Cliff Brazen Discusses IP Career in Patent Education Series Q&A

Erise IP associate Cliff Brazen recently discussed his intellectual property career with Patent Education Series and offered up advice for others who are considering a career in IP.

Brazen told Patent Education Series that he began pursuing IP law after realizing an engineering career wasn’t for him. Both of his parents are attorneys and he decided to take an introduction to law class to learn more about their profession and ended up really enjoying it.

“Pretty shortly thereafter I decided on law school,” he said. “At first, because I knew I did not want to be an engineer, I kept my options open and was not committed to IP law from the start. But pretty quickly I learned that IP law let me get the best of both worlds.”

For those considering a career in law, not just IP, Brazen offered up the following, “While money is important, you will be spending a lot of time with your coworkers. For me, it was important that I really enjoyed the people I worked with and that I fit in with the culture. Doing that has definitely had a positive benefit on my mental health and helped me avoid attorney burnout.”