USC Gould meets the increasing demand for legal talent throughout the technology sector
Technological innovation is reshaping the global economy. As it transforms life and business in the United States and abroad, it is also influencing legal practice — raising novel legal issues and expanding career opportunities for lawyers in the field. The USC Gould School of Law is blazing a pathway to these opportunities in Los Angeles, Silicon Valley and beyond for students and alumni, equipping them with the knowledge, connections and skills necessary for 21st-century success.
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| With the help of the CSO, Jeffrey Ho landed a summer associate position with HP that eventually led to an offer of full-time employment. |
Central to USC Gould’s strategy for advancing employment in the technology arena is a philosophy that grounds legal education in hands-on legal practice. At USC Gould, students benefit from exposure to highly experienced professors who bring the curriculum to life through workshops and assignments that draw on their vast expertise. Elizabeth Armour, assistant dean and dean of career services, says learning from seasoned mentors is a game changer.
“We challenge our students to put classroom lessons in the context of real-world experiences,” she says. “This emphasis on applied knowledge positions them to take advantage of the increasing demand for legal talent at the intersection of technology and practice.”
Working as their advocate, Armour and the Career Services Office (CSO) are helping students learn about and compete for sought-after positions in the legal technology sector. The CSO sponsors career programming featuring prominent practitioners to orient students to these burgeoning career paths.
And the office has successfully tapped a growing number of employers including technology giant Hewlett-Packard (HP) and LA-based Zest Finance — a financial services/tech startup whose general counsel is a Gould grad, Jeanine Percival Wright ’06 — to interview on campus or utilize CSO services to hire Gould students.
Jeffrey Ho, a 3L, is a case in point. With the assistance of the CSO, he landed a coveted job working in Palo Alto for HP as part of the company’s newly formed summer intern program. Now in its second year, the program enables HP to cultivate its own legal staff, training interns and allowing them to develop key specialties early on. The program is small and competitive — with six interns to a class — but USC Gould has placed students in it for two years running.
“HP came to our on-campus interviews,” Ho recalls. “The fact that our CSO was able to talk to HP’s recruiter and establish a connection made everything possible.”
Access to the impressive pool of students at schools like USC Gould has become a key component of HP’s recruitment process. “When we are recruiting on campus, we look for students with creativity, presence, impeccable communication skills, sound judgment, a drive for excellence, true problem-solving skills and a commitment to giving back to their communities,” says John Schultz, executive vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary at HP.
As part of HP’s litigation group, Ho gained experience in employment, IP and corporate securities, and mergers and acquisitions. “Even as a summer associate, I worked on nearly every aspect of litigation — taking depositions, preparing witnesses and attending mediations,” he says. “These are things you don’t often get to do at big law firms until you’ve been there for five years or more.”
Ava Miller, another 3L (and immediate past co-president of USC Gould’s IP & Tech Law Society), also spent the summer building skills and experience in technology and law. Working with the IP litigation group at prestigious international firm Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati in Palo Alto, Miller collaborated on projects in both trademark and patent law.
“I became interested in the law surrounding technology and IP because it addresses how to find a delicate balance between protecting inventors’ rights to their own creations and advancing further innovation based on those creations,” Miller says.
Her summer in Palo Alto reaffirmed her interest in a career in IP litigation — and she credits USC Gould with helping her get started.
“I interviewed with the firm during on-campus interviews, and the Career Services Office was always responsive to my questions about finding a position in IP and technology law,” Miller says. “I was also able to make connections with speakers who came to the lunches we hosted through the IP & Tech Law Society.”
Support from USC Gould was instrumental in smoothing the career path of Daniel Goldberg ’11 as well, who attributes the Gould alumni network to landing key jobs. Goldberg, an L.A.-based associate at powerhouse firm BakerHostetler, has built a practice offering fullservice privacy and data security work to clients around the country. It is a specialty he thinks will only continue to expand.
“Data is growing at an exponential rate in all industries,” Goldberg says. “On a global level, the world is becoming smaller, and there are huge ramifications for international data transfer, especially because some countries have more stringent laws and regulations than the U.S.”
By the end of the summer, Ho had so impressed HP recruiters that they offered him full-time employment. He plans to join their litigation practice in Palo Alto beginning fall 2016.
Seeking an intern or post-grad hire to work for your firm or company? Contact the Career Services Office by calling (213) 740-7397, or emailing [email protected].
–Photo by James Block
This story originally appeared in the Fall/Winter 2015 issue of USC Law Magazine.
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