Fish & Richardson attorneys Ricardo Bonilla and Crystal Culhane, Ph.D. have been selected for the 2018 Pathfinder Program of the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD). This program is designed to provide diverse, high-potential, early-career attorneys with practical professional development tools to support leadership, networking and career development.
"We are thrilled that Riqui and Crystal were chosen for this program," said Fish principal Ahmed J. Davis, who chairs the firm's national Diversity Initiative. "They are two of our most talented young attorneys, and this is a tremendous and well-deserved opportunity to be part of LCLD's impressive professional development program."
Bonilla is an associate in Fish's Dallas office, where he focuses his practice on patent litigation. In 2017, he helped win two high-profile patent cases in the Eastern District of Texas for defendants Etsy and Buyseasons and a Federal Circuit affirmance of almost $1 million in attorneys' fees for Bed Bath & Beyond. He received his J.D., magna cum laude, Order of the Coif, Order of Barristers, National Order of Scribes from Texas Tech University School of Law in 2012. He received his B.S., cum laude, in software engineering from the University of Texas at Dallas in 2009.
Culhane is an associate in Fish's Southern California office, where she focuses on patent prosecution work for life sciences and pharmaceutical clients. She received her J.D., cum laude, from California Western School of Law in 2014 and her Ph.D. in chemistry from Johns Hopkins University in 2008. At Johns Hopkins, her research focused on the design, synthesis, and evaluation of innovative optical and radioactive small molecule prostate cancer imaging agents. She received her B.S. in chemistry from the University of St. Thomas in 2001.
For the past two years, Fish has been recognized as a "Top Performer" by LCLD for going above and beyond to participate in LCLD and support its mission of creating a more inclusive legal profession.
LCLD is a national organization made up of more than 285 general and managing partners of the leading corporations and law firms in the country who have dedicated themselves to creating a truly diverse U.S. legal profession. LCLD's action programs are designed to attract, inspire, and nurture the talent in society and within its member organizations, thereby helping a new and more diverse generation of attorneys ascend to positions of leadership. For information, visit www.lcldnet.org.
Fish & Richardson is a global intellectual property firm offering patent, trademark and copyright prosecution and counseling, intellectual property litigation, and commercial litigation services. The firm has more than 400 attorneys and technology specialists in the U.S. and Europe. Our success is rooted in our creative and inclusive culture, which values the diversity of people, experiences, and perspectives. Fish is the No. 1 U.S. patent litigation firm, handling nearly three times as many cases as its nearest competitor; a powerhouse patent and trademark prosecution firm; a top-tier trademark and copyright litigation firm; and the No. 1 firm at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, with more cases than any other firm. Since 1878, Fish attorneys have been winning cases worth billions in controversy – often by making new law – for the world's most innovative and influential technology leaders. For more information, visit https://www.fr.com or follow us at @FishRichardson.
