Erise IP PA

Could do better to have insurance plans that cover spouses as well as cover moving expenses for out-of-state hires.

The patent agents/technical staff are VERY knowledgeable and approachable. Also, you can kind of elect to not travel very often or do if that's what you want.

Erise really only has one practice group—electrical and computer technology. Mechanical and chemical engineers and people with physics and life science backgrounds can definitely manage the litigation side of the practice, but IPRs are more challenging for anyone that doesn’t have an EE or computer science background. There also isn’t a dedicated appeals group like other firms have. There also is no soft-IP practice group. While Erise dubs itself as an IP firm, it’s really only limited to patent work and while it does see some copyright and trademark cases, their knowledge does not go beyond a basic law school baseline of these fields. Interestingly enough, the firm does not usually extend offers to 1L or 2L law students working as summer clerks. Though there are a few mid-level associates that did start off with the firm, most associates are lateral hires. Strange seeing how they do recruit law students. They also have summer internships for engineering students. Though there are many women employed at all levels of the firm, there is a serious lack of people of color, LGBTQ members, and other diverse groups commensurate with other comparably sized firms and as well as their communities in Denver and Kansas City. There is no committee or team dedicated to rectifying this nor is there much concern.

Laid back and casual (no need for suits!), weekly lunches, open floor plan