Our mission at the College of Law is clear—to set our students up for career success in a rapidly evolving world. When I became Dean just before the 2016-17 academic year, we spent time reflecting on and identifying what distinguishes us from the nearly 200 other law schools in the country. We believed that we could then build on our unique doctrinal and programmatic strengths with classroom-based practical training and experiential learning in externships and clinics to lay a solid foundation for our students’ post-graduation employment success.
Our discussions led us to identify four areas of excellence: our Innovation Law Center (ILC),our Trial and Advocacy Program, our Institute for Security Policy and Law, and our Disability Law and Policy expertise. Of course, not all of our students will be attracted to these areas, but our goal is to attract most of the prospective students, nationally, who are focused on these areas. And while no law school has the resources to be “all things to all people,” by focusing attention on our unique strengths, we can—and we do—deliver extraordinary outcomes.
Our 2023 Yearbook spotlights the center that focuses on perhaps the most innovative and quickly evolving field of law of our time—the Innovation Law Center. For more than two decades, the ILC has prepared law students to drive growth in tech-related industries, including emerging medical, pharmaceutical, robotics, computing, and manufacturing technologies, by combining academics with real-world practical experience.
In these pages, you will read about Cecily Capo, a member of the Class of 2023 who drew on her undergraduate STEM degree to help entrepreneurs bring ideas to market through the ILC and who continues that work now as an associate at Bond, Schoeneck & King. You’ll hear from Professor Shubha Ghosh on recent Supreme Court cases in the field of intellectual property and technology commercialization. You’ll learn about case law governing the patentability of Artificial Intelligence (AI) inventions from Michael Kiklis L’93, among other featured topics and achievements from the 2022-23 academic year.
Steve Jobs once said, “Innovation is the ability to see change as an opportunity, not a threat.” Through the ILC, we seek to provide students with the knowledge and practical skills to equip them to help move science and technology innovations from ideas to successful marketable products.
As you take the time to learn about the great work our students are doing in the ILC, I hope you are both proud and inspired by their remarkable contributions to this field of law. I look forward to seeing how the Innovation Law Center continues to grow in the years ahead, serving as a job incubator to expand our Orange alumni network.
Go Orange!
Craig M. Boise
Dean and Professor of Law