* as of 5/1/24
Just steps from Oracle Park on San Francisco Bay and surrounded by tech, social media, and biotech start-ups, our SOMA office is a key platform for representing innovators and entrepreneurs.
Opened in San Francisco’s South of Market neighborhood in 2012, our SOMA office focuses on early-stage companies and the angel and venture investors that finance them.
As part of our SOMA office, you’ll collaborate regularly with the attorneys in our San Francisco office—just across town—and the firm’s headquarters in our Palo Alto office. Together, these three offices are the heart of Wilson Sonsini’s reputation as a law firm for tech and life sciences and the springboard for a career representing Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and established tech giants.
In an open and collaborative workspace reflective of the area’s unique environment, the office handles the full range of legal and strategic issues vital to young businesses: financing, IP protection, governance, and M&A—among many others.
Each year, we recruit five to ten summer associates who work with our Corporate, Patents and Innovations, and Technology Transactions teams.
Explore SOMA Practices
Join Our Team
With the largest Life Sciences-focused patent practice in the world, Wilson Sonsini’s unmatched expertise services a diverse client base from start-ups to established industry leaders on global patent portfolio development and management. Associates learn from the best through early, hands-on experience and comprehensive training and development opportunities. You will draft and prosecute patent applications, prepare patent opinion letters and provide IP counseling to clients as well as supervise junior attorneys and patent agents. We want to hear from you if you have 1-4 years of patent prosecution law firm experience, patent bar membership, and a background in one of the following fields: cell or molecular biology, immunology, biochemistry, bioinformatics, medicinal chemistry, cancer biology, pharmacology, organic chemistry, biophysics, or digital health focused disciplines.
Love science but tired of bench work? Interested in staying abreast of cutting edge technology but want to hang up your pipette? The Patents & Innovations Group at Wilson Sonsini is actively hiring IP specialists and patent agents with advanced degrees for open positions at offices throughout the United States. IP specialist candidates must be qualified to sit for the USPTO patent bar and are required to take and pass the exam prior to starting at the firm. LSAT and plans to attend law school strongly preferred.
Our IP specialists and patent agents collaborate closely with our patent attorneys, receiving both formal and informal training and mentorship. They have the opportunity to work with attorneys across our offices, serving both US and international clients. Our working group and firm culture values diverse perspectives, collaboration, and high-performance, while respecting work-life balance and prioritizing mentoring, training, and professional development. Relocation not available. Search firm submissions not accepted.
The Patents and Innovations Group at Wilson Sonsini has an opening for an IP specialist or patent agent with backgrounds in mechanical engineering, chemical engineering, materials science, bioinformatics, artificial intelligence (AI)/machine learning (ML), or related disciplines. Previous law firm or industry experience is a plus. Responsibilities include working with the firm’s clients in all aspects of patent prosecution, including in evaluating invention disclosures, preparing and prosecuting patent applications, conducting landscape studies including analyzing third party patents.
Our patent agents collaborate closely with our patent attorneys, receiving both formal and informal training and mentorship. They have the opportunity to work with attorneys across our offices, serving both US and international clients. Our working group and firm culture values diverse perspectives, collaboration, and high-performance, while respecting work-life balance and prioritizing mentoring, training, and professional development. Relocation not available. Search firm submissions not accepted. IP specialist candidates must be qualified to sit for the USPTO patent bar and are required to take and pass the exam prior to starting at the firm. LSAT and plans to attend law school strongly preferred.
If you would like to submit an application to Wilson Sonsini, but do not see an active posting for the office or practice you are interested in, please apply here.
Did you know?
Year after year, Wilson Sonsini ranks among the most diverse law firms in the United States. For us, diversity is not just a commitment—it is integrated throughout our business, from recruiting to promotion.