Washington Lawyer interviewed Finnegan partner Mareesa Frederick to discuss her experience navigating the world of intellectual property (IP) law as a Black woman. Mareesa attended George Washington University Law School in which she focused on IP law, recalling that the program “had a fair number of Black students.“ As she moved through her career as an IP attorney, she increasingly noticed the racial and gender inequality that exists in the field:
“When I recognized it, I thought, ’OK, I can be someone to help increase the diversity efforts at these firms...I didn’t let [the disparities] discourage me. A lot of that stems from attending a historically Black college, which gave me a sense of confidence to let me know that I matter.”
She concluded that as one of the few Black attorneys at her law firm, “I will just have to do a great job to show that we can have more.”
At Finnegan, Mareesa has served as partner-in-charge of diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. She noted Finnegan’s successes in a range of diversity initiatives and stated that between July 2019 and July 2020, 92% of the client pitch teams at Finnegan included at least one attorney from a diverse background. She explained:
“More in-house counsel [are] requiring law firms to have more diverse attorneys to work on their clients’ matters...I think in-house counsel are becoming more diverse internally, and they are demanding more of it from their outside counsel. The legal works if becoming more aligned with the world around it. [Companies] want their [legal] teams to represent the demographics of the marketplace.”
