Career series: Laurie Fitzgerald, Avanci
Tell us about the course of your career.
If someone had told me at my law school graduation that in 20 years’ time, I would be working in technology licensing on another continent, I never would have believed them. At that point I was on my way to a US Federal District Court clerkship, followed by a position as a trial lawyer at a Texas-based litigation firm.
I followed that path, gaining invaluable experience in courtrooms all around the US. About a decade in, as is common among lawyers, I developed a niche and expertise in a particular area of the law.
It began with my representation in a worldwide dispute over the licensing of wireless technology patents. I found the subject challenging and fascinating. After almost a decade on the litigation side of patent licensing, I was offered the opportunity to move to the business side. It wasn’t an easy decision to leave my law practice, but in hindsight it was the best career decision I could have made. Today, I am senior vice president at Avanci in Dublin, Ireland. Our mission is to simplify patent licensing for technology owners and Internet of things product companies, minimising the risk of the type of disputes that I focused on while practising law.
What are the best parts about your job?
There is no typical day in my role, and I’m thankful for that!
I work with excellent colleagues and customers who make my job rewarding and exciting. But the best part of my job is the opportunity to build something new. My focus at Avanci is our new licensing program for 5G connected vehicles, which we will announce more about later this year. It is a very exciting time for the company.
What is the most difficult part of your job?
Negotiating the terms of a patent licence is not for the faint of heart. Finding common ground between just a single licensee and single licensor could take months, if not years. At Avanci we have 42 patent owners as licensors and 16 auto brands as licensees. So that’s quite a challenge.
Have you faced any barriers or challenges in your career?
There have been many challenges over the years, but I am fortunate to have a strong support system in my family, mentors, friends, and colleagues. My advice to anyone starting out in their career is to take every bit of help offered to you, e.g., the neighbour who offers to mind your child when a meeting runs late, the co-worker who offers to handle the meeting while you are traveling, and so on. There is no shame in admitting that you cannot do it all. Be kind to yourself.
“Build strong bridges. Listen more than you talk.” - Laurie Fitzgerald, Avanci
What is your biggest achievement?
I could talk about professional accomplishments or reaching personal goals, but what comes to mind first is this: I’ve never lost my sense of humour. Or my sense of adventure. Both have served me well, time and again, at work and in life.
What advice would you give to those looking to pursue a similar career path?
My career advice would be the same regardless of the path. Build strong bridges. Listen more than you talk. Never take yourself too seriously. And remember that your career does not define you.
Who or what inspires you?
My aunt Marilyn. She has just retired from the Montessori school she co-founded in 1977 with just a few students. Over 40 years, thousands of children learned and developed there. What most inspires me is not only that she built a business (starting at a time when young women were not founding businesses at the rate they are today), but that she created an entire community of families and students and alumni who support and care about each other.
What was your most unusual job before becoming an attorney?
I briefly worked in college admissions before law school. It was eye opening to see the other side of a process that was such a mystery to me when I was in the middle of it.
Women in law
What are the major issues facing women in law?
My experience has been that law firms face much higher attrition among women than men at the associate and partner level, which in turn creates an outsized gender gap in the legal profession. This gender gap leads to fewer women who can mentor and act as role models to the women rising in the profession after them, which contributes to the attrition that created the gap in the first place. To address and eventually remedy this cycle, the legal profession needs to address the reasons why women are leaving the law at higher rates than their male colleagues – there are many.
Is the legal profession doing enough to improve gender diversity?
A key driver of gender diversity at law firms has been in-house lawyers who insist upon diverse legal teams for their matters. Those in-house lawyers deserve a great deal of credit for driving change. I think we need more of this.
