Southfield, Mich. – Brooks Kushman Shareholder Rachel Smith has been selected to represent the firm as a Fellow for the 2020 class of the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD).
This renowned national program innovatively identifies and strengthens the skills of proven leaders in the legal industry. It also offers its diverse participants virtual and in-person training, peer-group activities, and networking opportunities with LCLD’s top industry professionals.
The LCLD 2020 Fellows First Meeting will be in Miami in February where discussion points will center around the challenges and opportunities of diverse leaders in the law.
“Rachel and the LCLD Fellowship are a terrific match-up,” said Linda Mettes, Chief Inclusion Officer for Brooks Kushman and Detroit City Lead for LCLD. “I have personally witnessed Rachel grow from a legal clerk with fantastic electrical engineering skills to a master patent prosecutor and legal strategist – who, at the same time, has led STEM for girls programming and numerous other IP law and women in law organizations. This Fellowship is in recognition of her outstanding legal achievements while also tackling issues facing women both in engineering and the legal field.”
Throughout her career, Smith has participated in numerous diversity and inclusion efforts with the goal of bettering our community and coaching others. Internally, she is mentor to many associates and has worked alongside leadership to enhance the Summer Associate program. Externally, Smith has played an instrumental role in expanding the firms’ support of the AIPLA’s Women in IP Law Annual Global Networking Event, which connects women in IP from around the world. She also served in a leadership role to partner with the Girl Scouts of Michigan, USPTO, and IPO to launch the IP Patch in the state of Michigan and handed out over 500 IP Patches.
Smith is a registered patent attorney and focuses primarily on domestic and foreign patent prosecution. She has a deep understanding of various technologies in the mechanical and electrical arts. In particular, Smith has extensive experience prosecuting patent applications in consumer electronics, automotive, medical device, and network technologies. Her practice further includes drafting patentability, infringement, validity, and freedom to operate opinions. Smith also consults clients on open source software license agreements. She works with clients to understand complex software licenses and copyright matters, and has worked with the firm’s open source team to perform software audits on complex systems.
About Brooks Kushman P.C.
Brooks Kushman P.C. is a premier intellectual property (IP) and technology law firm dedicated to the advancement and protection of innovations and brands that propel businesses around the world. With offices in Michigan and California, we work alongside corporations, small to medium sized businesses, and leading universities to protect their intellectual property assets. Our attorneys have a broad range of experience in industries and technologies, including consumer electronics, manufacturing, medical device, computer technology, aerospace, chemicals, biotechnology, and retail.
Brooks Kushman counts a number of Fortune 100 companies across a variety of industries among its clients. The firm is also recognized by leading legal publications and rankings, including Corporate Counsel magazine, U.S. News & World Report, Law360, Intellectual Asset Management, Managing Intellectual Property, and Intellectual Property Today. For more information, please visit www.BrooksKushman.com.
