The Life and Career of Anne M. Schneiderman, Ph.D., Law Offices of Anne Schneiderman and Of Counsel to Wall Marjama & Bilinski, LLP

With multiple degrees from various Ivy League schools, including a Ph.D. in neurobiology from Harvard University, Schneiderman could easily have remained in the world of scientific academia. But Schneiderman was drawn to the flexibility of the law and the opportunity to combine her legal and scientific skills in the world of patent law.
 

Although Wall Marjama is based in Syracuse, NY, Schneiderman works from the firm's Ithaca office and her own office, the Law Offices of Anne M. Schneiderman. Her practice focuses on patent procurement for high-tech clients in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and agriscience. Because she speaks the language of science, she's invaluable in helping her clients develop ideas into patentable inventions.


The law, she said, allowed her more professional mobility and flexibility. By running her own firm, she has much-beloved independence; and by working with Wall Marjama, Schneiderman said she feels like she's part of a much bigger world.

"Be open to the unexpected," Schneiderman says. "Getting into this arrangement was because I started my own practice. Word got around that there was an attorney in Ithaca who was practicing by herself, who was in biotech, and this particular law firm really wanted a biotech attorney, so you kind of never know. If you have too specific a plan about how you want your career to go, you may miss some wonderful opportunities."

Schneiderman, who also works as a yoga instructor in the evenings, said she is drawn toward professional change and constant challenges. With science, she said, she spent too much of her time writing grants for funding. And when her contract position at Cornell was set to expire, she knew she would probably have to move to take on a job somewhere else as a professor. That's when she decided to go to Stanford Law School.

"When I was applying for grants 10 years ago, it was usually less than 10-percent acceptance, so you had to write a lot of grants," she said. "The thing I love about the law is that everything I write has an effect. When I write a patent application, unlike a grant proposal, I really do see things happen to it. Action happens, and it's intellectual property based on what I've written, which I find very satisfying."

Born in Ithaca and raised in California, Schneiderman said being an attorney with a science background is a good combination; she's in constant demand and doesn't have to worry about professional insecurity.

"I was in Silicon Valley when the Internet bubble broke and a lot of people lost jobs and had offers rescinded and law firms dissolved," she said. "But in general, there's a steady demand for people who have master's degrees and Ph.D.'s in science, who are trained as lawyers."

When asked if she was intimidated going back to school and starting a new career after 40, Schneiderman laughs and cites a Dear Abby advice column about fear and aging. To paraphrase Dear Abby: You're going to be three years older anyway, so you might as well try something new.

"I've noticed that my law colleagues, like my science colleagues, fall into two camps: the ones that are adventurous, entrepreneurial, and aren't scared to do something and the ones who are," she said, adding that many of her colleagues in science and law warned her not to start her own firm.

With Wall Marjama, Schneiderman telecommutes from her own office and occasionally makes the one-hour drive to the firm's headquarters in Syracuse.

"I feel that they're very forward-thinking in that they don't view geography as a problem, and I do a lot of telecommuting for them," she said. "I do feel like this is going to be a trend that I think will pick up because lawyers are more and more able to be geographically spread out and function as a law firm. I meet with them face-to-face on a regular basis, but it's not every day."

A Stanford Law School graduate, Schneiderman worked for seven years for Pennie and Edmonds, LLP, and then briefly as in-house counsel for Advanced Design Consulting USA, Inc., a high-technology engineering design consulting company in Lansing, NY.

"There's also an advantage to having worked at a small start-up company, where you are very aware, for a small start-up, of their budget and that they may not be able to work a huge amount of attorney time…like a big pharmaceutical company would be able to afford legal help," she said.

Small companies, she said, appreciate her sound economic advice on patents and strategy.

Scientific expertise also means Schneiderman can work where she wants, i.e., in Ithaca. And because patent law is federal law, it is easy to choose where you want to practice and have clients all over the country, she said.

"When I got out of law school, I lived in Palo Alto and in New York City for a couple years," she said. "It's nice to conduct high-tech business and high-tech legal practice from Ithaca. I want to stay in Ithaca for lifestyle reasons, so that's why I'm really happy to have this kind of arrangement with Wall Marjama."

In New York and Palo Alto, Schneiderman worked for six years in the biotechnology practice group of Pennie & Edmonds, LLP — during her time at law school.

With her academic background, including her postdoctoral work at Yale University, LawCrossing asked Schneiderman if she might return to school and perhaps become a medical doctor or astronaut.

"Oh, no. I'm going to be a lawyer and a yoga teacher," she said, laughing. "One thing that is nice about combining those two things is that yoga is a wonderful way of relieving stress, bringing balance both into your thinking and into your body. And I think that really emanates into my law practice."

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