Photo courtesy of Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale.
Summary: An IP boutique has a unique way of finding the right attorney to work at its firm.
Fisch Sigler is looking for a new associate attorney. As per their ad, they’re seeking someone who “has practiced at least 3 years and is currently serving as a United States District Court law clerk.” But while a cover letter, resume, and letters of recommendation may satisfy most firms, Fisch Sigler has an optional part of its application process–an essay about Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale.
This is not the first time the IP litigation firm has been creative with its employee search. Last year, the firm gave applicants a personality quiz for one job, and for another position that required one to calculate damages, they doled out a math problem.
“Adding superstar attorneys is part of the DNA of elite firms like ours,” Managing Partner Alan Fisch said. “For us, our bespoke approach is an essential part of that process.”
For this position, Fisch Sigler’s ad stated that they want an “artisan of prose.” To showcase that, the boutique asked applicants to provide a written argument, 750 words or less, on why the Pulitzer Board should or should not award a Pulitzer Prize to The Great Gatsby, Invisible Man, or The Handmaid’s Tale.
Asking for a literature-focused essay is not new to the boutique. According to Fisch Sigler, the law firm had a prior listing that asked for an essay about Saul Bellow and his Nobel Prize in Literature. That essay resulted in the hiring of Matthew Benner, a Cornell Law graduate, who said that the listing “spoke to [him]” and that the process resulted in a good match between attorney and law firm.
“I am having a whale of a time at Fisch Sigler,” Benner said. “And I attribute that in large measure to the firm’s recruiting process – a process that results in a wonderful match between the shop and the attorney.”
Fisch Sigler has locations in New York City; Washington, DC; and San Jose. The boutique was founded in 2012 and specializes in IP litigation cases that go to trial.
“We pride ourselves on trying cases to a jury, not just litigating them. From the outset, we prepare cases as if they are going to be tried to a jury,” the company LinkedIn states.