To reach the top in IP, employ yourself

One reason why many capable and ambitious IP practitioners prefer to plough their lonely furrow is that promotion to partnership in larger firms seems to be, statisically, an increasingly unlikely event. A descriptively-titled piece by Ben Moshinsky in last week's The Lawyer, "IP and TMT associates left behind in a promotion round to forget", says it all. This seems to be the case not just for firms that see IP as a minority activity but for practices that seemingly have IP at their very core. Lateral hires are apparently preferred ...