Originally published in Student Lawyer magazine, March 2004 (Vol. 32, No. 7). All rights reserved.

Hot Practice

Biotechnology is a rich field for legal work

ABA Resources on Biotechnology Law

by Lisa Stansky

In the futuristic comedy Sleeper, Woody Allen stole a dying dictator's detached nose from a group intending to use it to clone their leader. As wacky as that scene was in the 1970s when the film came out, truth can be stranger than fiction these days. Even if you'll never find yourself in Allen's scenario, biotechnology law provides an engaging outlet for working on cutting-edge issues of law and science.

Depending on your focus, you may need a science degree or two under your belt. But don't lose heart if your only brush with biology involved dissecting a bullfrog in high school. Some lawyers with little science background have carved out a niche in biotechnology law by drawing on their skills in corporate law and other areas.

Aside from doing standard corporate work for biotech companies, lawyers work as in-house or outside counsel to universities and scientific institutions seeking to protect rights to the projects they develop. Lawyers also represent scientists in their negotiations with research institutions and employers concerning rights to their research. Depending on one's angle, biotech legal work requires finesse in intellectual property law, contracts, corporate law, and perhaps tax law.

Biotech lawyer Hugh Wellons of Roanoke, Va., doesn't have a science background. But he is willing to spend a weekend reading a science textbook, if that's what it takes to get him up to speed on a file. Science training is helpful, but not a prerequisite, to breaking into biotechnology practice, says Wellons, chair of the biotechnology committee of the ABA Section of Science and Technology Law.

Wellons says 85 percent of his corporate work for biotech clients is similar to what he would do for any corporate client, such as structuring initial public offerings. The other 15 percent is where some of his greatest challenges lie-like drafting documents for public or private stock offerings in which the company's incredibly complex affairs must be described in plain English. One offering was for a company that does "transgenic" work-in this case, involving the transfer of human genes to animals to extract proteins.

Geography may dictate some of your opportunities. "Go where there is a large university, with a large biology or chemical school, and a teaching hospital or medical center," Wellons says, pointing to North Carolina's Research Triangle, Boston, St. Louis, Silicon Valley, and smaller markets in Ann Arbor, Mich., Austin, Texas, and Richmond, Va.

One way to break into the field is to mesh a niche in biotech work into your main practice. That's what Michael Malinowski did before he became a law professor. As a litigator with a private firm, Malinowski developed a sideline doing deals on behalf of small biotech firms. Later, he parlayed that into a biotech practice at Foley, Hoag & Eliot in Boston. Today, Malinowski is associate director of Louisiana State University's Program in Law, Science, and Public Health. He also is a member of the ABA Special Committee on Bioethics and the Law.

Opportunities for lawyers are as broad as the field of biotechnology itself, says Mark Waxman, chair of the ABA Health Law Section's interest group on medical research and technology. A good place to look is the government, he says. Federal agencies like the National Institutes of Health, the Food and Drug Administration, and even the Department of Defense require lawyers to navigate how an innovation proceeds through clinical trials.

U.S. attorney offices across the country also are a possibility, says Waxman, general counsel at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, a teaching hospital in Boston affiliated with Harvard University. He notes that federal prosecutors investigate possible abuses by scientists applying for research grants and by doctors seeking to bill biotech procedures to Medicare.

When it comes to the nitty-gritty of intellectual property work, every drop of science helps, says Erich Veitenheimer, chair of the biotechnology committee of the ABA Section of Intellectual Property Law. Veitenheimer is of counsel with the Washington, D.C., office of Philadelphia's Morgan Lewis & Bockius.

Armed with a Ph.D. in plant breeding, plant genetics, and statistics, Veitenheimer attended Georgetown University Law Center at night while he spent his days examining biotech patents at the U.S. Patent Office. J.D. in hand, he spent time with two intellectual property boutique firms before joining Morgan Lewis as a patent lawyer.

Bioethics, an offshoot of biotechnology, is one of the toughest realms for a lawyer to break into, says George Annas, professor of health law, bioethics, and human rights at Boston University. Annas, who co-chairs the committee on bioethics and human rights for the ABA Section of Individual Rights and Responsibilities, says most of the hard-to-score bioethics jobs are in academia.

Nevertheless, students are welcome to delve into ethics issues related to cloning and other cutting-edge science by getting involved with Annas' committee, which is examining regulatory concerns involving cloning, stem cell research, and the like. The committee also is examining limitations on patients' rights that hospitals with religious affiliations may impose when it comes to issues of birth, life, and death-such as dispensing the morning-after pill to terminate a pregnancy.

Ultimately, Malinowski says, a biotechnology law practice boils down to one thing. "The goal is to work with scientists," he says. "As long as you're able to work with the scientific community and the medical community, you can find a place for yourself."

Lisa Stansky (ljstansky@cs.com), a graduate of Yale Law School, is a lawyer and freelance writer in New Orleans.

Are you interested in other fields of law? Read previous Hot Practice columns online at www.abanet.org/lsd/stulawyer.

ABA Resources on Biotechnology Law

The ABA Health Law Section (www.abanet.org/health) has a committee on medical research, biotechnology, and clinical ethics. Students can join the section for $10, which provides a subscription to The Health Lawyer. The section sponsors a student writing competition, which carries a top prize of $500.

The Section of Individual Rights and Responsibilities (www.abanet.org/irr) has a committee on bioethics and human rights. A $15 student membership provides a subscription to Human Rights magazine and other informational resources.

The Section of Intellectual Property Law (www.abanet.org/intelprop) has a biotechnology committee. Join the section as a student for $10 and receive a subscription to the quarterly Intellectual Property Law Newsletter and other benefits.

The Section of Science and Technology Law (www.abanet.org/scitech) has a biotechnology committee. A $5 student membership provides information resources such as a subscription to the quarterly journal Jurimetrics.

The Special Committee on Bioethics and the Law (www.abanet.org/publicserv/bioethics) is the ABA's clearinghouse on the topic. Visit the site for information on programs and other activities, including the 2003 annual meeting program, "Bioethics in a Time of War."

Law students can receive all the informational, educational, and networking benefits of ABA section membership-often free of charge or at reduced rates. To join a section, call 800-285-2221.