By Christina Schweighofer
When he first went searching for law firms that would be a good fit, Jonathan Bachand JD 2006 knew little about Knobbe Martens. In fact, he didn't even have a clue how to pronounce Knobbe - it is Ke-no-be, as in Obi-Wan Kenobi. But after a series of interviews, he realized he had arrived. Different from the big law firms he had been targeting, Knobbe expected attorneys to have a life outside of the law; and the associates and partners he met there seemed to thoroughly enjoy their jobs. "All of that really appealed to me," he says.
Bachand, who joined Knobbe as a summer associate in 2005 and as an associate in 2006, knows to grab an opportunity when it presents itself. A litigator for pharmaceutical and medical device companies, the upstate New York-native volunteered in 2008 to relocate from Irvine to Washington, D.C., to open the firm's office in the capital. And four years into his career with the firm, he took on a one-year clerkship at the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals in D.C. to gain experience at the patent appeals court and enhance his work in IP. The hard work paid off; by 2012 he had made partner at Knobbe. "I got lucky by finding situations that appealed to me and pursuing them because they were a good fit," he says. "And once I made the decision, I went all in on it."
As the new regional chair for the USC Gould Alumni Association in D.C., Bachand brings this same determination to his work as a volunteer for the law school and the approximately 150 Gould alumni in the Washington area. Right at the start of his two-year term, he wants to schedule one-on-one chats over coffee with as many alumni as possible to explore everyone's expectations and willingness to get involved. He also plans to facilitate connections in smaller, speed-dating type groups of four to help Gould grads identify shared interests and establish themselves as mutual resources for future transitions. "It's important to show that the law school and the Alumni Association care and are responsive to the needs of the membership," he says.
A people person with a good dose of nerd and a light sense of humor, Bachand came to USC Gould with a BS in chemical engineering from Northeastern University. The law-science pairing provided a solid foundation for a career in IP law. If the rest was a combination of seized opportunities and dedication, then Bachand is well positioned for another role that just came his way. Married to a Trojan, Ana Alvarez, who received a degree in Gerontology in 2006, he recently announced on LinkedIn the birth of a son: "Started a new career... Pay is lousy. Hours are long. And it's incredibly hard work. But I love the new title they gave me... 'Dad.'"
