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The Legal Experience and Advancement Program (LEAP) is designed to help develop the next generation of patent practitioners by enabling them to secure oral advocacy opportunities before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. Development of legal skills through practical experience allows advocates to effectively support and represent their clients’ interests.
This webpage recognizes the legal practitioners who participated in the LEAP program during its first two years, from May 2020 to May 2022. Participants are listed in alphabetical order by first name.
Learn about what some participants are saying about the program.
Recipients A-G
Recipient Name | Law Firm/Company | City & State |
| Adam Doane | Alston & Bird, LLP | Charlotte, NC |
| Akkad Y. Moussa | Kilpatrick, Townsend & Stockton, LLP | Washington, DC |
| Alexander R. Covington | Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox, PLLC | Washington, DC |
| Alissa E. Green | Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner | Washington, DC |
| Andrea L. Scripa | Morrison & Foerster, LLP | New York, NY |
| Andrew Demarco | Devlin Law Firm | Wilmington, DE |
| Angela K. Dremann | Knobbe, Martens, Olson & Bear, LLP | Irvine, CA |
| Anthony P. Marshik | Hamre, Schumann, Mueller & Larson, PC | Minneapolis, MN |
| Arne Hans | Sunstein, LLP | Boston, MA |
| Austin B. Yongye | Pabst Patent Group, LLP | Atlanta, GA |
| Benjamin R. Holt | Steptoe & Johnson, LLP | Washington, DC |
| Blaine M. Blackman | Wolf, Greenfield, Sacks, PC | New York, NY |
| Blake Davis | Latham & Watkins, LLP | San Francisco, CA |
| Bradley Berg | O’Melveny & Myers, LLP | Newport Beach, CA |
| Brian J. Lambson | Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, LLP | Washington, DC |
| Briana Emerson | Blue Filament Law, PLLC | Birmingham, MI |
| Brianna Kadjo | Perkins Coie, LLP | Denver, CO |
| Charles D. Hammond | Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox, PLLC | Washington, DC |
| Charles Hsu | Dechert, LLP | Palo Alto, CA |
| Chipo Jolibois | Avery Dennison Corporation | Mentor, OH |
| Christian Dorman | Desmarais, LLP | Washington, DC |
| Christopher R. Abidin | Law Office of R. Alan Burnett | Tysons, VA |
| Daniel Klodowski | Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner | Washington, DC |
| Daniel P. Hughes | Knobbe, Martens, Olson & Bear, LLP | San Diego, CA |
| David Cho | Covington & Burling, LLP | Washington, DC |
| Deepa Kannappan | Cooley, LLP | Palo Alto, CA |
| Derek M. Abeyta | Quarles & Brady, LLP | Phoenix, AZ |
| Drew Christie | Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner | Washington, DC |
| Dustin M. Knight | Cooley, LLP | Washington, DC |
| Elana B. Araj | Greenberg, Traurig, LLP | New York, NY |
| Ellyar Y. Barazesh | Unified Patents, LLC | Chevy Chase, MD |
| Emma L. Frank | Wolf, Greenfield, Sacks, PC | Boston, MA |
| Eric Greenwald | Wolf, Greenfield, Sacks, PC | New York, NY |
| Gerard Cedrone | Goodwin Procter, LLP | Boston, MA |
| Grace J. Kim | Fish & Richardson | Minneapolis, MN |
| Gregory S. Nieberg | Wolf, Greenfield, Sacks, PC | New York, NY |
Recipients H-M
Recipient Name | Law Firm/Company | City & State |
| Hannah Sadler | Global IP Law Group, LLC | Chicago, IL |
| Hao J. Wu | Norton, Rose, Fulbright US, LLP | Dallas, TX |
| Henry C. Thomas | Willkie Farr & Gallagher, LLP | Chicago, IL |
| Ian Soule | Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox, PLLC | Washington, DC |
| Jacob Porter | Dechert, LLP | Austin, TX |
| Jacqueline Lu | Dickinson Wright, PLLC | Austin, TX |
| James Brendan McGlew | McGlew and Tuttle, P.C. | Scarborough, NY |
| James H. Noel | Dority & Manning, PA | Greenville, SC |
| James J. Kristsas | Morgan Lewis & Bockius, LLP | Chicago, IL |
| Jean Nguyen | Morrison & Foerster, LLP | Los Angeles, CA |
| Jeffrey Soller | Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, LLP | Boston, MA |
| Jennifer Carter | Baker Botts, LLP | Houston, TX |
| Jiao Wang | Fish & Richardson | Minneapolis, MN |
| Joanna Y. Chen | Polsinelli, LLP | San Francisco, CA |
| Joel Glazer | Devlin Law Firm | Wilmington, DE |
| John-Paul Fryckman | Fish & Richardson | San Diego, CA |
| Jonathan Ben-Ur Roses | Wolf, Greenfield, Sacks, PC | New York, NY |
| Jung S. Hahm | Unified Patents, LLC | Chevy Chase, MD |
| Kaitlin Abrams | Haug Partners, LLP | New York, NY |
| Karen Beckman | Merchant & Gould, PC | Minneapolis, MN |
| Karla Fry | Nguyen & Tarbet | Irvine, CA |
| Kathleen R. Geyer | Kilpatrick, Townsend & Stockton, LLP | Seattle, WA |
| Kathryn Chi | McCoy Russell, LLP | Portland, OR |
| Kurt Riester | Banner & Witcoff, Ltd. | Chicago, IL |
| Kyle S. Smith | Sidley Austin, LLP | Washington, DC |
| Kyle W. Doerrler | Patterson Thuente Pederson, PA | Minneapolis, MN |
| L. Roman Rachuba | Sughrue Mion, PLLC | Washington, DC |
| Lauren Murray | K&L Gates, LLP | Pittsburgh, PA |
| Lena Cavallo | Sunstein, LLP | Boston, MA |
| Mark A. Patrick | Arnold, Porter Kaye Scholer, LLP | Washington, DC |
| Megan Christner | Carlson, Caspers, Vandenburgh & Lindquist, PA | Minneapolis, MN |
| Michael L. Jespersen | Foley & Lardner, LLP | Detroit, MI |
| Michelle Aspen | Unified Patents, LLC | Washington, DC |
| Michelle Callaghan | Unified Patents, LLC | Washington, DC |
| Moses Xie | Folio Law Group | Seattle, WA |
Recipients N-R
Recipient Name | Law Firm/Company | City & State |
| Nate Sunwoo | Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner | Washington, DC |
| Nathan Hsu | MG Miller | New York, NY |
| Neil Vaz | Ohlandt Greeley Ruggiero & Perle, LLP | Stamford, CT |
| Nicholas F. Palmieri | Baker Botts, LLP | New York, NY |
| Nicholas L. Evoy | Covington & Burling, LLP | Washington, DC |
| Nihal Parkar | Eversheds Sutherland | Atlanta, GA |
| Parvin Ghane | Fish & Richardson | Minneapolis, MN |
| Paul H. Belnap | Duane Morris, LLP | Washington, DC |
| Philip Eklem | Reichman Jorgensen Lehman & Feldberg, LLP | Washington, DC |
| Rachael P. Dippold | Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner | Washington, DC |
| Ren-How H. Harn | Willkie Farr & Gallagher, LLP | Chicago, IL |
| Rikki A. Hullinger | Casimir Jones, SC | Middleton, WI |
| Robert D. Ward | Eversheds Sutherland | San Diego, CA |
| Robert M. Breetz | Jones Day | Cleveland, OH |
| Roberto Fernandez | Foley & Lardner, LLP | Chicago, IL |
| Roderick O'Dorisio | Perkins Coie, LLP | Denver, CO |
| Ryan A. Peddle | Flaster Greenberg, PC | Philadelphia, PA |
| Ryan Chowdhury | Fish & Richardson | Minneapolis, MN |
| Ryan McCormick | M&B IP Analysts, LLC | Morrison, NJ |
| Ryan Thorne | Desmarais, LLP | New York, NY |
Recipients S-Z
Recipient Name | Law Firm/Company | City & State |
| Sandy Ma | Foley & Lardner, LLP | San Diego, CA |
| Sarah Cassinis | Adsero IP | Littleton, CO |
| Sarah E. Jelsema | Klarquist Sparkman, LLP | Portland, OR |
| Sarah Goodman | Brinks Gilson & Lione | Chicago, IL |
| Sarah H. Stevens | Kubota & Basol, LLP | Los Angeles, CA |
| Sarah L. Boone | Renner Otto | Cleveland, OH |
| Sean Gloth | Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP | New York, NY |
| Seth Bruneel | Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner | Washington, DC |
| Shane Hannon | Cooley,LLP | Washington, DC |
| Shannon Lam | Knobbe, Martens, Olson & Bear, LLP | Irvine, CA |
| Shaun P. Mahaffy | Williams & Connolly, LLP | Washington, DC |
| Stephanie Mandir | Daignault Iyer, LLP | Vienna, VA |
| Stephen A. Merrill | Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox, PLLC | Washington, DC |
| Stephen Yam | Venable, LLP | Washington, DC |
| Steven M. Pappas | Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox, PLLC | Washington, DC |
| Steven Peters | King & Spalding, LLP | Washington, DC |
| Sydney R. Kestle | Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner | Washington, DC |
| Tarek J. Austin | Covington & Burling, LLP | Washington, DC |
| Tasha Thomas | Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati | Washington, D.C. |
| Thomas Foley | McCarter & English, LLC | Boston, MA |
| Timothy L. Tang | Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox, PLLC | Washington, D.C. |
| Tyler Train | Womble Bond Dickinson US, LLP | Irvine, CA |
| William Logan | Winston & Strawn, LLP | Houston, TX |
| Yieyie Yang | Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner | Washington, DC |
| Yury Kalish | Jones Day | Washington, DC |
| Zachary Loney | DLA Piper, LLP | Austin, TX |