Victoria Maroulis, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan.

Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan litigation partner Victoria Maroulis won a rare anti-suit injunction for Samsung blocking Huawei's efforts to enforce patents in China. That win opened the door for a favorable settlement in a major cross-licensing dispute in the U.S. and China relating to portfolios of patents declared essential to 3G and 4G mobile technology standards. Maroulis, who is being recognized as one of 21 Women Leaders in Tech Law as part of The Recorder's California Leaders in Tech Law and Innovation Awards, recently reflected on the past year's accomplishments.

The Recorder: What's your proudest professional achievement of the past year and why?

Victoria Maroulis: Successfully resolving a major, high-profile, cross-border, patent-and-licensing dispute between the firm's client Samsung and its competitor Huawei relating to patents declared essential to 3G and 4G mobile technology standards. While we all like winning before a jury, most clients prefer to resolve the cases on favorable terms and short of trial. In this case, we fought Huawei in multiple forums including the Northern District of California, the Federal Circuit, the U.S. Patent Office, and several courts in China. By scoring a number of strategic pretrial wins—including invalidating multiple Huawei patents at the Patent Office and obtaining a rare anti-suit injunction blocking Huawei's enforcement in China—we positioned the case for a very successful pretrial resolution.

What's your proudest personal achievement of the past year and why?

Launching the second of my three kids into adulthood. My daughter has a strong moral compass, commitment to social justice, and compassion for people and animals in need. I would like to think that my parenting contributed to that.

What's one piece of advice you'd give to a woman starting out in tech law?

Learn about each tech client's business and gain understanding of their market and strategic priorities beyond your specific case or project. It is not enough to win individual cases: You need to make sure you are furthering clients' overall business objectives.

What concrete steps could be made to increase the number of women in tech law?

The key to increasing the number of women in tech law is to focus on twin goals of recruiting and promotion. The firms and in-house departments have made great strides in recruiting more women with STEM backgrounds and/or passion for technology. But that is not enough; it is crucial to make sure they thrive and progress through the ranks. That means going out of your way to give a midlevel female associate trial experience and other stand-up or client-facing opportunities. And it also means selecting women as lead counsel in high-stakes tech trials or closely watched Federal Circuit appeals, and, more generally, picking up the phone and giving business directly to female lawyers. In high-stakes technology cases, corporate boards and management tend to select the lead counsel they already know, and most of those counsel currently are not women. To effect change, boards and management need to take the next step and select the talented women attorneys who are ready and able to do the job.