Fish & Richardson Principal Karan Jhurani Named a 2023 Leadership Council on Legal Diversity Fellow and Associates Dexter Whitley and Alex Pechette Selected for the Pathfinder Program

Fish is proud to announce that Principal Karan Jhurani has been named a 2023 Leadership Counsel on Legal Diversity Fellow and Associates Dexter Whitley, Ph.D., and Alex Pechette have been selected for LCLD’s Pathfinder program. For the last 12 years, Fish has taken part in LCLD’s programs with over 25 attorneys selected for these renowned programs.

“The Fellows and Pathfinders programs are valuable opportunities for promising attorneys to hone their leadership skills,” said Ahmed J. Davis, Fish principal and national chair of the firm’s Diversity and Inclusion initiative. “I have no doubt Karan, Dexter, and Alex will grow into even stronger leaders and advocates for the Fish diversity and inclusion efforts that we put at the forefront of all we do.”

The year-long Fellows program was launched in 2011 with the purpose of mentoring diverse lawyers with eight to 15 years of experience in the legal industry to be the leaders of tomorrow. Pathfinders is a seven-month professional development program that aims to train high-performing, early-career attorneys on relationship building and foundational leadership. This program gives participants opportunities to learn from experienced leaders in the legal profession, professional development experts, and executive coaches.

Jhurani has a multi-faceted practice including strategic patent counseling, post-grant proceedings, and patent litigation. Through his interdisciplinary practice and industry knowledge, Jhurani has significant experience in a wide range of technologies, including machine learning, FinTech, sporting goods design and development, encryption and software security solutions, and image and video processing. Jhurani was previously a 1L LCLD Scholar. Jhurani received his J.D., with honors, Order of the Coif, from Emory University School of Law and his B.S. with highest honors in computer science from Georgia Institute of Technology.

Whitley, a litigation associate, focuses his practice on complex patent cases involving life sciences, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, and Hatch-Waxman litigation. Whitley received his J.D., Order of the Coif, from University of Miami School of Law and his Ph.D. and M.S. in microbiology from the University of Mississippi Medical Center.

Pechette is a litigation associate who focuses on patent trials and appeals. His experience spans a wide array of technologies, including medical devices, sporting equipment, signal processing, seismometers, and software. He clerked for Chief Judge Kimberly A. Moore of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Pechette received his J.D., with honors, from the University of Chicago Law School and his M.S.E and B.S.E., magna cum laude, in mechanical engineering from the University of Michigan.

About the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity

The Leadership Council on Legal Diversity is an organization of more than 400 corporate chief legal officers and law firm managing partners — the leadership of the profession — who have pledged themselves, through LCLD’s Leaders at the Front initiative and other means, to creating a truly diverse U.S. legal profession. LCLD’s action programs are designed to attract, inspire, and nurture the talent in society and within organizations, thereby helping a new and more diverse generation of attorneys ascend to positions of leadership. By producing tangible results in institutions, LCLD works to promote inclusiveness in its members’ organizations, circles of influence, and society, with the ultimate goal of building a more equitable and diverse legal profession. https://www.lcldnet.org/