Senior IP Litigation Associate (Software and Technology)

American Intellectual Property Law Association; Raleigh (NC); On-site; USD 120,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Bonus and benefits

Job summary

Morningstar Law Group in Raleigh, NC is seeking an intellectual property litigator with 4-6 years of experience to handle software, copyright, trade secret, trademark, and patent disputes alongside partners.

You will run day-to-day case work, take depositions, and collaborate with technical experts to advise clients on strategy and risk. North Carolina licensure within a year is required.

Qualifications

• J.D. from an accredited law school with excellent credentials.
• Licensed in at least one U.S. jurisdiction; must become licensed in North Carolina within one year.
• 4-6 years of substantive complex litigation experience.
• Superior research, analysis, and writing skills.
• Strong oral advocacy and communication abilities.
• Ability to manage multiple deadlines and case responsibilities while maintaining high-quality work.
• Strongly preferred: Large law firm experience, judicial clerkship, or prior IP career.

Responsibilities

• Run the day-to-day work on your cases: investigation, research, pleadings, motions, and discovery, including source code review and working with technical experts.
• First-chair depositions and hearings as your experience warrants, and work with partners on strategy, mediations, and trials.
• Advise clients directly on case status, strategy, and risk.
• Work with the firm’s employment and business litigators when a case crosses practice lines.

Skills

Strong writing skills

Oral advocacy

Legal research

Multi-tasking

Education

J.D. from an accredited law school

Job description

Morningstar Law Group is hiring an intellectual property litigator with 4-6 years of experience for our Raleigh, NC office. You’ll handle software, copyright, trade secret, trademark, and patent disputes alongside partners, on a team that pairs trial lawyers with former software engineers and experienced trial lawyers. We represent plaintiffs and defendants in federal and state courts in North Carolina and across the country, and we serve as North Carolina local counsel for out-of-state firms in software and IP cases.

The work

Our IP clients include software and SaaS companies, healthcare IT companies, founders and developers, and owners of creative work such as furniture designs, architectural plans, music, books, film, and photography. Typical matters:

• Trade secrets and source code: source-code copying, API misuse, decompilation and reverse engineering, and developers who leave with code. These cases often carry CFAA, North Carolina Computer Trespass Act, and UDTPA claims.
• Copyright: software copyright and DMCA claims, infringement of creative works, and counseling on AI and copyright.
• Trademark and false advertising: Lanham Act claims over software brand names, UI elements, and product-capability statements, plus UDRP and ACPA domain disputes.
• Licensing and ownership: license enforcement, over-deployment and audit disputes, and founder exits that turn on invention-assignment and work-for-hire terms.

What you'll do:

• Run the day-to-day work on your cases: investigation, research, pleadings, motions, and discovery, including source code review and work with technical experts.
• First-chair depositions and hearings as your experience warrants, and work with partners on strategy, mediations, and trials.
• Advise clients directly on case status, strategy, and risk.
• Work with the firm’s employment and business litigators when a case crosses practice lines, as founder-exit and departing-developer cases often do.

Why Morningstar:

• The role centers on IP and software cases, with commercial litigation from the firm’s broader practice for added courtroom experience.
• Lean case teams, so you’ll write briefs, take depositions, and deal directly with clients.
• Direct mentorship from the partners who lead the firm’s IP and software cases.
• A collegial, growing firm that rewards initiative.
• Competitive salary, bonus, and benefits.
• Opportunities for bar service, writing, and community involvement.

• J.D. from an accredited law school with excellent academic credentials.
• Licensed in at least one U.S. jurisdiction; must become licensed in North Carolina within one year.
• 4-6 years of substantive complex litigation experience.
• Superior research, analysis, and writing skills.
• Strong oral advocacy and communication abilities.
• Ability to manage multiple deadlines and case responsibilities while maintaining high-quality work.
• Strongly Preferred: Large law firm experience, judicial clerkship, or previous career.