Written By:
Ashley L. Sundy
J.D. Candidate, 2020
Photographs By:
Michelle Zhou
J.D. Candidate, 2021
On September 27th Santa Clara Law’s Biotech Law Group hosted a speaker event centered on In-House Legal Careers in the Biotech field. We were joined by Dr. Anavelys Ortiz-Suarez, Assistant General Counsel, IP at Bellicum Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Ortiz-Suarez is a patent attorney with over 13 years combined biotech in-house and law firm patent experience. Also joining us was Phillip McGarrigle, Senior IP Counsel at Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Mr. McGarrigle has over 30 years of experience working as in-house counsel. We were also joined by Ronald A. Krasnow, Chief Strategy Officer, General Counsel and Secretary at Kinestral Technologies, Inc. Ron has worked at multiple pharmaceutical and biotech companies and has seen companies branch off from parent companies as new products get developed.
In house counsel positions can be quite different from outside counsel positions in the area of Biotechnology. Most prominently this appears in the risk that in house counsel is willing to take when addressing legal issues. As an in-house attorney, your job is to manage legal risk for the company. Commercial activity, complying with FDA regulations, negotiations, stock management, tax concerns and intellectual property are areas in-house counsel typically become well versed in. Working in-house in a Biotechnology corporation allows the attorney to become an expert on the particular company. The speakers shared the importance of finding a mentor who is willing to answer the questions that may come up. Larger firms are more likely to take on hiring a new associate because they have the resources to provide training. There are experts all around who will help you get up to speed and the scientific questions will be directed to the scientist. In-house counsel are experts in legalities. While having a scientific background may not fill in all the gaps, the knowledge can lay a good foundation for asking relatively logical questions and helps develop an understanding of the direction the company is moving. Biotech companies desire attorneys who will really know the intellectual property behind their products and be able to argue all over the world about it.
