Voice of Experience: Mika Mayer, Partner, Morrison & Foerster

By Melissa J. Anderson (New York City)

This week, in honor of Ada Lovelace Day, The Glass Hammer is highlighting women who have achieved high levels of success working in technology. Making role models visible is one important way we can encourage girls and young women to pursue a career in tech – and stay there!

“I don’t want to over generalize what the main challenges for women are, but for me personally, the greatest challenge has been balancing my role as a partner with my role as a mother,” said Mika Mayer, Partner at Morrison & Foerster, who deals with patent law in the medical device, drug delivery, and pharmaceutical fields. “For each role, there is no limit to the amount of time you can invest, and I take both roles very seriously.”

She continued, “Balance is one of those words that has very little meaning, because true balance is very hard to obtain. You need to define boundaries and set limits for yourself. You can’t rely on your employer to set those limits for you.”

Building a Career in IP Law

Mayer, who is now recognized as one of the top IP lawyers in the United States began her education in chemical engineering. “I was always interested in science and technology, but it wasn’t until I was in college that it crystallized into a career path,” Mayer explained. Through her experience interning at Motorola while studying chemical engineering at the University of Arizona, she found herself naturally drawn to intellectual property law.

Mayer went on to attend Boston University School of Law and worked during law school at a law firm as a patent agent. After graduating, Mayer said, “I decided to join MoFo because of its great reputation for medical device patent law, and because I saw opportunities for mentorship and an incredible commitment to diversity.”

She continued, “It’s a great work environment. My colleagues are smart, dedicated, hardworking, and help create an atmosphere of cooperation and collaboration. It has been an amazing place for me to develop. In a few short years here, I started my own practice group, had two children, and made partner.”

Mayer has won several industry awards for her work, recently named on The American Lawyer‘s 2011 45 Under 45 top women lawyers list, The Daily Journal‘s 2010 Top 20 Under 40 Attorneys in California, and Law360‘s Top 10 IP attorneys under 40 in the U.S. List, among others.

While she said that she was incredibly grateful that her work has been recognized, she said those awards are secondary to the pride she feels in the team she has built at Morrison & Foerster. “My team is an amazing group of individuals. I feel a closeness with them that comes from mutual respect. I try to give our associates meaningful and challenging work, and I set the bar high. We work extremely well together while tackling the most complex legal issues.”

Mayer said she enjoys IP law because there is something new every day in her practice, and its impact is extremely important. “Part of my practice focuses on evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of IP portfolios for investments and acquisitions. And our advice tends to be among the most important in any deal. Our advice can mean the difference between a start-up company getting funded or not, the difference between a mature company getting purchased or not, or can make the difference in deal value, sometimes on the order of billions of dollars.  And it’s our advice that affects these decisions and outcomes.  Not as business people, not as clairvoyants, but as IP attorneys.  And I think that’s pretty cool and find that pretty exciting.”

She said that she feels that she is part of the larger medical device community in addition to the legal IP community and commented that one of the biggest issues facing the medical device community now is the timeliness of regulatory approval. “The FDA is strongly weighing risks when approving devices. You realize the process of medical device innovation isn’t really coupled to regulation, and this sets up the possibility that good ideas fail because the capital requirements for taking a good idea through the approval process are not considered in the process itself. It’s really a critical issue right now, and we’ve seen many companies go out of business because of it.”

Advice for Women in Law

Mayer said that the one thing she knows now that she wished she knew when she first started her career is the importance of good communication. She said, “When I first started, I wish I had been more aware about the nuances of negotiation. It’s not just about traditional negotiation skills, it’s really about being an effective communicator and a good listener.”

She continued, “An important part of my work is communicating, and while that seems self evident, what is not always as evident is how other people perceive or receive your words. Because of time limitations imposed by external deadlines on much of my work, it’s critical to be able to negotiate through sometimes complex and detailed agenda efficiently. A poorly phrased sentence can throw a monkey wrench into a conversation. There is a real need for self awareness and careful attention to the needs of others involved, and this is a skill that is constantly evolving for me.  I wish I had better communication skills when I first started, but I am always working towards improving this, even now.”

She said she encourages all young lawyers to make sure they love what they do. “While it sounds cliché, I believe it’s so important to be passionate about your mission in life,” she said. I tell them, “Make sure your work matters to you. Whatever you do, make sure it adds to your life rather than takes away from it.”

Her advice to women who are advancing in their careers? Take control of your own destiny. “Be very clear about your goals and go after them tenaciously.”

Mayer also discussed the value and role of mentoring by upper-level women. “Start assuming mentorship roles. Mentors are an incredibly important part of the process. It helps our younger colleagues through the emotional, intellectual, and practical aspects of career development.” Mentoring has helped Mayer in her own career as well. “Being a mentor has helped me create a team that is well-accomplished, which allows me to leverage time more effectively.”

Women at Morrison Foerster

Mayer said, “I think people know that MoFo is one of the best places for women. We have a broad women’s initiative committee that tackles challenging women’s issues. And we have various part time and flexible policies in place that a lot of women take part in and rely on.”

She continued, “One of the things I’m helping with is making sure women properly reintegrate to the workplace after maternity leave – making sure the process is choreographed a little.”

In Her Personal Time

Outside the workplace, Mayer focuses her energy on raising her two young children. “I can’t describe how much I love them and how important they are to me. I really relish my time with them and each day there are so many special moments: a tight hug, a story from school, a question about a book we’re reading, or just hearing their breathing as they sleep.” she said.

Mayer is also proud of her contribution to the medical device community through her involvement with Stanford University. She has served as a guest lecturer to Stanford University’s Biodesign program for the last five years and helped write a chapter on patents for Stanford’s Biodesign course book.