Merchant & Gould P.C.

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Heather Kliebenstein, Merchant & Gould P.C. — Heather Kliebenstein

Merchant & Gould has focused exclusively on intellectual property for over a century. The firm “helps sole inventors, emerging and established companies, universities, venture capitalists, and Fortune 500 and 100 companies stay ahead of the curve to gain leverage in new and existing markets,” according to the firm’s website.

As an intellectual property boutique, roughly half of its firm-wide practice involves securing, licensing, maintaining, and counseling relative to intellectual property matters while the other half handles litigation and trial practice.

Minneapolis-based Heather J. Kliebenstein is managing director of the firm’s eight offices across the country. With fellow members of the Executive Committee, she leads the 126-year-old firm and provides direction for planning and growth, while COO and CFO Tracy R. Skjeveland manages day-to-day operations.

Kliebenstein, who joined the firm as an associate in 2004, says the reception women received from the men who had always run the firm was “welcoming and supportive.” Kliebenstein says the firm supports women lawyers through mentorship and by challenging new lawyers to earn promotion. The openness to sharing personal struggles helps assure young women that they can take their own path and achieve success.

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