Careers
If you're passionate about your career and want to help advance technology, you'll fit right in at Brooks Kushman.
When the creativity, passion, and collective expertise of our diverse, mission-driven teams are engaged, great things happen. This is what's different about working with a law firm that is fueled by our client relationships.
Clients come to Brooks Kushman for the long haul, as do our talented professionals. We recognize that our ability to deliver unprecedented IP strategies lies within our commitment to making Brooks Kushman a great place to work and hiring talented professionals that are driven to think outside the box. We invest in our professionals at all levels and provide the necessary tools, education, and mentoring to best prepare them for their future. The national recognition we worked hard to earn and maintain over the years stems from a culture where employees at all levels are respected and have a voice. Each year, Brooks Kushman is recognized for workplace qualities such as diversity, positive culture, benefits, and team member engagement.
Diversity, equity, and inclusion are paramount to our firm. We understand that diverse teams enhance our ability to meet our clients’ needs. The talent we hire and the varied perspectives we bring to an issue spur our responsiveness and ability to innovate. Simply put, our focus on diversity and inclusion makes us a better firm.
Brooks Kushman offers a competitive compensation and benefits package. Starting salaries for our associates are comparable to much larger law firms. Early in your career at Brooks Kushman, by mutual agreement of the lawyer and the firm, associates can forego a salary for a percentage of their billings.
In addition to our generous compensation plan, we offer the following benefits:Along with our compensation and benefit plans, Brooks Kushman offers attorneys a personal business expense fund to use at their discretion. This fund can cover expenses related to business development, individual training, continuing legal education, and client development. The firm also pays for our lawyers’ memberships to mandatory bar associations and covers the cost of bar review preparation courses and bar exams.
In any organization, the most crucial resource is its people. We believe that in order to be a premier legal service provider and the go-to firm for our clients, we must invest in the development of our people. We manage this through several different internal initiatives.
At Brooks Kushman, we take every step to ensure that new attorneys feel confident in their new role by receiving every resource they need to succeed. We have a multi-disciplinary approach that includes every practice and professional area at the firm. We take immense pride in providing a collaborative culture for our attorneys.
We pair lateral attorneys with mentors who share similar backgrounds and experiences. By doing this, our new attorneys make connections with other attorneys at the firm beginning on day one, while also having a strong resource to help ensure they start their career off successfully as soon as they begin working with us.
Training and the development of all employees is a cornerstone of our practice. The professional development of our team drives the success of our firm and allows us to provide the quality service our clients have come to expect and appreciate.
Within each department, we provide specific training modules to help ensure new attorneys understand our innovative approach right when they begin. This training program is facilitated directly by our Practice Group Chairs. However, we recognize that every candidate is unique and may require a different approach when joining a new firm. To facilitate this, we include senior shareholders in our training efforts early in the process to help ensure the transition is as smooth as possible. Early direct training and mentorship from our Practice Group Chairs and senior shareholders ensures that our newest members quickly find success in building their own practices.
Our firm has also created a training program to develop formalized training classes, specifically tailored to patent prosecution and intellectual property litigation. We place associates into the program as soon as they join the firm. They remain in the class until they have established a comprehensive understanding of the subject matter. This program ensures that our newest members are quickly ready to provide high-quality legal services to our clients.
The training doesn’t stop after the program is completed, as the laws and processes are constantly evolving. Here at Brooks Kushman, we value continuing legal education for all of our attorneys. We also provide attorneys with a variety of online subscriptions and training modules for CLE and professional development, allowing them to grow their practice within the fields they find most interesting. The firm also offers internal educational programs to discuss new issues, procedures, or rulings that impact our work and our clients. We strive to create a culture that focuses on the development of all employees and provides the necessary tools to fulfill their professional development and career goals. Our efforts focus on best practices in client service, cross-selling, networking, and teamwork. Our goal is to create a culture that educates professionals on critical skills our attorneys and staff will need to generate new business, develop stronger professional relationships, and best serve our clients.
We believe lateral attorneys benefit our firm in a variety of ways, including introducing innovative technology and career development opportunities, increasing the firm’s diversity and inclusion, and further increasing client satisfaction.
We are always looking for talented professionals to join our growing team. Compensation for each lateral attorney/agent is based on experience, background, and incoming client portfolio. We do not offer a lock-step promotion program for lateral attorneys, but we assess on an individual basis.
When you join our firm as a lateral attorney, you will join a collegial work environment that provides you the ability to uniquely advance your career and work with large or small client teams. You are given the opportunity to work remotely. We also provide many opportunities to socialize and participate in team-building activities outside of the office.
We offer the below objective pay system for all attorneys
Interested in an opportunity at Brooks Kushman? Send your resume to any of our department Chairs or to recruiting@brookskushman.com for consideration. We are always considering professionals that are interested in joining our growing team.
At Brooks Kushman, we value our agents and technical specialists’ knowledge and experience. There are ample opportunities for client contact and management, advancement within the firm, and increased compensation possibilities, a unique opportunity that isn’t regularly available at other IP or GP firms.
Also, we offer the below objective pay system for patent agents and technical specialists, which is the same as our pay system for associates:
Each summer, Brooks Kushman welcomes four to six law students to participate in our summer associate program. The program exposes students to all areas of our practice and actively involves them in interesting and diverse legal matters. Our firm hires summer associates with the hope and expectation that they will eventually become associate attorneys at our firm.
From our community activities to educational sessions and our mentorship programs, Brooks Kushman's summer associates and law clerks become involved in all aspects of the firm. We assign each summer associate or law clerk to both a prosecution and litigation attorney to serve as a mentor and career coach to ensure a full overview of our practice areas. Educational sessions for summer associates and law clerks include classes on claim drafting and the basics of patent applications, each hosted by one of our firm’s shareholders. We also provide law clerks and summer associates with access to various online training subscriptions. Our firm participates in on-campus recruiting at select law schools nationwide each fall and spring. We also accept applications directly from candidates throughout the year. If you are interested in joining us, please send a cover letter and resume to recruiting@brookskushman.com.
Can law students in their first and third year apply for the summer associate program?
Yes. First-year law students and, in exceptional cases, third-year law students may apply.
Is a background in science or engineering required to apply to your summer associate program?
For patent prosecution, a background in science or engineering is required. The firm offers other practice areas including trademarks, copyrights, and litigation, in which a scientific or engineering background is not a prerequisite.
Can I split the summer between Brooks Kushman and another law firm?
Yes. Candidates should note their interest in dividing the summer between law firms on their initial application.
What are the dates of your summer associate program?
Normally our summer associates join us between one and three weeks after the completion of the school year. However, because of the size of our firm, we can be flexible with regard to start and end dates.
When are decisions made about hiring law students for the summer associate program?
We typically make those decisions at the start of the fall semester and again in February or March. However, special consideration will be made for outstanding candidates.
When are decisions made about hiring full-time associates?
Summer associates are given feedback throughout the program about their potential to join the firm as a full-time associate. Our summer associates are given priority in the hiring process, and our firm has a strong track record of making offers for full-time employment to our summer associates. The actual hiring decisions usually are made in the fall following their summer at the firm although the timing of the offer may vary.
What type of training and experiences will I receive as a summer associate?
Our firm makes every effort to craft projects and responsibilities consistent with each individual’s interest and to cover all areas of intellectual property law so as to assist the law student with his or her future career decisions.
Will I have a mentor?
Yes, our firm provides a senior associate or partner as a mentor in the law student’s expressed area of interest. This will ensure that the summer experience is both enjoyable and beneficial to the individual and our firm.
We strive to create a work environment where everyone feels engaged, energized, and recognized. Our professional staff team members are at the core of what we do – often having more client interaction than attorneys. We empower professional staff to perform at their best and bring new ideas to the table.
We offer the opportunity to work fully-remotely or in the office. We recognize that work-life balance impacts job satisfaction, productivity, and creativity. Therefore, we do whatever we can to support you in your role at the firm. We are always seeking well-qualified and well-trained support staff to join our growing team. We have specific needs for administrative assistants, litigation paralegals, foreign filing paralegals, trademark paralegals, accounting professionals, and general office staff. Professional Staff members enjoy a 37.5-hour workweek in a friendly and collaborative working environment. Full-time employees receive a competitive salary along with the following benefits:
