“No company has  a culture; every company is  a culture. Every startup is a team of people on a mission, and a good culture is just what that looks like on the inside.” – Peter Thiel, Zero to One

We founded Fernando & Partners, LLP with a commitment to create a diverse and welcoming workplace tailored to the practice of patent preparation and prosecution.

We strive to ensure that our firm is a place where our people have a genuine sense of belonging and connection with colleagues and clients – without pressure to conform to a rigid, and often phony, big law culture that is the antithesis of the Silicon Valley ethos.

We are not in the business of maintaining a cultural museum or relics of the past, simply because there is an old guard network that blindly maintains that things have always been done a certain way. Those guys have big firms where they are free to stagnate and be self-congratulatory. We’re busy doing more interesting and challenging work: Developing patent portfolios for some of Silicon Valley’s most recognizable companies and stealth startups, alike, that are developing game changing tech.

One of the significant ways that we are very different from big law is that we have wholly abandoned the billable hour model. The billable hour model is a relic of the past and simply does not make sense for patent preparation and prosecution. If you are an experienced patent practitioner, we know we’re preaching to the choir, and we’ve shared your frustrations. Our firm has been designed from the ground up to satisfy the business of patent preparation and prosecution. In turn, our team is freed from the game of matching an artificial billable hour model to the practical realities of delivering top-of-class work product. The results are perfect alignment with client needs and a collective working style that is truly enjoyable.

We operate with the same flexibility and responsiveness as a well-tuned Silicon Valley startup, because that is exactly what we are and how we endeavor to conduct ourselves. We welcome misfits and rebellious personalities that are not afraid to ask questions. If something is not working, we want to recognize it quickly and change it. We are constantly evaluating how we practice, and encourage everyone – attorneys, agents, and support staff – to contribute ideas on how we can collectively improve our performance as a firm in order to achieve greater alignment with our clients.