Bobbie Wilson, a partner at Perkins Coie. (Courtesy photo)

After a former Uber employee's blog post alleging harassment, discrimination and inappropriate behavior went viral, IP litigator Bobbie Wilson led a team investigating specific allegations raised from a confidential help line that Uber set up for employees. Wilson and her team at Perkins Coie went through thousands of internal documents and emails, and spoke with current and former employees to investigate claims.

What's the best part about working in the tech sector?

The best part is that I represent clients with cutting-edge technology and that can raise novel issues often ahead of any regulatory or legal framework.

What's the biggest challenge?

Sometimes the biggest challenge is getting the law to catch up to issues raised by technology. You can analogize with assisting law but many times these are issues of first impression. You have to not only assist your client with its current needs, you also have to consider events far into the future to recognize potential long-term effects.

What piece of advice do you give to lawyers considering a career in tech law?

Understand your client's business and anticipate areas that business may grow so that you can help them avoid land mines that they simply have no way of knowing from their current vantage point and because they are focused on the business, not legal issues.

What's one way technology has made your life easier?

Technology has made my life easier by allowing me to reach and serve more clients in lots of different ways. Clients have their own preferences for how they communicate and technology better allows me to customize those preferences.

One way it's made your life more difficult?

There is much more opportunity to do and say things before they have been really thought through. Clients can make mistakes and say things inadvertently that might influence a stock price or make them the subject of unflattering media or regulatory inquiries. There are also more ways for the public to weigh in on how you are running your business which can create firestorms and other headaches because the client failed to consider how a statement, recorded conversation or video might be perceived.

Name an important opportunity you got early in your career and what you did with it?

I had the opportunity to be part of a team handling a case that involved recombinant DNA technology. I didn't know anything about the subject matter but I sat through tutorials, reviewed volumes and volumes of documents over the holidays and was later given the opportunity to attend depositions in Sweden. It was my first patent litigation case and it was a great opportunity to show that I could contribute through hard work and tenacity.

What's the best piece of career advice anyone ever gave you?

I was asked to lunch by a senior trial lawyer from another firm who saw me in court and introduced himself. My then firm had no other African American attorneys. He convinced me to switch my practice area and become an IP lawyer. Best thing I ever did as it created many, many opportunities to represent technology clients. It also taught me to stay abreast of where the law is going and don't be afraid to re-invent yourself or learn a new area to bolster your career.

No. 1 survival tip in a work crisis:

Breathe. It helps you think and keeps you calm.

What's one way you've had to change your thinking toward practicing law to succeed with tech industry clients?

Attorneys are supposedly by nature risk adverse. Some say it's why we have chosen the profession that we have. I have had to change my thinking about risk and how much risk is right for a business that is trying to do things that have never been done before. It hasn't changed my ethics or moral compass but I have gotten more comfortable with greater known or knowable risk.

What's one area of technology that you're most excited about and why?

Artificial intelligence is one area that I am most excited about. I don't know if it's because it speaks to my inner Sci-Fi nerd but it's cool stuff and the possibilities are endless. It impacts everything from search algorithms to drones, and also touches on things like autonomous vehicles to voice on your phone. It sparks the imagination as you can foresee the benefits of making lives better but also the mischief that can ensue from that same technology. AI will challenge our ethics as well as our conscience. It's going to be a helluva ride.