In the Spring 2023 semester, the College of Law welcomed Professor of Practice and Faculty Director of Externships Kristin Walker L’09 to the faculty. Walker, who served as an adjunct for four years, returns to her alma mater in a full-time capacity to teach transactional drafting and advanced litigation among other courses and the externship seminar.
Starting in the Fall 2023 semester, leading expert on civil procedure, civil rights litigation and disability law Katherine A. Macfarlane will join the faculty as Associate Professor of Law and Director of the College’s Disability Law and Policy Program.
Meet the Professors
Kristin Walker L’09
Why did you go to law school?
As an undergraduate at Villanova University, I enrolled in a Business Law course taught by a practicing attorney. At the time, I was pursuing a career in journalism. However, due to market changes and this professor’s energetic, practical teaching style, my pursuits shifted in the direction of law.
What inspired you to progress from an Adjunct Professor to a Professor of Practice and Faculty Director of Externships?
Teaching allows me to channel my practical knowledge into the classroom to bring legal theory to life. Having taught as an adjunct professor for four years while practicing full-time, I knew that teaching was my passion. As I was already teaching courses and externship seminars as an adjunct professor, it was a rather seamless transition into my full-time faculty role as Professor of Practice and Faculty Director of Externships.
Did you ever envision yourself in front of the classroom while a student at the College of Law?
I have always had an inclination to teach, whether it was equestrian sports, fitness disciplines, or law. I believe my desire to teach my profession was inspired by my father, now a Professor Emeritus of his own profession. Despite my awareness of this inclination, however, I will always remember my first day of teaching a law school class.
What interests do you have outside of the classroom?
Outside the classroom, I am a certified fitness trainer in the disciplines of TRX and STOTT Pilates Reformer and am a student of classical piano. I am drawn to entrepreneurial pursuits, all things nature and animals, and entertaining family and friends.
Katherine A. Macfarlane
Why did you go to law school?
I always wanted to be a lawyer. As a young person, I was inspired by civil rights movements and wanted to fight for civil rights.
What is the most important aspect of the law that students should know?
You can both love the law and recognize (and try to change) the injustice in our legal systems.
What interests do you have outside of the classroom?
I love swimming, catching a matinee, and spending time with my dog Cooper. I lived in Italy as a kid and am very happy whenever a margherita pizza makes an appearance in my life.
What are you most looking forward to this fall as you join the College of Law?
I am thrilled to be joining a law school that is committed to supporting people with disabilities. And I can’t wait to meet our students!
Innovation Law Center Recognized by Bloomberg Law’s Law School Innovation Program
The ILC has been designated a top-scoring program in the Innovation and Experience category of Bloomberg Law’s inaugural Law School Innovation Program.
ILC students work with Syracuse University engineering and business school students, advise clients on their intellectual property, and deliver regulatory, patent, and market research to support the commercialization of new technologies. ILC faculty conduct classes on bringing technologies to market, and related legal fields. The program provides extensive hands-on learning opportunities for students to guide real clients on new technologies. ILC clients include both start-ups and established companies, as well as several university tech transfer offices.
This experiential, interdisciplinary education prepares College of Law students for careers in IP law, technology, and the innovation ecosystem. Recognized as the sole New York State Science & Technology Law Center, the ILC delivers critical economic development support across the State of New York.
“The College of Law is honored to be recognized by Bloomberg Law in the field of legal experiential education,” says College of Law Dean Craig M. Boise. “The Innovation Law Center pioneered the educational field of technology commercialization law 30 years ago and continues to expand educational options and opportunities for its students and deliver vital research to its clients.”
“What is special about the ILC is that the work conducted by the Center benefits so many people and organizations. Our students receive invaluable experience working with real clients that positively position them for success in the job market. Our clients benefit from important research that guides them through the commercialization process and mitigates risk during the critical early stages of funding. The ILC’s high placement rate, reflecting our track record of converting student experiences into employment successes, is one of our proudest measures.”Brian Gerling L’99, Executive Director of the ILC
First Cohort of Students Enrolled in Graduate Level Certificate of Advanced Study (CAS) in Technology Law and Entrepreneurship Graduate
Three of the first cohort of six students enrolled to receive the Certificate of Advanced Study in Technology Law & Entrepreneurship (CASTLE) graduated this May from the College of Law.
A new partnership between the College of Law and Martin J. Whitman School of Management, the program leverages areas of strength at each of the schools that equip students with an advanced, marketable designation as they seek careers at the intersection of law, business management, and technology.
“The CASTLE partnership has allowed me to gain broad exposure to innovative and unique topics,” said 2L Patrick Mullery. “It has been a great opportunity to learn from and expand my network of, peers and professors with a variety of backgrounds. I hope to engage with entrepreneurs in the future—and this partnership has pointed me in the right direction.”
2L Michael Ortizo explains, “Coming from a non-business and non-STEM undergraduate background, the CASTLE Program has allowed me to explore my recent interest in the intellectual property and business world. In addition, it has given me the opportunity to network at a deeper level with entrepreneurs at the Whitman School of Management.”
The ILC is seeking to expand this partnership program in the future to other graduate-level students across the Syracuse University campus.
Innovation Law Center Launches 4th Year Program Residency Position
New this year, the ILC launched a 4th-year Program Residency position available to recent College of Law graduates. This one-year, full-time position provides students with an opportunity to gain real-world experience that they can use as a springboard for future careers at a law firm, industry, start-up, or however they choose.
Positioning the ILC as a job incubator, this Program Residency position is mainly available to students who participate in the ILC during their time at the College of Law. The first graduate to hold the position is Penny Quinteros L’23.
“This is a phenomenal opportunity for law students to get experience after graduation. The intersection of technology and the law impacts so many industries and fields that the position really allows for wide-ranging opportunities. Intellectual property is very important to the national security realm which is a personal focus for me. This position offered me the flexibility to be able to research and write on that topic while getting the hands-on experience necessary to succeed in a technology-focused law practice.” Penny Quinteros L’23
With Quinteros on the team, the ILC is now nimbler and has expanded its offering to clients to provide reports in a much shorter timeframe than ever before. The goal of the job incubator is to broaden opportunities for students as well as generate additional revenues that can then be reinvested into the program for future growth.
A Class of 2023 law student draws on her undergraduate STEM degree to help entrepreneurs bring ideas to market as a legal professional.
Some people spend years deciding what to do with their lives. Cecily Capo L’23, knew in an instant.
It was the spring of 2021, and, like most college students at the time, Capo was trying to make the most of remote learning. Truth be told, she felt listless, disconnected from her law studies.
Salvation came in the form of a virtual open house for Syracuse’s Innovation Law Center (ILC), an experiential learning program for students interested in technology commercialization. One of the presenters was a silver-tongued attorney named Jack Rudnick L’73, the face of the 30-year-old center for more than a decade.
“Professor Rudnick talked about the kind of work that the ILC does—intellectual property as well as market and regulatory research for clients—and how it could propel my career in a new direction,” recalls the Cazenovia resident, who earned a bachelor’s degree in environmental science from the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY-ESF). “But what really surprised me was how many ILC students had science backgrounds. That flipped a switch in me.”
A respected startup consultant, Rudnick convinced Capo of her own potential. He told her that in addition to interfacing with new and emerging technologies, she could draw on her scientific knowledge to help ILC clients—from federal laboratories and other universities to tech startups and blue-chip companies.
Moreover, her undergraduate focus on health and the environment could pay off for her down the road, given that the legal profession and science and technology overlap more and more.
“I knew that the ILC was where I needed to be. I couldn’t wait to get started.”Cecily Capo L’23
Today’s Trend, Tomorrow’s Disruptor
In her third year, Capo was a senior research associate at the ILC, where she helped innovators and entrepreneurs bring ideas to market. Most of her work focused on the legal, business, and technical aspects of product development, all of which comprise the growing field of technology commercialization law.
Supervised by one or more faculty experts, Capo handled about a dozen ILC clients a year. Many of them were early-stage tech companies looking to capitalize on the post-pandemic job boom.
As the legal profession becomes more data- and tech-driven, students like Capo can benefit ILC clients and peers alike. “Cecily’s background and time in the ILC gives her a unique understanding of our clients’ technologies and their desire to monetize a particular technology,” says Brian J. Gerling L’99, who recently succeeded Rudnick as the ILC’s executive director. “Cecily also has learned valuable practical skills that she can carry forward in her practice.”
Capo believes that the pandemic has changed how people think about work and technology. “Even if a client isn’t at the forefront of their respective field, tech can play an important role in growing their company,” she says, adding that today’s small business trend can quickly become tomorrow’s disruptor.
She has lent her expertise to all kinds of projects, from a nonsurgical solution for sleep apnea patients to an eco-friendly water filtration system to an image-transfer device for smartphones and TVs.
Most of Capo’s jobs spanned several months and culminated with a detailed landscape report in which she and her peers made recommendations to the client about the technology in question. Incredibly, they could do this for little or no cost, due in part to the ILC’s designation—and funding—as the New York State Science and Technology Law Center.
“We help clients figure out the next steps,” says Rudnick, the ILC’s senior advisor and professor of practice. “If their technology makes sense, we advise them to contact a patent attorney. If it doesn’t, we encourage them to go back to the drawing board.”
A Seamless Transition
To keep pace with demand, ILC enrollment has more than doubled in the past year under Gerling’s vision and management. Capo was a part of a 24-person cohort made up mostly of law students, along with a few graduate students from the Martin J. Whitman School of Management and the College of Engineering and Computer Science.
“Our clients need people who can break down complex systems, recognize cause and effect relationships, and draw conclusions from research,” Capo says. “Oftentimes we tell them what they don’t want to hear.”
Lawyers at Bond, Schoeneck & King agree, as they have a job waiting for her after graduation. As a member of the firm’s intellectual property (IP) team, Capo will draw on her ILC experience to advise university spinouts, entrepreneurial start-ups, and blue-chip tech companies.
“Bond has an amazing track record of helping clients with patents and trademark registrations,” says Capo of the Syracuse-based law firm, which has offices up and down the East Coast. “My team also works high-profile cases involving patent and trademark infringement, unfair competition, and trade secrets.”
Capo will be in good company. Many of her future coworkers—patent attorneys and IP lawyers, mostly—have bachelors or advanced degrees in biology, chemistry, physics, and engineering.
“I anticipate a seamless transition,” says Capo, who currently spends one day a week at Bond in preparation for her new job. “Syracuse has prepared me well.”
Compassionate Professionalism
It was quite a leap from SUNY-ESF, where an elective in environmental law and policy forced Capo to rethink her career plans.
“Science can be black and white and have only one right answer. But with law, you can argue both sides. Sometimes the answer lies in how you present your case,” she continues.
It wasn’t until after SUNY-ESF, however, that Capo considered going to law school. A postgraduate internship with William Sawyer, a local forensic toxicologist who serves as an expert witness in the Monsanto Roundup lawsuits, helped her connect the dots between law and STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math).
Poring over Sawyer’s depositions, Capo was struck by their similarities with STEM research papers. She noticed that both followed the logic and structure of rules-driven writing.
“By then, the qualities of scientific writing had been drilled into me—clarity, cohesion, precision,” Capo continues. “Whether you’re a biologist or a lawyer, the rules of good writing apply.”
Case in point: Laura Lape and Rakesh Anand, who respectively teach IP law and constitutional law, are among Capo’s favorite professors. “They’ve taught me to think, read and write like an attorney—something I couldn’t have done without my STEM training,” admits Capo, who was the editor-in-chief of the Syracuse Journal of Science and Technology Law and secretary of the Intellectual Property Law Society.
Rudnick points to Capo’s involvement with the University’s Transactional Law Clinic, which provides legal services to small businesses, entrepreneurs, and startups, as proof of her compassionate professionalism, that she leads from her head and her heart.
“I’ve always been into giving back,” says Capo, who co-founded SUNY-ESF’s first food pantry and has volunteered for the Samaritan Center. “At Syracuse, I’m doing it on a bigger scale and, in the process, hopefully making a difference.”
It’s not just the law that draws students to the Innovation Law Center (ILC) at the College of Law. It’s the chance to apply the law to help others bring transformative ideas and inventions to life. “You’re working to create value for a company, for people, for yourself,” says Jack Rudnick L’73 who recently retired after directing the ILC for more than a decade.
Founded more than 30 years ago, the ILC was among the first experiential learning programs in the nation to teach intellectual property law by providing students opportunities to work with clients bringing a new technology to market. The commercialization process requires an innovation ecosystem, and students in the ILC become part of it, says Molly C. Zimmermann, managing director of the ILC-affiliated New York State Science & Technology Law Center.
“Technology commercialization takes a village. In addition to applying the law, you have to learn to make connections and access resources. Jack was all about that. He showed his students how to become part of the village to move a great idea from invention to innovation.”
“Innovation is not invention,” says Rudnick. “People misuse those terms all the time. Innovation is taking an invention and commercializing it, making money on it.” That process requires an understanding of the law and how to practice it in real life. And that’s what Jack Rudnick brought to the ILC when he started teaching and ultimately directing the program in 2013. “It was very academic at the time,” says Rudnick, who had taken his law degree from Syracuse in 1973 and spent four decades advising inventive companies like Welch Allyn and Blue Highway. When Rudnick signed on to teach at his alma mater, he became a most practical Professor of Practice.
The ILC program, which was first known as the Technology Commercialization Law Program, was founded in 1990 by Professor Ted Hagelin, a widely respected thought leader in the field. “Jack would say ‘Ted wrote the book, I lived the book,’” says Zimmermann. With decades of field experience under his belt, Rudnick shaped the ILC program to become a world-class resource for start-ups throughout the state of New York and beyond, with students helping hundreds of companies move through the commercialization process.
“We went from six projects to 60 projects that first year,” recalls Rudnick of the year he took the helm. “I wanted to show the students what it was really like in real life to multi-task and work hard and help people turn ideas into marketable and beneficial products.”
“Jack’s major contribution—and it’s a very significant one—was the change in the focus of the center,” says Christian “Chris” Day, professor of law emeritus. “He came with so much practical experience and it tremendously enhanced the student experience.”
Together, Day and Rudnick taught a first-of-its-kind general counsel course which was also steeped in practical learning. “We brought in a real galaxy of corporate attorneys to teach the course and challenge the students to come up with solutions to real-life problems faced by general counsels: employment problems, technology problems, intellectual property problems, and HR problems. The solutions are not just legal solutions.”
Similarly, Rudnick brought in an eclectic group of adjuncts to teach in the ILC, including scientists and engineers, a “wonderful mix of talent and a real gift to the law school,” says Day.
One of them is Dominick Danna ’67, ’71, who graduated from Syracuse University with degrees in chemistry and electrical engineering and brought decades of engineering experience in which he earned 36 patents to the classroom. Danna’s credentials are stellar and unique: He was a 1994 recipient of the prestigious Holley Medal from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) awarded for “outstanding and unique act(s) of an engineering nature, accomplishing a noteworthy and timely public benefit.”
Danna and Rudnick met at Welch Allyn. Danna was in research and development. Rudnick was the corporate lawyer. They interfaced on lawsuits, taking on international companies to protect their inventions and figuring out creative ways to patent ideas for multiple uses and diverse industries. Today, Danna not only teaches in the law school; he teaches a course in the engineering school. “When I first started working as an engineer, I knew nothing about patents and contracts. I wish I did have that knowledge. It’s essential to know about ethics and contracts and patents and intellectual property.”
The interdisciplinary nature of the technology commercialization process is what attracts students from diverse backgrounds to the ILC. “Currently, one of our students is a French major; another is political science; they come from all over the country, and what they learn is to not be afraid of technology,” says Danna.
“The ILC worked for me because I was always a bit of a square peg in a round hole,” says Garin Murphy, who graduated in 2015 and is now Chief Business Officer and General Counsel at Orange Grove Bio, an early-stage biotech company creation and venture capital firm. “I grew up in an entrepreneurial family. My father was an engineer who became an entrepreneur, so I entered the law school with a business-focused lens, thinking I could focus on this skillset from the outset,” says Murphy. “Honestly, law school was initially disappointing because you were required to take a lot of courses as an entry point to the law, like torts and criminal law. During my 1L year, I questioned whether I should even be there. Then I met Jack and the light bulb went on. He changed the entire trajectory of my experience.”
Murphy says the normal course of law school studies can be a rather lonely experience for many students: “You’re very much on your own.” Zimmermann agrees: “A lot of law students find the experience isolating. Jack brought the ILC students on field trips, introduced them to experts, and organized social events which built connections. Learning from others—that’s Jack’s legacy. It was really energizing for them.”
Kaitlin Crobar L’21 recalls feeling bad for one of her law school peers who “just studied, studied, studied and didn’t even watch TV” whereas she, as an ILC student “worked with 20 different companies, engaging with other students and people outside the law school. We had so many more opportunities than other students because of Jack’s connections and approach.”
Rudnick truly took a personal interest in the success of his students and, for some, that was critical to building their confidence, a necessary quality for getting through law school and beyond.
“I was a non-traditional law student and had a rough time my first year,” says Heather Roark-Parker L’16, who came into law school with a background in biology and biotechnology. “Science came easy to me, but this was a whole new thing. Jack gave me the confidence that even though I might not excel in an academic area of the law, he knew what I needed to excel in the practical world. He basically convinced me that I wasn’t wasting three years of my life in law school!”
Though certainly the ILC students master the relevant legal knowledge governing patents and intellectual property, they also become incredibly proficient at researching, marketing, business writing, and communicating—factors critical to commercializing a product.
“You need that 360-degree approach in business, covering intellectual property, financing, market research, customer analysis,” says Murphy. “Ideas are a dime a dozen, but it’s the ability to execute on the idea that determines success. Many scientists and academics aren’t skilled at explaining exactly what they do. They like to live in that comfortable space in their head where the idea sits. That space between vision and reality is dangerous.”
Rudnick taught his students how to build that bridge between vision and reality for clients. They did the research and the work to determine if there was a market for their idea, what the competition was, how to explain it to potential funders in simple terms, and how to pivot from one idea to another if necessary.
“Nobody wants to hear their (tech) baby’s ugly or that their dog won’t hunt,” says Murphy, citing what his students call “Jackisms.”
“There was a lot of conversation when we had to tell clients their invention wasn’t likely to work, either because there were already active patents, or the regulatory requirements were prohibitive,” says Roark-Parker. “Jack encouraged us to confront the client with all the hurdles they would face, along with the opportunities.”
“When you deliver any message, it’s 10% the message, 50% body language, and the rest is in your tone,” says Murphy. “Jack taught us how to deliver a message in a palatable way.”
Rudnick says ILC graduates are “excellent communicators who form great interpersonal relationships. They can work with anybody and everybody. We had several individuals and companies come to us with a great idea. We showed them why it wouldn’t work, and how to pivot and move their invention forward in a different way.”
Crobar says she uses these skills daily as Innovation Commercialization Manager at the Zucker Institute for Innovation Commercialization in Charleston, SC. “We have researchers that do amazing work but if they publish early—and there’s intense pressure in academia to publish—they risk losing the chance to patent it. We help them figure out how to structure their research around ‘prior art,’ determine when to file for a patent, assist in obtaining monetary grants and investment to help pay for their research, and build a commercial plan that helps create value in their research innovations. And if we have to tell them ‘their baby is ugly,’ we explain the how, what, where, when, and why. Why there is no commercial path forward. How can we create value from where we are now? What can we find that they didn’t disclose in their published research or can we patent it for another disease or indication?”
ILC students are taught to figure out how to support inventors to succeed in the innovation ecosystem rather than “saying ‘no’.” “Jack was always client first,” says Roark-Parker. “He would go above and beyond for clients and remind us that no matter how much time it took, we should do it to benefit the clients.”
“A lawyer should avoid saying no,” says Danna. “In the engineering world, if you say you can’t do something, you won’t last long.” Rudnick taught his students how to “de-risk” ideas and be creative.
“You don’t do this alone. You do it together as a team with inventors, engineers, and others,” says Rudnick. “You will not be the sales prevention department. You’re not going to say ‘no.’ You’re going to say ‘how.’”
In cases where the students determined that a great idea just couldn’t be commercialized, Rudnick taught them how to help the clients “pivot and take inventions on a different path.” He recalls the case of an inventor who developed software for a drone to assess weather-related damage to roofing. The ILC students determined through a patent search that other companies had active patents and contracts with insurance companies to do the same thing. He recalled that when the students delivered the news, the client was bereft. But two weeks later, she came back with a new idea—to use the software for the placement of solar panels.
The invention became a successful innovation and spawned a company that is still in business today.
Rudnick’s kindness and generosity of time and spirit are cited by colleagues and students alike. “Commercialization can be cutthroat and competitive,” says Danna. “Under Jack’s leadership, I’ve never seen a dissatisfied client, even when we give them bad news.” “Jack is a very honest and honorable man,” says Day. “He’s a good model of what a good lawyer should be.”
“Not only did Jack help prepare students for the practice of law, but he mentored them to be good people,” says Brian Gerling L’99, who was invited by Rudnick to be an adjunct professor in the ILC and to succeed him as executive director in 2021. Gerling brought decades of experience in private practice in commercial and intellectual litigation to the classroom.
“Jack was a great steward of the program, particularly when it came to the resources provided to the program by New York State. I have big shoes to fill succeeding Jack, but he was a great mentor to me as well. Jack also taught that it wasn’t enough to be a good lawyer, and he gave his students advice on how to marry those two concepts—good lawyer and good people—imparting social and moral responsibilities to the students. They graduate inspired to make the world a better place.” Brian Gerling L’99
And they graduate with jobs—even before diplomas are in hand or the bar exam is passed. ILC students have a 100% job placement rate in the very careers they dreamed about. Sometimes career connections were made because of Rudnick’s vast network. Sometimes it was simply the reputation of the ILC. Danna recalls one student who was competing with students from Harvard and MIT for a job at a prominent Boston hospital. “The interviewer just wanted to know about the ILC coursework,” says Danna. The student got the job and started working before he took his bar exam.
“It’s a job course,” says Rudnick (another Jackism!). “When you come out of this course, you’re going to get a job. My students are really hard-working. They are smart, practical, and willing-to-dig-in-and-get-dirty-kids.”
And when they become successful, they pay it forward and reach back to help other students in the ILC. “I hire almost exclusively out of the program,” says Murphy. “I like to get interns or externs to engage with the management team, and I seek out the top students to work for my company. They’ve all been taught how to think differently, and that’s really important.”
Though retired as its director, Rudnick remains a senior advisor to the ILC, still connecting students to potential job opportunities, consulting with start-up companies, and contributing to the innovation ecosystem, ensuring that the “village that Jack built” is continuously expanding to help inventors, entrepreneurs, and companies turn ideas into solutions and accelerate innovation.
Jack Rudnick, left, received the George R. Burman Award for Entrepreneurial Leadership from the Whitman School of Management in 2016. Terry Brown, executive director of the Falcone Center for Entrepreneurship, presented him with the award.
At the Innovation Law Center (ILC), creating student opportunities is the primary metric for measuring success, according to Executive Director and Professor of Practice, Brian J. Gerling, L’99 . ILC students prepare reports for entrepreneurs developing new technologies and assist with their commercialization goals. The ILC creates valuable experiential learning opportunities that lead to job success for graduates of the Center. Recently Bloomberg Law recognized this success by identifying the ILC as a top program for Innovation and Experience. This success creates opportunities for students and helps drive the ILC’s mission of not only providing its students with a well-rounded education but also local, regional, and national economic development through support for technological innovation.
ILC students visit NextCorps, a non-profit business incubator in Rochester NY. The students toured the NextCorps Center and presented to entrepreneurs on the services ILC can provide.
The Importance of the Innovation Law Center’s Mission
The ILC provides access to legal research and commercialization knowledge to entrepreneurial inventors in the community. The importance of this type of early-stage due diligence cannot be overstated. Students at the ILC research various intellectual property protections, market information, the regulatory landscape, and the corporate or legal structure of the entity on behalf of inventors. Generally, entrepreneurial inventors will develop their technologies over months or years before determining if they are capable of intellectual property protection or if the technology will have a market. The ILC process can help significantly speed up this timeframe.
To receive a patent, an invention must be of eligible subject matter, useful, novel, and non-obvious. While the eligible subject matter and usefulness requirements are typically easy to meet, the novelty and non-obvious sections can often be difficult to satisfy because of, for instance, competitor patents in the field. These outcomes can sometimes turn on subtle technological differences.
While the ILC does not practice law, an ILC report helps the entrepreneur decide early in the process if they want to continue developing their idea, or if they need to pivot because their invention has patent challenges. The report provides an in-depth analysis of the prior art—publicly available information that predates the client’s invention—to help the entrepreneur navigate such obstacles. It also helps the client decide if a patent is the appropriate goal for protecting their intellectual property. Perhaps other IP options like Copyright, Trademark, or Trade Secret protection are better avenues for protecting a particular technology. And if a particular technology is regulated, the report will outline the applicable regulatory process for the invention and also discuss possible licensing options. These determinations potentially save years of development time and money. Equally important to the entrepreneur is that the report guides the early-stage inventor on how to bring an invention to the market. In addition to discussing a path for securing intellectual property protection for a given technology, the report provides a complete market research section that facilitates the best market strategies to commercialize the technology.
For instance, Joe Caspar and Chris Nolan, co-founders of M3 Innovations, a lighting technology company, recently praised the ILC by saying,
“Working with the Innovation Law Center has really helped our company grow significantly. We struggled when we started. There are some challenges with intellectual property: it’s a slow process; it translates to a huge expense; and it can be difficult to defend. [We partnered with the] ILC last summer, and we can’t say enough good things about it. It was a huge success. The students had a broader perspective that made filing the patent much faster. This is the most fast-track patent we ever filed, and it’s a stronger patent. We were able to secure a purchase order of $709,000 almost immediately because of the work of the Innovation Law Center.” Joe Caspar and Chris Nolan, co-founders of M3 Innovations
The Essential Work of the Innovation Law Center Is Recognized
Bloomberg Law recently recognized the College of Law’s ILC program as one of the top 10 legal programs for Innovation and Experience. This category identifies legal programs that advance new approaches to student instruction, legal technology, experiential learning, and advancing other areas of legal education. The ILC program competed with the likes of Stanford Law, Duke Law, and other peer schools, and was recognized for its innovative approach to law school pedagogy.
“The College of Law is honored to be recognized by Bloomberg Law in the field of legal experiential education,” said College of Law Dean Craig M. Boise in acknowledging the accolades. “The Innovation Law Center pioneered the educational field of technology commercialization law 30 years ago and continues to expand educational options and opportunities for its students and deliver vital research to its clients.”
More recognition comes from the success the ILC has in working with various partners. For example, the ILC is the only designated New York State Science & Technology Law Center (NYS STLC) for the Empire State Development’s Division of Science, Technology, and Innovation (NYSTAR). The ILC is now in its fifth five-year grant cycle from NYSTAR indicating a long tradition of serving the innovation ecosystem in New York. These grants allow the ILC to serve as a state-wide resource to early-stage technology companies, and they, in turn, help fuel local and statewide growth of industry. The ILC further supports economic development in the community by publishing the Innovation Review, periodic newsletter, guidebooks, and by hosting and/or attending conferences promoting its customized research.
Nick Conn, Founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Casana, offered admiration for the ILC. “A resource like the ILC that provides early-stage research information and education to startups without charge is crucial research for early-stage companies seeking to commercialize a new technology in New York State. The faculty and students involved in the project exceeded our expectations, and the final research reports provided a good understanding of the prior art and regulatory landscapes. I am happy to report that Casana has achieved a number of promising commercialization milestones, including raising a $30m Series B round of funding in January of 2022.”
The Innovation Law Center is Growing Opportunities for Students
The ILC continues to add opportunities for students. The ILC has been developing a residency program for recently graduated law students to hone their knowledge of technology, law, and entrepreneurship. The residency program is designed to provide both academic opportunities and hands-on work experience. Further, Law 815, the primary class for students in the ILC, has more than doubled in size from 12 to 26 students. Additionally, the ILC hires many of its students into key ILC positions, such as Senior Research Associates, Special Project Consultants, and Summer Program positions, which further enhances the experiential learning students need to be successful.
Recently, the ILC partnered with the Martin J. Whitman School of Management (pictured below) to launch the Certificate of Advanced Studies in Technology Law and Entrepreneurship (“CASTLE”) program. The CASTLE program is recognized by New York State as a stand-alone educational certificate and integrates business, entrepreneurship, and law in a transdisciplinary approach to technology, entrepreneurship, and commercialization. The program serves as the connective tissue between business, science, engineering, and legal studies. It consists of a minimum of 12 credits, including a foundational course in entrepreneurship offered at the School of Management, while Law 815 is the capstone course at the College of Law. This CAS is another honor students can earn to better position themselves in the job market. Importantly, the opportunity is open not only to Law and Management students, but purposefully available to all graduate students and professional students at Syracuse University, State University of New York (SUNY) College of Environmental Science and Forestry, and SUNY Upstate Medical University, who seek to master the basics of the technology commercialization process and/or translational research.
The ILC is partnering with Syracuse University’s Office of Technology Transfer (OTT) to, among other things, develop a liaison program that will benefit law students and University faculty, alike. “Bringing the ILC and the OTT together will directly benefit the University by accelerating our technology transfer and commercialization processes and enabling law students to work with technologies and clients from within our campus,” says Duncan Brown, Vice President for Research at Syracuse University. The move allows Syracuse University to rely on the expertise, resources, and infrastructure of the ILC to more efficiently bring innovative technologies from development to the market.
The Innovation Law Center Measures Success on Student Outcomes
Unlike other law school courses that focus on traditional doctrinal legal training, the ILC provides valuable experiential learning opportunities that lead to job success. The ILC program provides students with the opportunity to hone the practical skills they will need to carry with them into their practice. It has a history of placing an extremely high percentage of the students that come through its doors with employers. Such employers include some of the top innovative companies that have worked with the ILC such as Welch Allyn (now Baxter Healthcare) and Regeneron, venture capital-backed companies such as Orange Grove Biosciences, as well as institutes of higher education such as SUNY Upstate Medical University, Clarkson University, and Cornell University. Recent graduate Chris Henley L’22 says, “Because of the experiences that I had in the ILC, I was hired at the Harvard-affiliated Children’s Hospital in Boston. All the questions they asked me during the interview were things I had learned and done in the Center.”
As a former student in the ILC program when it was the Technology Law Commercialization Program under its founder Professor Ted Hagelin, and now as the Executive Director, Professor Gerling can fondly remark,
“What is special about the ILC is two-fold. One, our clients benefit from important research and analysis that guides them through the critical early stages of the commercialization process and serves to mitigate risk. Our services benefit so many people and organizations throughout the innovation economy in New York state and across the country. And two, our students receive vital practical experience working with real clients who are looking for real solutions, and that experience positions them for success in the job market. The ILC’s high placement rate, reflecting our track record of converting student experiences into employment successes, is one of our proudest measures.” Professor of Practice, Brian J. Gerling, L’99
Nick Somers L’16, Patent Attorney and Partner at Lee & Hayes, visited with ILC students and faculty. Somers shared how he helps large technology companies protect their patents and how his time at the New York State Science & Technology Law Center at the College of Law helped shape his career path.
A Constitutional Law book owned by Robert E. Dineen L’1924 (the father of Robert E. Dineen Jr. L’66, Carolyn Dineen King, and Kathryn Dineen Wriston who made the naming gift of Dineen Hall in their parent’s honor) was recently donated to the College of Law’s Library. The book was purchased from a local bookseller by Tammy Alvarez, secretary to the Hon. Theodore H. Limpert L’88 who arranged for the donation through Betty and Michael D. Wohl Veterans Legal Clinic Executive Director Beth Kubala.
“What an intriguing find!” says Law Library Director Jan Fleckenstein G’84, G’86, L’11. “In the Law Library we often showcase particular alumni, and we try to include books that would have been in the library collection when those alumni were students, but so far as I know we’ve never been able to display a book that we know was owned and used by an alumnus of that era, almost 100 years ago.”
She continues, “Many thanks to Ms. Alvarez for discovering the volume and to Judge Limpert for noticing the name and coordinating the donation with Professor Kubala.”
The book is “The General Principles of Constitutional Law in the United States of America, Third Edition” by Thomas M. Cooley LL.D. and Andrew C. McLaughlin A.M., LL.B., printed in 1898.
The inscription on the front inside cover has Dineen’s name, address, and class year.
The book is housed in the Peter Herzog L’55 and Brigitte Herzog L’75 Special Collections room.
Clockwise from top left: inscription by Robert E. Dineen L’1924; the book’s title page; the Hon. Theodore Limpert L’88, Tammy Alvarez, Law Library Director Jan Fleckenstein G’84, G’86, L’11; Judge Limpert; Fleckenstein, JudgeLimpert, and Alvarez view Judge Limpert’s class composite.
Robert J. Weiner G’99, Law Library Electronic Services Librarian, has been awarded a Dean’s Commendation by Dean of SU Libraries David Seaman. This award recognizes Libraries employees who have gone above and beyond their normal responsibilities during the year and who have made an extraordinary and noticeable contribution to the SU Libraries.
Nominated for his exemplary work in designing and building a completely new website for the College of Law Library during the Summer and Fall of 2022 in addition to his regular duties, Weiner created a website that meets the Law Library’s needs for ease of use and interoperability by utilizing his expertise in legal research and instruction, faculty liaison services, and electronic resources management. The new website is an effective way to deliver legal research resources to Law Library users.
“The result of Bob’s work is that Law Library collections and services are clearly presented to Law Library users within the College of Law, across the University, and around the world,” says Law Library Director Jan Fleckenstein G’84, G’86, L’11. “The Law Library’s new website is clean, clear, attractive, and accessible. It is easy to navigate and easy for legal researchers to use.”
Weiner was presented with the Dean’s Commendation at an SU Libraries all-staff event on April 25.
Crandall Melvin Professor of Law and Director of the Syracuse Intellectual Property Law Institute Shubha Ghosh spoke with Bloomberg Law News for their article “AI-Faked Drake, The Weeknd Song Amps Music Industry’s IP Alarm.”
Ghosh discussed concerns related to Artificial Intelligence (AI) and music copyright as the U.S. Copyright Office has not provided copyright protection to works entirely generated by AI. “In the Copyright Office’s view, it’s a bit like the photographer: Are you just pushing the button, or are you adding other inputs like framing the photo.”
Jeremy Gurgis, a three-year student employee at the Law Library, has been awarded a Kathy and Stanley Walters Student Employee Scholarship for his outstanding service to the SU Libraries. This award recognizes student employees who have demonstrated dedicated service over time and significant contributions that have made a lasting impact on the SU Libraries.
Gurgis joined the Law Library during his 1L year, working at the Circulation Desk, using his expertise to help his fellow law students access the Law Library’s collections and services. “Jeremy exemplifies the value that student employees add to Law Library services,” says Law Library Director Jan Fleckenstein G’84, G’86, L’11. “He has always gone ‘above and beyond’ to help his fellow law students and to support the work of our Law Librarians and staff. We are delighted to see his dedication to the Law Library and the College of Law recognized across the campus.”
The Kathy and Stanley Walters Student Employee Scholarship Awards are generously supported by Kathy and Stanley Walters, the family of Patricia Kutner Strait, and the many donors to the SU Libraries Dean’s Fund.
In looking at the impact of reversing Chevron and years of precedent, Driesen says, “There can be wild changes in what agencies do based on nothing more than an election, so you just don’t get any continuity.”
