A solicitor gives legal advice to clients and represents them in negotiations or disputes.
Last Updated: November 1, 2024
An IP solicitor advises clients on a broad variety of matters relating to IP including:
- Negotiating licences and other commercial agreements.
- Conducting “due diligence”, often in the context of corporate transactions (acquisitions, etc), to make sure the relevant IP rights are sound.
- Carrying out freedom-to-operate analyses and other risk assessments.
- Acting in IP litigation – bringing or defending claims of infringement.
Almost every business is underpinned by IP, be it a brand, a proprietary technology, the ownership of music or other rights, or (often) a combination of different sorts of IP. Whether acting in a dispute or otherwise, a good IP solicitor will understand the wider context of the work being done and appreciate the importance of achieving the best commercial outcome, which may not necessarily be a “win”.
Clients can be individuals, multinational organisations, start-ups, or anything in between. Typically, they will want advice about buying or selling IP assets or an IP-rich business, to understand the IP risks associated with launching a new product, to protect or assert their own IP rights, or to negotiate a commercial agreement.
IP solicitors typically focus on either contentious (disputes) or non-contentious work, although many retain a broad practice. It is common for IP solicitors to develop strong relationships with their clients and to be involved in significant business decisions.
The work varies from one solicitor to another, but even for individuals, each day is different. Most find themselves specialising in a particular area.
IP solicitors often work in private practice law firms. Some of these are small specialist practices (boutiques); others are full-service national or global law firms with IP departments. Law firms are generally run and owned by senior solicitors, commonly known as “partners”, who earn their living by sharing the firm’s profits, while the junior solicitors get a regular salary. Partners have often worked their way up through the ranks of the firm, starting out as trainees, or sometimes they’ve joined later in their careers from another firm.
Alternatively, IP solicitors can work in-house for large and/or IP-rich companies that have their own teams of lawyers. In-house solicitors are particularly focused on the commercial needs of their business and may develop expertise in related areas of law like data protection or pharmaceutical regulatory law.
Either way, there’s often an international dimension to an IP solicitor’s work.
As well as legal skills, IP solicitors need the business skills and commercial acumen to negotiate deals, as well as the interpersonal, teamworking and communication skills to work well with other people. In some specialist areas, such as patents, it’s useful to have a technical background – such as a science degree – but it’s not a barrier if you don’t.
You can qualify as a solicitor via the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE) route, which requires candidates to pass two sets of assessments and complete two years of qualifying work experience. Although not mandatory, most non-law graduates will need to compete a law conversion course before starting the SQE.
For the time being, law graduates only can also qualify through the traditional Legal Practice Course / training contract route, although this is being phased out.
It’s also now possible to qualify as a solicitor via the apprenticeship route, straight from school: see this information from The Law Society.
A combination of qualifying courses and exams, and on-the-job training: see above.
All of the necessary qualification courses are offered by a number of law schools and universities, both in and outside London. Some law firms have relationships with particular law schools and will even sponsor students through the course(s), paying their fees and maybe helping out with living costs.
Varied and often high-profile work with real impact on the businesses involved and the wider commercial landscape.
Getting it wrong can have big consequences for your clients. There can be a lot of time pressures too.
You can either approach smaller law firms directly or most of the big firms have a graduate recruitment programme that will be easy to find out about on their websites.
Also check out the Law Society Gazette jobs board.