Life at MBHB

SUPPORTING INNOVATION IS OUR PASSION.
At MBHB, practitioners use their scientific backgrounds to help individual inventors, startups and fortune 500 companies protect their most exciting innovations.

Join MBHB and discover an environment unknown at many law firms. Learn from – and educate – your colleagues, and
become friends with your fellow professionals. Our positive, respectful culture imparts a special collegiality at MBHB.

We’re adaptable and we appreciate an environment that’s constantly changing – one of our attorneys might work on an
application for a medical device and take a deposition for software patent litigation in the same week. Emphasizing a
true team-based culture, our professionals are enthusiastic, motivated, and have a client-focused work ethic. We genuinely enjoy coming to work every day.

Impassioned with a love of intellectual property law, we thrive on the diversity of our clients’ portfolios – ranging from
blockbuster drugs to electronic trading platforms. We like the challenge of helping an early-stage company launch a new
product, and are just as comfortable working with an established corporation’s extensive portfolio, developed over decades.

We encourage an entrepreneurial spirit. Attorneys are expected to handle their client relationships and firm responsibilities effectively and efficiently, managing their time to fit their schedules and our clients’ needs. This means that associates are advised to manage their workload effectively, take time off as necessary, and plan vacations responsibly.

MBHB’s open-door policy encourages attorneys of all levels to work together for the best interests of the client. Our collaborative environment helps our attorneys achieve these goals by fostering teamwork and shared responsibilities.

We know you have responsibilities outside of work, too. Our attorneys may develop a reduced annual billable hour goal based on approval from our Management Board. We also offer a generous maternity and paternity leave policy.

We offer our professionals the opportunity to take on the types of work that interest them most. Our assignment system allows them to develop relationships with partners and clients in the technology fields of their choice. As associates develop their practices, our mentoring program helps them to grow into the attorney they want to be.

Understand your chosen career with hands-on experience and advice from seasoned attorneys and professionals within the firm – and, don’t be afraid to ask any questions.

Many of our programs are developed by our own attorneys, law clerks, patent agents, and technical advisors.

No matter your position, your opinion will be listened to – brainstorm with our managing partner about a case, learn about a technology from one of our equity partners, or discuss different approaches to responding to Office Actions with one of your peers.

The McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff LLP (MBHB) Diversity and Inclusion Fellowship  

  • Awarded to a 1L or 2L summer associate
  • In addition to summer associate salary is a $10,000 initial monetary award for law school or other education-related expenses
  • $10,000 subsequent award when the recipient starts as a full-time associate at MBHB
  • Up to $1,000 reimbursement for recipient to attend pre-approved D&I related activities within 12 months of initial award

The MBHB Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) Fellowship is an intentional, tangible step to strengthen diversity and inclusion (D&I) within MBHB and, more generally, throughout the field of intellectual property law. The Fellowship provides an opportunity for 1L and 2L students from an ABA-accredited law school to participate in MBHB’s summer associate program and receive a $10,000 scholarship for law school tuition or other school-related expenses. Recipients who accept full-time associate positions with MBHB will receive an additional $10,000 financial award. MBHB D&I Fellows will also be encouraged to participate in pre-approved activities related to promoting and/or educating about D&I topics within 12 months of the award. Examples of D&I activities include, for example, attending an affinity group conference (e.g., National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, National Association of Women Lawyers, Hispanic National Bar Association, National LGBT Bar Association, etc.), participating in continuing legal education relating to D&I, among other possibilities. MBHB will reimburse pre-approved travel, meal, and/or registration expenses associated with such activities up to $1,000. Applicants can apply online to submit their resume, transcripts, and writing sample.  Please note that all applicants should be patent bar eligible. Additionally, applicants will submit a 500-word personal statement explaining why they would like to pursue a career in intellectual property law, why they are interested in MBHB, and how they intend to meaningfully contribute to diversity and inclusion in the field of IP law. All personal statements should be uploaded with the rest of the online application documents.

MBHB will be solely responsible for reviewing all applicants. For more information, please contact talent@mbhb.com.