Winston & Strawn Silicon Valley Managing Partner Kathi Vidal was recently highlighted in the Legal Experience and Advancement Program (LEAP) brochure following her participation in a panel celebrating the completion of the program's first year. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (the host of the virtual event) and the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) co-founded LEAP to give the next generation of patent attorneys the opportunity to gain oral advocacy and courtroom skills.
As Kathi said during the event, "PTAB's program strikes a great balance. It incentivizes and encourages parties to allow more junior or less experienced attorneys to argue, while ensuring that if other counsel have value to add or would like to supplement the record, they may do so. There is little risk and much upside. This program will go a long way toward moving the needle and empowering and training our next generation of lawyers. Any time we rise the tide for junior lawyers, we necessarily rise the tide for all and thus promote diversity."
This is the latest in a series of initiatives Kathi has been involved with that promote the importance of less experienced lawyers having the opportunity to argue in court. Notably, Kathi is also the founder and co-leader of Next Generation Lawyers, a program committed to "less talk, more action" in the fight to level the playing field for women in law and technology.
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