Patent Litigation Attorney Associate

Lateral Link; Dallas (TX); On-site; USD 80,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Meaningful courtroom and deposition experience

Trial training not available at full-service firms

Job summary

Lateral Link in Dallas is seeking a junior patent litigation associate to join a premier IP litigation boutique. This position offers the opportunity to actually try cases early in your career, unlike typical general practice firms. Responsibilities include patent litigation in district court and drafting legal documents, with direct client contact from day one. Candidates should have 1-5 years of patent litigation experience, preferably with a technical degree, and eligibility to practice in Texas.

Qualifications

• 1-5 years of patent litigation experience at a major firm.
• Strong technical background (EE, CS, computer engineering, or similar).
• Eligibility to obtain Texas bar.

Responsibilities

• Patent litigation in district court, ITC, and PTAB.
• Draft pleadings, motions, and claim construction briefs.
• Taking and defending depositions.
• Working with technical experts on reports and trial preparation.
• Client and co-counsel contact from day one.

Skills

Patent litigation experience

Technical degree (EE, CS, or similar)

Texas bar eligibility

Job description

You picked patent litigation because you wanted to actually try cases — not because you wanted to spend three years in a doc review queue waiting for someone to hand you a deposition outline.

But that's where most of you end up. At the big general practice firms, patent litigation is one practice group competing for resources against fifty others. You're staffed deep on a single matter, you see one slice of one case, and the partner running the trial team is someone you've met twice. By the time you're a fourth year, you've drafted a lot of invalidity contentions and second-chaired exactly one deposition.

That's not how you build a trial lawyer.

A premier IP litigation boutique in Dallas — the kind of shop that tries patent cases against the largest firms in the country and wins — is hiring a junior patent litigation associate. This is a lean, elite team where junior associates take depositions, argue motions, and stand up in court because there isn't a fifth year buffer between you and the work. The previous associate just left on a sabbatical to travel the world. They don't replace people often.

The work includes:

• Patent litigation in district court, the ITC, and at the PTAB across telecom, semiconductors, software, and e-commerce technologies
• Drafting pleadings, dispositive motions, claim construction briefing, and invalidity/infringement contentions
• Taking and defending depositions of fact and expert witnesses
• Working directly with technical experts on expert reports and trial preparation
• Direct client and co-counsel contact from day one

What you bring:

• 1-5 years of patent litigation experience at a major firm
• Technical degree (EE, CS, computer engineering, or similar) strongly preferred
• Texas bar or eligibility to obtain

What you get:

• A boutique platform where junior associates actually try cases — not a generalist firm where patent lit is one of fifty practice groups
• Meaningful courtroom and deposition reps in your first few years, not your eighth
• The kind of trial training you can't get at a full-service firm at any price

This seat doesn't open often. Reach out directly or send your resume confidentially to [e-mail].