In the Public Interest

Pro bono work at WilmerHale takes a variety of forms, including helping the next generation of inventors develop their ideas and file patent applications. This episode of In the Public Interest explores how innovation, public service and legal expertise come together through WilmerHale’s longstanding partnership with The Henry Ford and its Invention Convention Worldwide program. Co-host Felicia Ellsworth speaks with Haixia Lin, a partner in WilmerHale’s Intellectual Property and Intellectual Property Litigation Practices, about helping young inventors transform creative ideas into patented inventions.

Drawing on years of work with student innovators, Lin discusses the patent process, the value of protecting innovation, and the firm's efforts to help participants prepare and file patent applications. She also reflects on the creativity and problem-solving mindset of young inventors, including a student who developed an AI-driven tool to assist visually impaired users. The conversation highlights how community, mentorship and intellectual curiosity can empower the next generation of innovators.

Carve outs and spinoffs are only becoming more common in the corporate transaction space, forcing companies to reckon with the challenge of shared technology. The main pitfalls lie in how rights to data and other software intellectual property services should be divided between a parent company and newly spun-off subsidiary, leaving open the potential for knowledge and scale gaps.

As Partner Stephen Gillespie explains to co-host Jekkie Kim on this episode of In the Public Interest, mitigating risk when facing these shared technology problems is crucial for avoiding complicated and costly divesture negotiations. He shares the importance of approaching these transactions with a cross-functional team that has the knowledge to identify all shared technology and software intellectual property, and why he expects the market for carve outs to continue heating up in the coming years.

In the Public Interest is excited to continue our “AI In the Public Interest” miniseries examining AI’s impact on the legal landscape and its broader implications for the day-to-day operations of organizations across industries. With the wider prevalence of companies utilizing AI to assist in decision making and determine future frameworks, these conversations will not only take stock of the current state of AI, but will also offer practical insights into what the future may hold.

The second episode features co-host Felicia Ellsworth in conversation with Partners Jessica Lewis and Josh Geltzer, along with President and CEO of EqualAI Miriam Vogel, on the increasing governance risk AI poses to boardrooms. They discuss why AI regulation and enforcement is quickly being added to board agendas as a pressing emerging challenge. Additionally, they identify specific considerations boards are keeping in mind as they tackle mission-critical AI risks, shifts in oversight structures, the development of incident response escalation plans, and more.

In the Public Interest is excited to present the new miniseries, “AI In the Public Interest.” These episodes will examine AI’s impact on the legal landscape and its broader implications for the day-to-day operations of organizations across industries. With the wider prevalence of companies utilizing AI to assist in decision making and determine future frameworks, these conversations will not only take stock of the current state of AI, but will also offer practical insights into what the future may hold.

The first episode kicks off with a conversation between co-host Jekkie Kim and Partner and Chair of WilmerHale’s AI Technology Transactions Practice Ariel Soiffer. Together they discuss AI through the lens of ownership and copyright, examining guidance from the Copyright Office as to who and what can be a content author. Soiffer also identifies what current protections are in place for those attempting to copyright content that has been created with the involvement of AI. He stresses how important it is for creators and companies alike to document their creative outputs and offers a look into the increasingly complex questions surrounding authorship.

Arbitration can be an attractive alternative to litigation for many clients, as storied practitioner and WilmerHale Partner and Chair of the firm’s International Arbitration group Gary Born can attest. He sits down with co-host Felicia Ellsworth in this episode of In the Public Interest to discuss what sets international arbitration apart.

Throughout their conversation, Born examines what the current socio-political landscape in the US and abroad indicates about shifting client needs in relation to dispute resolution. He also touches on his recent publications covering both international arbitration and international law in the US courts, with the former providing a valuable resource for newcomers to their field and the latter taking a deep dive into the historical significance international law has had on the US courts.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)’s respective approaches to handling antitrust enforcement matters can go through notable changes in the transition between presidential administrations, creating uncertainty in how antitrust functions in service of shifting priorities.

In this episode of In the Public Interest, co-host Jekkie Kim speaks with WilmerHale Partner Susan Musser, who recently joined the firm’s Antitrust Practice after serving as the Acting Bureau Director and Chief Trial Counsel of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition. Drawing from her experiences under both the Biden and second Trump administrations, Musser discusses the key similarities and differences in their approaches to antitrust enforcement, highlighting how it is used as a tool in both instances but for differing purposes. She also examines the impact this approach to enforcement is currently having and will continue to have on technology and AI companies’ ability to innovate.

We are excited to begin In the Public Interest’s sixth season with the introduction of our new cohost Jekkie Kim. Jekkie is a corporate partner in WilmerHale’s Palo Alto office who focuses on life sciences technology and transactions and works closely with founders and emerging companies to support every stage of their commercial development.

In conversation with her co-host Felicia Ellsworth, Jekkie shares insights into the life sciences industry, drawing on her varied career and experience both as a practicing attorney and education as a doctor. She discusses how she leverages her medical background in her current practice, allowing her to effectively serve clients and move quickly to match the fast-moving innovations coming out of Silicon Valley. She and Felicia also share advice for law students and early-career attorneys, speaking to the importance of mentorship and how to explore potential areas of focus.

Summer associate positions can be crucial in helping law students formulate their post-law school career paths, whether that means entering private practice, public service, or academia. In the season five finale of In the Public Interest, host Felicia Ellsworth is joined in a live conversation with WilmerHale Senior Counsel and former Massachusetts state senator Eric Lesser and Associate Professor of Practice at Boston College Law School Cheryl Bratt to discuss the many options available to WilmerHale summer associates and alumni.

Speaking to an audience of over one hundred WilmerHale summer associates, Lesser and Bratt discuss how their time at the firm prepared and encouraged them to pursue their respective career paths in politics and teaching. They emphasize how WilmerHale’s reputation for excellence initially attracted them to the firm and, in Lesser’s case, caused him to return after his time in office. Throughout their conversation, Lesser and Bratt also share how the early connections they formed during their summer experiences served them throughout their careers, allowing them to access opportunities they wouldn’t have had otherwise.

Crisis management has emerged in recent years as an increasingly prominent practice area, helping clients to avoid major pitfalls and determine the path forward amidst conflict and public discourse. In this episode of In the Public Interest, host Felicia Ellsworth speaks with Partner Sid Velamoor about his experience managing many such cases both in the public and private sector.

Throughout their conversation, Velamoor discusses his career pathway from WilmerHale to the Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property Crimes section of the US Attorney’s Office, and then serving as Senior Counsel at Boeing before returning to the firm in 2024. He describes how the unique experiences he had in each role culminated in his current skillset in managing complex, high stakes matters. He also explains to Ellsworth how he views effective crisis management as crisis elimination, with skilled practitioners able to anticipate market challenges and proactively avoid them.

In the Public Interest is excited to continue In That Case, its third annual miniseries examining notable decisions recently issued by the US Supreme Court. In the final episode of this year’s series, guest host Daniel Volchok speaks with WilmerHale Partner and Co-Chair of the firm’s Energy, Environment and Natural Resources Practice and its Native American Law Practice Tommy Beaudreau about Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County, Colorado. The case centers on the scope of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and the ways regulators assess and approve highways, pipelines, and other federal infrastructure projects.

Together, they explore the history that led to this case, with Beaudreau providing context for NEPA’s original purpose and goals when it was enacted in 1970. Volchok and Beaudreau also discuss the potential impact this decision will have on the future of permitting and the role it plays in larger bipartisan efforts to effect permitting reform.