From a former BigLaw litigator. I've sat in your chair.
I place patent prosecution attorneys and agents at AmLaw 100 firms and top IP boutiques in San Diego. I was a patent litigator myself, so I know patent practice from the inside.
15 minutes. Completely confidential. Firms pay my fee, never you.
Patent Prosecution ยท San Diego
San Diego is unusual in supporting two genuine prosecution markets at once. The life sciences side serves the biotech, genomics, and diagnostics cluster, where bio and chem PhDs draft the estates that companies finance and partner on. The high tech side serves the wireless and communications heritage this city built, where electrical engineers prosecute standards adjacent portfolios. Firms here often need both, and candidates rarely offer both, which keeps demand steady on each track.
I was a patent litigator, so I read prosecution experience the way hiring partners do. I track which San Diego groups are adding on the bio side versus the EE side, and how boutique and AmLaw platforms differ on work and comp here. Before you move, I'll tell you plainly where your background fits.
Before I recruited attorneys, I was one, a litigator at Weil Gotshal and Finnegan Henderson. I know what a 2,200 hour year feels like, how partners really size up a lateral, and what it's like to be the one making this call. That's the difference between someone who forwards your resume and someone who fights for your career.
I practiced patent law, so I can frame your prosecution experience as portfolio strategy rather than paperwork, and I know how to match your specific science to the groups that need exactly it.
No blasting your resume across the market. I learn your practice first, then take you to the handful of San Diego groups that genuinely match where you're headed.
What we discuss stays between us. Nothing about you reaches a firm until you tell me yes, for that specific opportunity, in writing.
Three steps, no pressure, and an honest read from someone who has been on your side of the desk.
Fifteen minutes to understand where you are, where you want to go, and the things you won't compromise on.
A tight set of San Diego patent prosecution roles matched to your practice and your life, each one with a clear reason it's on the list.
I take your story straight to the hiring partner, run point on interviews, prep you for every round, and negotiate the offer.
It's structure, not effort
If your firm isn't winning the matters in your practice area, there's no work to hand down, no matter how proactive you are. Months of quiet start to read like underperformance when the real problem is structural. A busier platform fixes in weeks what staying can never fix at all. The answer isn't grinding harder. It's the right firm.
Hear how attorneys made their next move.
"I didn't think this kind of role was possible for me. It was."
"Steven understood where I was trying to go and built a path to it I couldn't have found on my own."
"It felt discreet, thoughtful, and personal. I never once felt sold."
"His read on how to position my experience, prep for interviews, and negotiate the offer was excellent."
Moving isn't disloyalty
Firms expect laterals. They don't take it personally. The attorneys who advance fastest aren't the ones who never leave. They're the ones who move when their firm can't support what comes next. Your career isn't built on loyalty. It's built by being deliberate about where you spend your 2,000 billable hours.
Completely. What we discuss stays between us, and if we move forward your resume doesn't reach anyone until you give me a yes for that specific opportunity, in writing.
Both thrive here, which is not true everywhere. Boutiques tend to offer deeper prosecution focus and often better economics for it, while national platforms wrap prosecution into larger client relationships. The right answer depends on your book ambitions and your science. I'll walk you through it honestly.
Firms pay my fee, not you. There's no cost to you at any point in the process.
No. Most attorneys I work with are exploring, not decided. A conversation costs you nothing and tells you a lot.
Both. San Diego has a strong bench of specialist patent prosecution boutiques alongside the big flagship practices. The right answer depends on the work and the life you want, and I'll help you compare them honestly.
I practiced in BigLaw for six years before I switched to recruiting. I don't just know the market, I know what it's like to sit in your chair. I won't waste your time with roles that don't make sense, and I'll be straight with you about what's realistic.
Before I recruited attorneys, I was one. Six years in BigLaw gave me a perspective most recruiters don't have. I know how partners weigh a lateral, how firms think about fit, and what it actually feels like to be the one making this decision.
Nine years and hundreds of placements later, I do one thing: help attorneys who've outgrown where they are find the right next role. Associates, counsel, and partners at AmLaw 100 firms and top boutiques. You set the pace, I keep everything quiet, and I stay focused on what's right for you.
"He introduced me directly to people who were relevant to my experience. I ended up with options that made sense for where I'm going."
15 minutes. Completely confidential. Firms pay my fee, never you.
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