The content of this article is more than 5 years old. Please be aware that information provided may no longer be accurate, up-to-date, or relevant.

From clerkships to clinical assistantships to working as summer associates at firms, summer legal work helps students gain practical skills and experiences that benefit them during law school and beyond. This is the fifth profile in our 2014 series featuring the summer job experiences of UW Law students.

Nicole Finco

Nicole Finco ’15
Legal Extern, Office of the Chief Economist
United States Patent and Trademark Office, Washington, D.C.

Describe your summer work experience.
A large part of my job as an extern at the United States Patent and Trademark Office involved researching and drafting memoranda on patent and trademark law. The memos support the studies and reports the office conducts, which in turn help its units, and the USPTO as a whole, understand how patent and trademark laws affect the U.S. and the global economy.

What has surprised you about the work you are doing?
Learning about the extensive work being done to ensure that intellectual property rights are protected worldwide. The office has several teams responsible for every category of intellectual property, and each plays an important role in strengthening intellectual property rights in the United States and abroad. I appreciated the chance to observe and help my summer colleagues uphold their commitment to protecting intellectual property rights.

How do you think this work experience will shape the rest of your time at UW Law School?
I knew I wanted to practice intellectual property law before I began my externship, and my summer experience has solidified that decision. I really enjoyed learning more about intellectual property law, especially in connection with its global implications. I hope to take courses in copyright law, administrative law and international transactions law, if I can fit them all into my schedule.

What classes have been particularly useful in preparing you for the work you are doing this summer?
Legal Research and Writing I and II, along with my experience on Wisconsin Law Review, have definitely proven useful. Introduction to Intellectual Property also helped, given that most of what I worked on is related to trademark and patent law.

Submitted by Law School News on September 19, 2014

This article appears in the categories: Summer Job Series

lock