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I'm off to be a patent litigator (and maybe do some other stuff, too) at a San Francisco biglaw firm. What's the best path from here to get into the GC's office of a tech firm? Small or big, I'd like to get into the GC office and ideally be able to compete for senior GC roles (e.g., GC to the company).

I've been applying to clerkships for one or two years out from the beginning of my law firm career and am wondering whether it would be better to apply to general COA (9th Circuit ideally), Fed. Cir., or USDC courts like NDCA or EDTX? I'm not totally mad about being a patent litigator - and that's why I want to do other stuff at the firm, and would enjoy a clerkship that isn't just patents - but I want to know how to set myself up for working in-house in the Bay Area.

Appreciate all thoughts. Remember, I'm a litigator, so "be a transactional lawyer!" isn't helpful, although I'd be interested to know whether there's a significant difference.

Thanks

Getting an in house job is a hell of a lot easier than getting a clerkship. Just work with partners who see a lot of their associates go in house. You obviously have credentials to do whatever you want, as long as you can network.

Be a transactional lawyer.

I'm only half joking. From an IP path, most folks I know who've gone in-house come from a transactional/prosecution background. Few except the largest tech companies maintain a stable of in-house litigators; more often, in-house tech attorneys are managing outside prosecution firms and/or licensing.

Not to say there isn't a path in-house from IP lit at all; just speaking in generalities. It's also my perception that GC types, especially in smaller companies, tend to come from corporate backgrounds, but I don't have many data points against which to qualify this perception.