong law firm

Education

• J.D. from T1-T50 or strong national law school
• STEM degree; CS/EE preferred

Hard Skills

• Strong legal writing

Location

• Local to or willing to relocate to target office

Baseline

Seniority

• 2–6 years of patent litigation experience (Classes 2020–2024)

Experience

• District court, ITC, or PTAB patent litigation
• Claim construction, discovery, and motion practice

Education

• Strong law school grades

Technical

• Deep technical fluency in CS, EE, or life sciences

Soft Skills

• Self-directed; thrives with minimal supervision
• Entrepreneurial; comfortable with free-market staffing

Bar

• Active or waivable bar admission in target state

Nice-to-Have

Experience

• Trial team or deposition experience
• Pharma/Hatch-Waxman litigation

Education

• Advanced STEM degree (M.S. or Ph.D.)

Credentials

• USPTO registration

Advocacy

• Strong oral advocacy/trial presence

Traits to avoid

• Needs heavy structure, central staffing, or mentorship
• Demands full remote or work-from-anywhere arrangement
• Prosecution-only background with no litigation experience

Salary

• $225K - $435K

Law Schools — T50 / Strong Patent Pipeline

T1–T15

Stanford | Yale | University of Chicago | Penn Carey | University of Virginia | Harvard | Duke | NYU | Columbia | Northwestern | University of Michigan | Vanderbilt | Cornell | UCLA | Washington University in St. Louis

T16–T30

UC Berkeley | University of Texas at Austin | Georgetown | UNC–Chapel Hill | Boston College | Notre Dame | Texas A&M | University of Minnesota | Boston University | BYU | George Washington | University of Georgia | USC Gould | University of Wisconsin–Madison | Ohio State | Wake Forest

T31–T50

George Mason (Scalia) | University of Iowa | Baylor | Florida State | UC Irvine | University of Florida | Washington and Lee | William & Mary | Emory | University of Alabama | Fordham | SMU | Arizona State | University of Utah | Pepperdine | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign | University of Kansas | Indiana University Bloomington | Temple | Villanova

BigLaw + Elite Patent Litigation Firms

Highest-priority patent litigation targets:
Fish & Richardson, Finnegan, Kirkland & Ellis, Morrison Foerster, Cooley, WilmerHale, Latham & Watkins, Irell & Manella, Wilson Sonsini, Gibson Dunn, Sidley Austin, Jones Day, Perkins Coie, Baker Botts, Covington & Burling, Arnold & Porter, Paul Weiss, Skadden, Ropes & Gray, Goodwin, Orrick, Fenwick & West, Hogan Lovells, DLA Piper, Mayer Brown, McDermott Will & Schulte, Morgan Lewis, Reed Smith, Winston & Strawn, Weil Gotshal, White & Case, A&O Shearman, King & Spalding, Alston & Bird, Kilpatrick Townsend, Foley & Lardner, Troutman Pepper Locke, Mintz, Sterne Kessler, Knobbe Martens.

Elite Patent/IP Boutiques:

Desmarais, McKool Smith, Keker Van Nest & Peters, Wolf Greenfield, Banner Witcoff, Susman Godfrey, Hueston Hennigan, Reichman Jorgensen, Durie Tangri, Tensegrity Law Group.

Location

San Francisco, CA, Silicon Valley, CA