Roll the dice: becoming an IP paralegal

This article first appeared in the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys' Journal - June 2025.

 

I had come out of nearly ten years as a legal secretary into a job that, whilst important for me personally as a stepping stone, wasn’t setting me on fire. The one non-negotiable I’d given the very nice recruiter I’d spoken to was that I didn’t want to go back into traditional law. Seeing the firm name in the subject line for the job posting she sent a week or so later, I did what doubtless many people before me have done and thought ‘it’s a law firm’ and politely declined.

 

Luckily for me, this recruiter knew her stuff. She rang me ten minutes later and said ‘But Hannah, I thought you’d jump at that one, it’s perfect for you!’. She convinced me to have the call with the office manager and let him pitch to me why the role wasn’t what I thought it was. The rest as they say is history.

 

Some of the things I heard about IP in my first week in the job have become the touchstones that to my mind set the stall of whether the industry is for you. The key? Whether phrases like ‘You’ll never stop learning’, ‘You’ll never be able to know everything’ and ‘It takes a very long time to master the job’ frighten you or make you excited. After a working life so far where I struggled with boredom within the first year of a role time and time again, I’m definitely the type of odd who is rendered practically giddy by that sort of pitch.

 

I’d also heard repeatedly about difficult personalities, high demands and even higher expectations. This didn’t scare me much. Up to a few years ago I did volunteer work as a falconer with a bird of prey centre. If you can brave all ten pounds of the hungry adult golden eagle sitting on your glove, knowing that his sole demand and expectation of life is that you provide the food or become it – he cares not which – then you can probably go toe to toe with most ‘difficult personalities’ and come away fairly unruffled (pun intended).

 

Three years in, no talon marks (and notably less screeching!) so far.

 

So what’s the difference? What’s the magic ingredient that IP has?

 

I think there are several, in truth, but the one I want to focus on is the attitude to support staff and their work. In my previous roles I had found a culture where support staff weren’t required to have initiative, and it was a nuisance if you dared repeatedly show any. You were there in a strictly limited capacity – don’t think, just stay in your lane.

 

A couple of weeks in my attorney was discussing a client reporting job with me which he did every month. I listened, wondering why on earth he was doing it. It sounded like something I should be handling – he couldn’t charge for it after all. I wondered whether to make the suggestion as I listened, and decided to test the waters. The worst that could happen was what had already happened so many times before, right? Stop engaging your brain, that’s not what you’re paid for.

 

Okay Hannah, roll the dice.

 

Anyone reading who like me has dipped a toe into playing Dungeons and Dragons will recognise this moment. It’s the one when you ask to do something and the DM sits behind their screen grinning like a happy goblin, says something along the lines of ‘You can certainly try…’ and you find yourself suddenly very sure there’s a trap in the floor you hadn’t considered.

 

‘Is this something I could take over doing?’

 

‘Oh – sure! That’d be really helpful.’

 

Wait, what? That’s not how the script usually went.

 

This sounds like a forgettable interaction, but it was the first glimpse I had of what I’ve come to love about IP. The appreciation of initiative, of industry and of capability. The lack of that ‘stay in your lane’ mentality and a grasp of using the skills of your staff to their full potential. It’s allowed me to expand my expectations of what my work was going to look like, and working with people who will allow you to grow and push your capabilities has had a positive impact on my confidence and sense of self. I now have a career, not merely a job. I am really excited about where the next three years will take me, and the three after that.

 

Joining the IP profession might just be my favourite roll yet.