Fish & Richardson Announces Hiring of First OnRamp Fellow

NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwired - Feb 18, 2015) - Fish & Richardson announced today that Michelle Lee has joined the firm as its first OnRamp Fellow, located in the New York office. Fish is one of 15 top law firms participating in the OnRamp Fellowship pilot program, which offers one-year, paid fellowships to women lawyers re-entering the legal profession.

The OnRamp Fellowship program, which was launched in January 2014, aims to provide women lawyers an opportunity to update their skills and legal contacts, while replenishing the talent pipeline in law firms with diverse, high-performing lawyers who have the potential and the desire to advance into leadership roles.

"Fish is delighted to pioneer the OnRamp Fellowship and forge a pathway back into the profession for experienced, talented women who want to return," said Peter Devlin, President of Fish & Richardson. "This program clearly benefits both the legal profession and our firm, and we are excited to have Michelle join our team."

Lee has 15 years of experience in intellectual property, primarily in trademarks and copyrights. Previously, she was at Clifford Chance, and before that she served as in-house counsel at MTV. She received her LL.M. from NYU in 2003, with a concentration in Intellectual Property, and her J.D. from Cardozo School of Law in 1996.

Women lawyers who are selected to participate in the highly competitive Fellowship program are provided with a partner advisor at the firm, an external career counselor, unlimited online continuing legal education through Practising Law Institute, and a variety of training from experts in negotiations, oral advocacy, technology, and project management.

Fish has an impressive roster of women in leadership positions, including two of the firm's four practice group leaders: Ann Cathcart Chaplin, Litigation Practice Group Leader, and Cynthia Johnson Walden, Trademark and Copyright Practice Group Leader. Additional women leaders include Kristen McCallion, Copyright Group Chair, who will serve as Lee's mentor; and Dorothy Whelan, Post-Grant Practice Group Co-Chair.

The OnRamp Fellowship is a re-entry platform that matches experienced women lawyers returning to the profession with law firms for one-year, paid positions. This unique experiential learning program gives returning women lawyers -- many of whom have opted out of the legal field for a period of time to raise children -- an opportunity to demonstrate their value in the marketplace while also broadening their experience, skills, and legal contacts. For more information, visit www.OnRampFellowship.com

Fish & Richardson is a global patent, intellectual property (IP) litigation, and commercial litigation law firm with more than 400 attorneys and technology specialists across the U.S. and Europe. Fish has been named the #1 patent litigation firm in the U.S. for 11 consecutive years. Fish has been winning cases worth billions in controversy -- often by making new law -- for the most innovative clients and influential industry leaders since 1878. For more information, visit www.fr.com.