Interview with Sonal Mehta, new sponsorship with Juristat, and more
plus SABA recap, and Kamala Harris making history
This email goes out to 2,471 South Asian legal professionals.
New sponsor: Juristat
I joined Juristat as an advisor. Juristat delivers insights on patent prosecution outcomes, provides competitive intelligence on patent strategy, and automates the tedious parts of patent prosecution. I shared the story of the role here.
So here’s an exclusive offer for Pani Cooler subscribers: personalized patent data review with Juristat
When managing a patent portfolio, small inefficiencies at scale can lead to big expenses. Luckily, Juristat Analytics can help.
Juristat is offering a personalized 30-minute consultation to walk you through your organization’s patent data. In this session, we will identify:
Your most effective outside counsel or attorneys
Key trends among competitors
Cost-cutting opportunities within your portfolio
If you are interested, click here to schedule your personalized session.
Interview with Sonal Mehta
This episode with Sonal Mehta is a masterclass in decision-making. We explore her early rise to partner and the path that led her to the management committee at WilmerHale by walking through the tradeoffs and opportunities she identified at each step.
We also explore the role intuition plays in legal analysis. And we discuss Sonal's journey through challenging parts of her practice and what's led to her success.
Sonal is remarkably down-to-earth for her accomplishments, so this was a fun interview.
SABA Conference 2024 Recap
I attended my 9th SABA conference this month. I have a newsletter for South Asian lawyers, so I’m highly visible in the community, which makes conversations easy.
Personally, I feel very connected to the lawyers there and learn from them, but professionally there aren’t that many outcomes to point to. But I also know that career outcomes are highly nonlinear and indirect.
Juristat was attracted to my niche audience of South Asian lawyers, which heavily overlaps with their audience of patent lawyers. Who knows what outcomes may precipitate in the coming years. I’ll keep going.
Kamala Harris making history
Kamala Harris may make history as the first President of South Asian descent. How has her candidacy motivated you?
Khurram’s List
I run Freshwater Counsel, a recruiting agency. To discuss a move you’re considering or a hire you’d like to make, contact me.
Moving from biglaw to an elite litigation boutique? Let’s discuss these firms that pay above market.
Several firms are looking for midlevel to senior antitrust associates, reach out to discuss where my candidates are interviewing and getting offers.
I’m working closely with my former firm Goodwin on these key searches:
IP Litigation Associate: represent growing tech companies in bet-the-company disputes - trade secrets, patent, and more. I practiced with this team and can share more details.
Antitrust Litigation Associate: join one of the rising stars of the antitrust bar.
Funds Associate: reach out to me to discuss the partners you’ll work with.
Public M&A Associate: reach out to me to discuss the partners you’ll work with.
Pani Cooler Jobs
The mission of Pani Cooler is to build direct connections between South Asian lawyers. A key part of that is getting South Asian lawyers hired and promoted. The below roles include contact information for your colleagues. Reach out to these lawyers in a manner consistent with the goals of building community on this platform. Apply for any roles listed on the website, as available.
I run this as a service to the South Asian legal community, so if you’ve benefitted from it or you’d like to grow this community:
let me know of a South Asian lawyer who is hiring
introduce to a South Asian hiring manager
In-House
NEW Aprajita Tyagi: Aprajita is Sr. Corporate Counsel at Elastic. Aprajita’s team is looking for a Corporate Counsel.
Priya Pai: Priya is Head Counsel - Privacy, Litigation, Employment at hims & hers. Priya’s team is looking for a Privacy Counsel.
Nithya Das: Nithya is Chief Legal and Chief Administrative Officer at Diligent. Nithya’s team is looking for a Legal Counsel.
Shameek Ghose: Shameek is Vice President, Intellectual Property at Corcept Therapeutics. Shameek’s team is looking for a Sr Director, Intellectual Property.
Nonprofit
Ashish Bhatt: Asheesh is President-Elect of SABANY. SABANY is hiring its first Executive Director.
Jasleen Singh: Jasleen is Counsel at Brennan Center for Justice. Jasleen’s team is looking for a Counsel (Entry-Level), Voting Rights and Elections Program.
Thrilled to be working with you, Khurram!