Life Sciences Partnering & Licensing Associate Attorney (3rd–6th Year)

About the Role

Our client's nationally recognized Life Sciences Corporate Partnering & Licensing practice is seeking a Life Sciences Partnering & Licensing Associate Attorney (3rd–6th year) to join its premier team in Boston, Palo Alto, or San Diego.

This role is ideal for an attorney with substantial experience representing life sciences companies in sophisticated strategic transactions, including licensing, collaboration, and other complex commercial agreements. Associates in this practice work closely with innovative biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and life sciences companies on high-value partnering transactions across all stages of the product lifecycle.

The ideal candidate combines strong transactional drafting skills with a practical understanding of the life sciences industry and its unique commercial and intellectual property considerations.

Key Responsibilities

• Represent life sciences companies in:

  • Licensing transactions

  • Collaboration agreements

  • Commercial partnering arrangements

  • Strategic alliance transactions

• Draft, review, and negotiate:

  • License agreements

  • Joint development agreements

  • Research collaboration agreements

  • Supply and commercialization agreements

  • Other strategic commercial contracts

• Advise clients on transaction structure, risk allocation, and commercialization strategy

• Collaborate with corporate, IP, regulatory, and patent teams on multidisciplinary transactions

• Support clients ranging from emerging biotech companies to established pharmaceutical organizations

• Manage multiple sophisticated transactions simultaneously in a fast-paced environment

Required Qualifications

• 3–6 years of experience representing life sciences companies in:

  • Strategic commercial transactions

  • Licensing and collaboration agreements

  • Partnering and alliance transactions

• Strong drafting and negotiation experience involving life sciences-related agreements

• Experience gained at:

  • A national or international law firm OR

  • An in-house legal department supporting life sciences companies

• Excellent analytical, communication, and organizational skills

• Ability to manage sophisticated client relationships and active deal flow

• Strong academic credentials from a nationally recognized law school

Preferred Qualifications

• Corporate transactional experience

• Patent or intellectual property experience

• Technical or scientific degree in:

  • Biology

  • Chemistry

  • Biochemistry

  • Biomedical sciences

  • Related life sciences discipline

Ideal Candidate Profile

• Strong life sciences transactional associate with sophisticated drafting skills

• Comfortable advising innovative biotech and pharmaceutical clients

• Strong commercial judgment and attention to detail

• Collaborative team player who thrives in fast-paced, complex transactional environments

Preferred Background

Best-fit candidates likely come from:

• Am Law 100 life sciences practices

• Chambers-ranked life sciences transactional groups

• In-house biotech/pharma legal teams

Strong target firms may include:

• Cooley

• Goodwin

• Wilson Sonsini

• Latham

• Fenwick

• Ropes & Gray

• WilmerHale

• Covington

• Mintz

• Morrison Foerster