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Baker Botts LLP is bringing its best. Christa Brown-Sanford, a Partner and Chair of the firm’s Intellectual Property Department, spoke at a recent Trailblazer Speaker Series event to give students an insider’s look at private practice and patent law.

Brown-Sanford is a 2004 graduate of ÕýÆ·À¶µ¼º½ Dedman School of Law, a current adjunct professor at the law school, a member of the Executive Board for the law school, and a member of the Board of Trustees for ÕýÆ·À¶µ¼º½. Day to day she advises clients on a range of legal issues pertaining to patents, and she has earned a reputation for her winsome communication style with all parties in a legal setting – including opposing counsel, investors, and patent examiners alike.

She has taken her leadership skills and community building passion to various organizations like Charter 100 that serves professional and civic women leaders, Junior League of Dallas, the Crystal Charity Ball Committee, and the Innovation Council at ÕýÆ·À¶µ¼º½. She serves on boards of directors for the Baylor Scott & White Foundation, the State Fair of Texas Advisory Board, Rice University’s George R. Brown School of Engineering where she received her undergraduate degree in electrical engineering, and New Friends New Life which serves the needs of trafficked women and girls.

She brought all her experience and passion to her address at the Trailblazer event, giving students a sneak peek into the opportunities available to those pursuing the law.

A Journey of Ambition

Some people discover their calling over time, while others know it from the start. Christa Brown-Sanford belongs to the latter. At just 12 years old, she declared her ambition to become a lawyer, but her mother, recognizing her daughter's exceptional skills in math and science, advised her to pursue engineering first, then transition into law. Driven – yet obedient – Christa followed her mother’s suggested path, earning an undergraduate degree in engineering before enrolling at ÕýÆ·À¶µ¼º½ Dedman Law, a decision that would shape the course of her life and career.

While in law school, Christa embraced a well-rounded legal education. Her primary focus was patent law, but she recognized the value of taking courses outside her specialization. One of her favorite classes was Secured Transactions, which taught her to think strategically about business and finance. She still applies those problem-solving skills in her patent law practice today.

Christa advised students to broaden their legal knowledge and take courses that expand their perspectives. A well-rounded education, she believes, prepares law students for the complexities of real-world practice. She emphasized the importance of learning evidence for those interested in litigation, and business-related courses for those pursuing transactional law. Most importantly, she encouraged students to embrace their time as learners, as law school is one of the last opportunities to deeply engage in theoretical discussions before transitioning into the fast-paced world of legal practice.

The Intersection of Engineering and Law

Reflecting on her transition from engineering to law, Christa highlighted the stark contrast in problem-solving approaches. As an engineering student, she worked through problem sets with definitive answers. In law school, she quickly realized that there are rarely clear-cut solutions. Everything exists in shades of gray. This shift in thinking became one of the most valuable lessons of her career.

“When you start seeing the gray, that’s when you’re really cooking as a lawyer,” she said. Understanding the risks associated with different legal options and guiding clients through them is what turns a good attorney into a business advisor and partner. Over her 20-year career, she has learned to evaluate risk comprehensively, transforming her mindset from a problem-solving engineer into a strategic legal counselor.

As the firm-wide chair of the Intellectual Property (IP) department at Baker Botts, she oversees 170 attorneys and patent professionals. What sets her department apart is the deep technical expertise it requires. Nearly every attorney in the IP section has a technical background, many holding multiple degrees. This foundation of technical knowledge allows the firm to provide top-tier service in complex patent litigation, licensing, and intellectual property transactions.

One of her proudest professional moments came during a high-stakes negotiation. A company was seeking a massive licensing fee for a patent, basing their valuation on past legal victories. Christa, armed with a deep knowledge of her client’s business, conducted thorough due diligence and identified flaws in the opposing side’s calculations, forcing them to revise their numbers. This strategic move resulted in a substantially better deal for her client. Her approach – being over-prepared and asking the right questions – turned the negotiation in her favor.

Breaking Barriers as the First and Only

Christa has faced the challenge throughout her career of being “the first” and “the only” in many spaces. When she joined Baker Botts, she was one of only three African American associates in the Dallas office and the sole African American attorney in the IP group. No African American associate had ever been promoted to partner in the Dallas office at the time.

Determined to change that narrative, Christa worked tirelessly to prove herself. She balanced her demanding career with motherhood, at one point billing over 2,100 hours while raising two young children. After the birth of her second child, she considered stepping back. But a mentor at the firm, recognizing her potential, assured her that alternative work schedules were an option. With support, she transitioned to a reduced-hours schedule and still made partner – becoming the first African American attorney to achieve this milestone in the Dallas office.

Her leadership journey continued. In 2018, she became deputy chair of the IP department. By 2023, she became the sole chair – the first African American person in the firm’s history to hold a firm-wide leadership role. Today, three of the five largest departments at Baker Botts – IP, litigation, and corporate law – are led by women, marking a historic shift in leadership.

She credits much of her success to strong mentorship and sponsorship. Early in her career, a partner at Baker Botts saw the potential in her and took an active role in her development as a lawyer. He pushed her to take on leadership roles and advocated for her behind closed doors, ensuring that others recognized her capabilities.

She now pays it forward. During the Junior League of Dallas’ centennial year, she served as the League’s first African American President. She has become a mentor for young professionals, particularly those from underrepresented backgrounds. She emphasized the difference between mentorship (offering guidance) and sponsorship (actively using one’s influence to advance someone’s career). Sponsorship, she believes, is what truly accelerates progress.

Despite her high-powered career, Christa remains deeply committed to her family. She and her sister, who also pursued an advanced degree, started “Cousins Camp” to keep their children connected and engaged in learning. Each summer, they design an educational program that exposes the kids to new ideas. One year they focused on marketing and product development, guiding the children through designing and pitching a new shoe concept. A Nike executive even judged the final presentations.

For Christa, these experiences are about more than just fun; they reflect her broader mission – to create opportunities for the next generation.

Advice for Aspiring Lawyers

Christa understands that law school and legal practice can be overwhelming. Her advice is simple: give yourself grace and be willing to adapt through life’s different seasons. She emphasized the importance of self-care, whether through exercise or spending quality time with loved ones. As a working mother, she has learned to set boundaries, sometimes telling her children, “Mommy needs 30 minutes,” before engaging fully with them.

She also encourages young professionals to embrace change. The legal landscape is constantly evolving. What’s groundbreaking today may be obsolete in five years. Staying intellectually curious and adaptable is key to long-term success.

Christa Brown-Sanford’s journey is one of ambition, resilience, and impact. From a determined 12-year-old dreaming of a legal career to a pioneering leader in patent law, she has not only achieved personal success but has paved the way for others. Her story is a testament to the power of mentorship, the importance of representation, and the lasting impact of breaking barriers. She remains committed to opening doors for those who come after her – proving that true success is measured not just by individual achievement, but by the opportunities created for others.

Q&A with Christa Brown-Sanford

Q: What do you think is the interplay between thinking like an engineer and thinking like a lawyer?
A: That’s a great question. I experienced this the first year of law school. When I was doing engineering, we would get problem sets every week, and when I was working on my problem set, I would circle the answer at the bottom…and that was the answer. But when I came to law school, that’s not how we do things. There was no answer! There’s all this gray and all these different options.

For me, the biggest thing that helped my development was instead of thinking in black and white, I started thinking in gray. And when you start seeing the gray, I think that’s when you’re really cooking as a lawyer. When you start figuring out the risk associated with the gray and you can advise your client on risk allocation, saying, “Here are the different options and here are the risks associated with them and this is where we should go,” that’s when you are building a business and you are a business advisor and partner to your client.

That has been my growth over the course of my 20-something years of practice – from being the engineer who circles the problem to now all I know is gray and assessing risk.

Q: Your career has been incredibly impressive, but what was one career setback you faced, and how did you overcome it?
A: Having three kids and doing this…y’all. It’s a lot of perseverance. It’s a village that has to help you. There have been nights where I told Bart [her mentor], “I can’t do this.” So, there have been setbacks along the way.

One specific example. When I started off, I was the one in the office doing the work, really having my head down and not thinking about the relationships. Three years into my practice I went to a meeting with Bart. We had a summer associate with us. I had done all the prep work for the meeting, but I didn’t say a word at the meeting.

After the meeting, the summer associate came up to me and said, “Is that normal at Baker Botts where associates aren’t supposed to speak?’ Whoa. And I was like, oh my gosh, that’s what I’m conveying by sitting here and not participating. That wasn’t necessarily a setback per se, but it was a turning point in my career. I learned that I needed to step up in a different way in my career growth and strategy to help me develop to get to the next level.

Q: You’ve spoken about different practice areas within intellectual property law. If someone doesn’t have a technical background, why should they consider a career in areas like branding, trademark, and copyright? And how is artificial intelligence changing those fields?
A: One thing that I’ve seen change in the soft IP (branding, trademark, copyright) area of law is with social media. That area of the law is constantly changing and there is so much activity in it. There are a lot of moving parts, and it’s such a burgeoning area of law right now. For those that may not have a technical background, it’s a really interesting area to get into.

There’s a huge interplay with copyright and AI and what can be used in order to train the AI models. It is constantly moving. On the patent side, I get this question a lot because people that are not in the legal area or in the patent area know about AI and are like, “Well, this is like a game-changer.” And I think to myself – and you probably remember this – we were doing big data machine learning 15 years ago. It is just now that the application of all that is in the artificial intelligence model. It’s the same thing we’ve been doing a long time; it’s just in a new way and a new way of interfacing with people.

You’ve got to step back. While AI is very, very important right now and there’s a lot of work going into it, in five years it will be something else. What I would say is continue to remain interested in learning and be able to pick up on new concepts quickly because that’s what you’re doing for the rest of your life. It changes all the time, and quite honestly, if it wasn't changing, I would not be as busy as I am. I’m glad it does.

Q: Can you talk about the class you teach at ÕýÆ·À¶µ¼º½? When is it offered, and what does it cover?
A: I teach a patent prosecution class. This is a class that helps students understand how to draft a patent application, file it at the patent office, and then negotiate with a patent examiner in order to get a client a patent. We do a lot of in-the-weeds work that the students can then use in the patent clinic. So, the class that I teach and the patent clinic really go hand in hand.

In order to do that type of work, you do need to have a technical background, but as I said earlier, I think it’s really good to have a broader scope of your legal education beyond what your focus area is. I encourage you all who are not engineers or science majors to take some of the other patent classes like patent law or introduction to IP or even patent licensing and enforcement. Those classes are things that you can apply in your practice where you don’t have a technical background.

I only teach spring semester every other year, but I think this is going to be my last semester. I’ve just got to get those kids out of the house. My daughter is the one that keeps me on my toes. I told her about me teaching this class, and I’ve been doing it for a long time. She was like, “Mom, that is the coolest job that you have.” So in her mind, teaching at ÕýÆ·À¶µ¼º½ is the coolest job ever.