Aug 25, 2026 · 40 min · 12 segments
This episode features a conversation with Tom Gamache. Tim is a patent agent who recently finished Foley’s summer associate program in the Boston office. In this discussion, Tim reflects on growing up…
Tim GamacheGuest
Alexis RobertsonHost
So then what? You get this PhD, like you said, it's about six years of your life.
And that, I think, really changed a lot of things about the way scientists even think about doing science.
In that period, it's really a critical time to be in the lab doing last minute experiments, trying to crunch all the data, trying to, you know, flesh out the rest of the story.
And so that time also gave me a lot more space to kind of really ruminate on what was it that I or what is it that I really enjoy about science.
It also gave me the opportunity to pursue and explore other career paths that might not involve me pipetting at the bench or operating microscopes.
And so in some way, that time was really formative for me to really figure out what I really wanted.
And I think what I learned was that I think the thing that I really enjoyed about science, again, was learning about it, nerding out about it.
Yeah, this is the pivot I see pretty much, I mean, most of our IP lawyers with a hard science background.
Because something occurred somewhere that whether it's biology as background or engineering of some sort, this route is not really the traditional path, right? I think it's a great path, but it's not traditional.
And for you, I like the way you've described it, you know, you're trying to figure out like what are other alternatives.
I realized this was too like solitary for me and I needed something that had me a little more involved with other folks.
But yeah, so you start exploring and learning there are some other paths you can pursue.
So then what? You get this PhD, like you said, it's about six years of your life.
And that, I think, really changed a lot of things about the way scientists even think about doing science.
In that period, it's really a critical time to be in the lab doing last minute experiments, trying to crunch all the data, trying to, you know, flesh out the rest of the story.
And so that time also gave me a lot more space to kind of really ruminate on what was it that I or what is it that I really enjoy about science.
It also gave me the opportunity to pursue and explore other career paths that might not involve me pipetting at the bench or operating microscopes.
And so in some way, that time was really formative for me to really figure out what I really wanted.
And I think what I learned was that I think the thing that I really enjoyed about science, again, was learning about it, nerding out about it.
Yeah, this is the pivot I see pretty much, I mean, most of our IP lawyers with a hard science background.
Because something occurred somewhere that whether it's biology as background or engineering of some sort, this route is not really the traditional path, right? I think it's a great path, but it's not traditional.
And for you, I like the way you've described it, you know, you're trying to figure out like what are other alternatives.
I realized this was too like solitary for me and I needed something that had me a little more involved with other folks.
But yeah, so you start exploring and learning there are some other paths you can pursue.
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