We started the year with an interview of Khurram Naik, a former patent litigator that now owns Freshwater Counsel, one of the leading boutique recruiting agencies for IP litigators. While that business continues to generate success stories for both firms and the lawyers that Khurram helps to place, one of the interesting things about Khurram’s approach is his willingness to showcase talented lawyers that are not his clients. Whether through his thoughtful LinkedIn posts or his top-shelf legal podcast, Khurram’s Quorum (on Spotify and Apple), there is no doubt that he has become a leading voice and contributor to the dialogue around IP practice today. Taken all together, his contributions are most welcome, especially considering the challenging landscape around law firm recruiting in the ever-changing legal environment, spurred by seismic moves in the Biglaw sphere and the increased importance of AI- or litigation funding-driven initiatives to IP practice.
In an interesting twist, it turns out that Khurram’s podcast sits at the intersection of some of these macro trends in the IP and legal recruiting spheres, which provides us a very interesting entry point into a discussion on how that piece of his professional life helps contribute to his other businesses. And to the general IP community as well, which is why I am very grateful that Khurram was willing to share more of his time and insights with this audience.
Now to the interview. As usual, I have added some brief commentary to Khurram’s answer below but have otherwise presented his answer to my first question as he provided it.
Gaston Kroub: How do the open, recorded dialogues you have on Khurram’s Quorum impact the practical career advice you give to candidates you are helping in your recruiting practice at Freshwater Counsel?
Khurram Naik: One pattern I’ve observed from the podcast is that exceptional litigators want to be well-rounded. Star plaintiffs’ lawyers have discussed their goals of growing as defense lawyers. Experienced patent litigators have switched gears to handle other complex tech disputes or even taken on personal injury defense and construction trials.
Becoming well-rounded is inherently valuable for litigators who pursue their work as craft and not just a well-paying job. That’s valuable context for the lawyers I work with as a recruiter. About 80% of the lawyers we work with have never changed firms. Hearing how exceptional litigators have upskilled helps them wrap their heads around the value of a move.
There is a flywheel between networks and insights. The lawyers in my network have insights. When I share those with my network, the ideas spread to grow the network. Then I can acquire new insights to share.
The podcast is central to gaining insights and growing my network. The same is true for my recruiting practice.
GK: We shouldn’t be shocked that a willingness to learn and an open, curious mind are force multipliers in a demanding career such as IP litigation. Considering the fact that so many of the top litigators and appellate specialists are master storytellers that have perfected the art of making the complicated seem simple for their various audiences, it is no surprise that even they have what to learn from hearing the stories of others. That is of course also true for Khurram and ourselves, even as we are involved in different aspects of the IP litigation ecosystem and are not in a competitive posture vis a vis other litigators. In fact, I learned the lesson of the need for constant skill development from one of my mentors, who despite being a highly trained and skilled trial lawyer in his own right, chose to moonlight at one point in his career in the local DA’s office, just to get more trial experience. Or another mentor, who took acting classes in order to hone his craft, while also encouraging his associates to take a proactive, investigative role in dealing with discovery, so as to uncover nuggets that could support the trial presentation that might otherwise have been left undiscovered. At bottom, challenging ourselves remains the only reliable path to professional growth, a value that Khurram’s podcast guests each espouse in their own ways.
Further, Khurram’s insights about how his podcast helps inform his recruiting practice and enrich his network parallels how I feel about the opportunity I have had to write this column. In particular, the chances I have had over the years to interview interesting IP personalities have not only been received very well by this audience, but have also challenged and inspired me in very positive ways. As always, I encourage readers to consider opening themselves up to sharing their knowledge with a broader audience, whether in written or podcast form, or whatever medium strikes their fancy. It is worth the effort, as Khurram’s experiences confirm.
We will continue with Khurram’s answers to questions 2 and 3 next time, which will center on both the future focus for his podcast, as well as where he thinks it fits in relative to other legal media. In the meantime, feel free to reach out to Khurram if you think 2027 might be the year for a move, or if your firm needs additional talent.
Please feel free to send comments or questions to me at gaston@k2k.law or via Twitter: @gkroub. Any topic suggestions or thoughts are most welcome.
Gaston Kroub lives in Brooklyn and is a founding partner of K2K IP Law, an intellectual property litigation boutique that also serves as a leading consultancy on patent issues for the investment community. Gaston’s practice focuses on intellectual property litigation and related counseling, with a strong focus on patent matters. You can reach him at gaston@k2k.law or follow him on Twitter: @gkroub.
The post 3 More Questions For A Patent Litigator Turned Legal Recruiter (Part I) appeared first on Above the Law.
We started the year with an interview of Khurram Naik, a former patent litigator that now owns Freshwater Counsel, one of the leading boutique recruiting agencies for IP litigators. While that business continues to generate success stories for both firms and the lawyers that Khurram helps to place, one of the interesting things about Khurram’s approach is his willingness to showcase talented lawyers that are not his clients. Whether through his thoughtful LinkedIn posts or his top-shelf legal podcast, Khurram’s Quorum (on Spotify and Apple), there is no doubt that he has become a leading voice and contributor to the dialogue around IP practice today. Taken all together, his contributions are most welcome, especially considering the challenging landscape around law firm recruiting in the ever-changing legal environment, spurred by seismic moves in the Biglaw sphere and the increased importance of AI- or litigation funding-driven initiatives to IP practice.
In an interesting twist, it turns out that Khurram’s podcast sits at the intersection of some of these macro trends in the IP and legal recruiting spheres, which provides us a very interesting entry point into a discussion on how that piece of his professional life helps contribute to his other businesses. And to the general IP community as well, which is why I am very grateful that Khurram was willing to share more of his time and insights with this audience.
Now to the interview. As usual, I have added some brief commentary to Khurram’s answer below but have otherwise presented his answer to my first question as he provided it.
Gaston Kroub: How do the open, recorded dialogues you have on Khurram’s Quorum impact the practical career advice you give to candidates you are helping in your recruiting practice at Freshwater Counsel?
Khurram Naik: One pattern I’ve observed from the podcast is that exceptional litigators want to be well-rounded. Star plaintiffs’ lawyers have discussed their goals of growing as defense lawyers. Experienced patent litigators have switched gears to handle other complex tech disputes or even taken on personal injury defense and construction trials.
Becoming well-rounded is inherently valuable for litigators who pursue their work as craft and not just a well-paying job. That’s valuable context for the lawyers I work with as a recruiter. About 80% of the lawyers we work with have never changed firms. Hearing how exceptional litigators have upskilled helps them wrap their heads around the value of a move.
There is a flywheel between networks and insights. The lawyers in my network have insights. When I share those with my network, the ideas spread to grow the network. Then I can acquire new insights to share.
The podcast is central to gaining insights and growing my network. The same is true for my recruiting practice.
GK: We shouldn’t be shocked that a willingness to learn and an open, curious mind are force multipliers in a demanding career such as IP litigation. Considering the fact that so many of the top litigators and appellate specialists are master storytellers that have perfected the art of making the complicated seem simple for their various audiences, it is no surprise that even they have what to learn from hearing the stories of others. That is of course also true for Khurram and ourselves, even as we are involved in different aspects of the IP litigation ecosystem and are not in a competitive posture vis a vis other litigators. In fact, I learned the lesson of the need for constant skill development from one of my mentors, who despite being a highly trained and skilled trial lawyer in his own right, chose to moonlight at one point in his career in the local DA’s office, just to get more trial experience. Or another mentor, who took acting classes in order to hone his craft, while also encouraging his associates to take a proactive, investigative role in dealing with discovery, so as to uncover nuggets that could support the trial presentation that might otherwise have been left undiscovered. At bottom, challenging ourselves remains the only reliable path to professional growth, a value that Khurram’s podcast guests each espouse in their own ways.
Further, Khurram’s insights about how his podcast helps inform his recruiting practice and enrich his network parallels how I feel about the opportunity I have had to write this column. In particular, the chances I have had over the years to interview interesting IP personalities have not only been received very well by this audience, but have also challenged and inspired me in very positive ways. As always, I encourage readers to consider opening themselves up to sharing their knowledge with a broader audience, whether in written or podcast form, or whatever medium strikes their fancy. It is worth the effort, as Khurram’s experiences confirm.
We will continue with Khurram’s answers to questions 2 and 3 next time, which will center on both the future focus for his podcast, as well as where he thinks it fits in relative to other legal media. In the meantime, feel free to reach out to Khurram if you think 2027 might be the year for a move, or if your firm needs additional talent.
Please feel free to send comments or questions to me at [email protected] or via Twitter: @gkroub. Any topic suggestions or thoughts are most welcome.
Gaston Kroub lives in Brooklyn and is a founding partner of K2K IP Law, an intellectual property litigation boutique that also serves as a leading consultancy on patent issues for the investment community. Gaston’s practice focuses on intellectual property litigation and related counseling, with a strong focus on patent matters. You can reach him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter: @gkroub.
