ChIPs Network

ChIPs Mock Program is our signature annual series of mock events developing skills and building confidence for your team.

ChIPs Mock Pitch 2025

Thursday, March 13, 2025

10:00 AM - 12:30 PM

Early Bird Registration: December 20

  • Early-bird fee is $5,000 per team if you sign up by December 20.
  • Fee is $6,000 per team after December 20.
  • Final deadline is February 6. 
  • Teams are made up of 4 associates (or junior partners) + 1 mentor
  • Teams may come from multiple law firms or one law firm.
  • For team sponsorship information, please contact Bridget Johnson. 

The 2025 Mock Pitch features a wearable tech case with topics relevant to a wide range of IP lawyers. Participants will select two to four topics from the hypothetical concerning a range of issues including data privacy, copyright, patents, trade secrets, and various data privacy regulations (CIPA and BIPA).  AI implications will be embedded across the issues not just for the case itself, but also for how law firms might use AI and what issues outside counsel needs to consider in selecting a law firm that is using AI to manage sensitive information.

Woman in gray suit at a podium in front of a US flag.

In 2014, ChIPs developed the Mock Pitch program to create an opportunity for associates and junior partners to gain real-life experience pitching to clients, a necessary skill to elevate their careers and increase pay equity. Mock Pitch is now one of the signature events led by the ChIPs community. 

Designed to improve participants’ skills and receive feedback from leading experts in IP and law, the program featured 14 law firm teams and 60 client volunteers including leading in-house counsel who played the role of mock clients in the scenario. Senior-level in-house counsel with experience evaluating business pitches from outside counsel, including leaders from Sony Interactive Entertainment, Novartis, Apple, Medtronic, NetApp, VMWare, Microsoft, NetApp, Oracle, Salesforce, Dolby, T-Mobile, IBM, Meta, MasterClass, and more come together for this opportunity to elevate the next generation of women leaders and cultivate an ecosystem that advances women in tech, law and policy.

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Julie Akhter

Senior Attorney, Microsoft

Black and white photo of blond woman in black blazer.

Rachel Fertig

Partner, DLA Piper

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Karen Keller

IP Litigator and Co-Founder, Shaw Keller LLP

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Sarah MacDonald

Senior Corporate Counsel, Litigation Oracle America, Inc.

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Anna Mayergoyz Weinberg

Senior Counsel, Apple

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Mindy Morton

Partner and Chair of Trade Secrets Group and DE&I Committee, Procopio

“As an attorney in a law firm, developing business and relationships with clients is necessary to expand your practice. If you don’t have pitch experience, no one will take you on a pitch to get the experience so then how do you get it? Participating in Mock Pitch gives you that experience to practice pitching and puts you in front of potential clients.”

Karen Keller
IP Litigator and Co-Founder, Shaw Keller LLP, ChIPs Mock Program Committee Member