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Instead of sitting on this side of the Court room - whether as a barrister, solicitor, client, or member of the public - have you ever wondered what it would be like to be on the bench? What goes on behind the scenes once the usher closes the door at the end of proceedings? What is the judicial application process in the UK? What are your chances of a successful application if you have a non-traditional background (which in the UK can be taken to mean someone other than a white, male, Oxbridge-educated barrister)? The IPKitten - trying before she buys These questions - and many others - were addressed at Wednesday night's excellent event: "Take your seat at the Bench", organised by ChIPs London Chapter .  The formidable panel of women judges (see below) was introduced by Amy Crouch of host Simmons & Simmons and the discussion moderated with some friendly but pointed questioning from Charlotte May QC.   The panel introduced themselves by explaining their career to da...

Hot on the heels of the ChIPs Global Summit in D.C. a couple of weeks ago (more reports to come), is news of the London Chapter's next event on 14 November 2018 at 6:00 for 6:30PM at Simmons & Simmons  entitled " Take your seat at the bench:  An evening with the IP/Tech Judges ".  In over 10 years of practice, the AmeriKat has only appeared before a woman judge once - a breach of confidence return date. This is not particularly surprising given the stats:  although 68% of law students are women, only just over 20% of High Court judges and 29% of law firm partners are women.  More work needs to be done, but things are changing.  There are an increasing number of women lawyers sitting as judges and hearing a wide breadth of IP and tech cases in the English courts. So how do we get the next wave of women to the bench?  This is the question that the London Chapter of ChIPs will be asking an esteemed panel of women IP/tech judges who have already for...

Add caption The AmeriKat was back in Washington D.C. at the ChIPs Global Summit this week for three days of sessions on technology, law and policy .   This year the theme of the Global Summit is "Exploring New Fronts" covering cutting-edge developments in the law, the shifting regulatory landscape for technology companies, challenges facing general counsel, and diversity and inclusion strategies available. At the heart of ChIPs is its mission statement in increasing diversity and supporting women in these areas for the benefit of all society.  After an introduction from Mallun Yen ( Co-Founder of ChIPs ) (more on that later), Sarita Venkat  ( Director of ServiceNow ) took the stage to expertly chair the first panel of Wednesday on "Technology and Politics:  Take 2" with Jamie Gorelick ( WilmerHale ), Karen Dunn ( Boies Schiller ) and Juleanna Glover ( RidgelyWalsh ).  The opinions expressed by the panel were their own personal views, not of their firms...