What did he study?
Two engineering degrees before the law degree, which is the order that matters in this field.
Practicing before the patent office is not open to every lawyer. It requires a technical degree and a separate examination, which is why the engineering came first and why patent lawyers are a small subset of lawyers generally.
- Economics of Blockchain and Digital Assets
- Wharton executive education, 2022.
- Master of Divinity in Christian Education
- Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2015.
- Juris Doctor and Master of Business Administration
- University of Missouri, 2000.
- B.S. Electrical Engineering and B.S. Computer Engineering
- University of Missouri, 1996.
Is he licensed where I am?
Registered to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office since 2002, and admitted in four states.
- California and Missouri
- Active.
- Texas and Tennessee
- Inactive, meaning he is not currently practicing in those two states.
State admission matters less in patent work than most people expect, because patent cases are federal. Where you are is rarely the constraint on who can handle your matter.
Which courts can he appear in?
Federal courts admit lawyers one court at a time, so the list is simply the list.
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
- U.S. Court of Federal Claims
- U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
- U.S. District Court for the Central District of California
- U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas
- U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri
- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas
- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
Appearing in a district not on a list like this is routine, done with local counsel and admission for the single case, which is called pro hac vice. A list of admissions describes where a lawyer has already been, not where they can go.
What else is on the record?
A short list, and none of it will decide anything about your case.
- Baccalaureate address, UMKC School of Law
- Selected to give it to the class of 2016.
- INROADS
- Former scholar.
- Hispanic National Bar Association
- Member.
- Supreme Court of Missouri
- Externship with the Hon. John C. Holstein.
- Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District
- Internship with the Hon. Harold Lowenstein.
- Northland Christian School
- Five years on the board.
The part of this worth anything to a client is the time spent inside courts, watching from the judge's side of the bench. It is where a lawyer learns how judges actually read a brief, which is not how the person writing it imagines.