Experiential Learning Program Opens Doors for Recent Graduate in Intellectual Property Law and Increased Representation for South Asians in the Legal Field
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“UIC Law prepares you for the actual legal field. It will not only prepare you for practice, but will teach you what to do with the law; not just what it is,” said recent Spring 2025 graduate Simi Patel as she reflects on her time at UIC Law.
While trying to decide to attend law school in either Chicago or New York, Patel credits UIC Law’s sense of belonging and robust experiential learning program for being the deciding factor in choosing who will jumpstart her legal career.
“I have honestly loved everything about my experience here at UIC Law,” Patel said. “When visiting the law school, the alumni and current students were very engaging and interested in talking to me. I also learned that other law schools don’t have as many experiential learning opportunities as UIC Law, so that definitely influenced my decision to attend.”
During her three years in law school, Patel was able to gain hands-on legal experience through several pivotal opportunities, including, working as a student clinician in the
Patent clinic, her advocacy for increased representation of South Asians in the legal field through her involvement in several student and community organizations, and other formative law school classes.
With a focus on intellectual property (IP)law, Patel wanted to tailor her law school experiences with her dream career goals. She participated in the IP clinic for two semesters, crediting the clinic for giving her keen experience working with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
“I can’t praise the patent clinic enough for all of the experience I have gotten. It was the type of hands-on experience you can’t get in a classroom or even a firm because they don’t tend to give you large scale projects like we received in the clinic,” Patel said.
Patel also focused part of her law school journey on increasing South Asian representation in the legal field. As the Outreach Representative for the South Asian Law Students Association (SALSA) at UIC Law, Patel made it a mission to network and connect with other South Asian law students and organizations, often hosting events with SALSA’s at other schools. In the community, Patel served as a member in the South Asian Bar Association of Chicago, and on a national scale, she was the president of the North American South Asian Law Students Association. Further increasing South Asian representation in the legal field, Patel was also on the board of the Intellectual Property Society at the law school and served as a student ambassador for Chicago Women in IP.
Patel highlights UIC Law’s legal writing program for strengthening her writing skills and a class in Trial Advocacy and Dispute Resolutions for increasing her confidence, both skills that are imperative in the legal field. She learned the importance of teamwork, while also sharpening her own research and reasoning skills. She also credits a formative “Students in Jail class” for helping her to address her own implicit biases and to address how to better support and advocate for incarcerated persons.
Patel is a recent graduate from the Spring class of 2025. Post commencement, Patel plans to prepare for the bar exam and begin to make her impact in intellectual property law.