Congratulations to Marie Weisfeiler, of Columbia Law School, recipient of our 2020 Rachel Krevans Scholarship!
Growing up, Marie’s family instilled in her the importance of diverse ideas and perspectives. Having fled their native land under the threat of tyranny and persecution and being welcomed into the United States as refugees, her family understood how rare and beneficial a diverse and free society is. Diverse thinking stems from diverse backgrounds and experiences. Because of this personal experience, Marie in both her education and work, has endeavored to encourage and advocate for a more diverse society.
For her undergraduate degree, Marie attended UC Berkeley where she studied physics and received a Student Service Award for her work mentoring female transfer students to help them integrate into the physics department. When Marie entered law school, she did so committed to ensuring that her background in science was relevant to her future and academic work. Intellectual property law, and patent law in particular, seemed like a natural fit.
As a first year at Boston College Law School, Marie’s involvement with the Women’s Law Center at Boston College and the Intellectual Property and Technology Forum Journal reinforced her passion for intellectual property law. And her work as a research assistant on a smart cities project, afforded her the opportunity to interact with in the IP community. The professor Marie worked for hosted several events in conjunction with the IP attorneys in the Boston office of Ropes & Gray, and Marie was able to meet IP attorneys through these social events.
For her second year of law school, Marie transferred to Columbia Law School. There she continued her legal representation to underprivileged women in her community, specifically those who reside in public housing. Marie hopes that her efforts and similar work will continue to alter the perception of the legal system in the minds of women who are currently disenfranchised.
After her first year of law school, Marie accepted a position as a Summer Associate at Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, LLP. It was there that that she discovered her passion for patent law. Working at Finnegan exposed Marie to the day-to-day work of patent law. While finishing her second year of law school, Marie has been working as a Law Clerk in the New York office of Sidley Austin LLP. Marie has not yet decided what she wants to do post-graduation, but wherever she ends up she plans to work to further promote diversity by engaging in important conversations about biases in the hiring and promotion of women.
Marie’s commitment to pursuing IP law as well as her pro bono work helping underrepresented voices would make Rachel proud. We are thrilled to offer Marie the third annual scholarship in honor of the woman who dedicated herself to the advancing women in tech, law and policy. Congratulations, Marie!