Thanks to persistent efforts to consistently do her best, Amrita V. Singh, Law’12, has received this year’s Dan Soberman Outstanding Young Alumni Award for early-career success. “My mum always impressed upon me that as long as I did my absolute best, that was enough,” she says. “That became my mentality: always do the best I possibly can.”

The young lawyer is now a partner with the international intellectual property (IP) firm, Marks & Clerk, where her litigation practice covers all areas of IP, from patents to trademarks and copyright. She has appeared as an expert witness before the Canadian federal government and advised the government on IP issues. She has also been short-listed for the 2021 Trademark Practitioner of the Year by Managing Intellectual Property and recognized as a Lexology Legal Influencer.

Singh’s interest in advocacy began in high school, where she was an award-winning orator. She completed her undergraduate degree in Health Sciences at Western University, then earned her JD at Queen’s. IP litigation was a way for Singh to fuse her science background and training with oral advocacy and the law. “I love science and I didn’t want that to not be part of the rest of my career,” she says. “And intellectual property law for people who are interested in innovation is a really interesting and fun space to be in because things are constantly changing in exciting ways.”

In her work as a lawyer, Singh says that she still gets to indulge her love of science and work with innovators and creators: “If you think about it from the perspective of working on the patent side, people are always creating new things that are hopefully improvements that benefit many people, and you get to help them protect those innovations. That appeals to the scientist in me,” she says.

But IP law is more than just an interesting area of law for those with science backgrounds; it’s also an area of law that affects everyone, she says. Especially during the pandemic, many people are at home watching movies and television shows, listening to podcasts, virtually touring art galleries, and watching online versions of plays and operas – all works that have copyright in them. “It’s important to protect those works so that people are in a position to continue creating,” she explains. “On the trademark side of things, it’s about helping brand owners protect their distinct marks and reputations, which customers know and trust – it can take a long time to build a great brand, and very little time to harm it.” 

Singh credits her mooting experience at Queen’s Law for laying the foundations for her litigation practice. She participated in competitive moots in first and second year, winning first-place oralist and second-place factum awards. “Participating in the first-year competitive moot was absolutely essential to affirming that litigation was the right decision for me because I got to experience what it was like to prepare and present before real judges, and answer real questions, and demonstrate a true understanding of the law,” she says. The mooting and awards helped Singh build her confidence and hone her oral advocacy skills. “It was a matter of taking it from there and running with it for my practice,” she adds.

Outside of her busy practice, Singh is very involved with the Ontario Bar Association and sits as Vice-Chair of the Intellectual Property Institute of Canada’s (IPIC) Litigation Committee, mentoring junior lawyers through both organizations amongst others, as well as law students through the McGill Law Women of Colour Collective, and secondary school students through the Ontario Justice Education Network (OJEN) mock trial. She views her mentorship work as a way to “pay it forward” because of the mentorship she has received throughout her career, especially when she was finding her footing in the world of law. She says she is grateful especially to mentors Robert MacFarlane, Law’73, and Jonathan Colombo, Managing Partner of Marks & Clerk Canada.

“When I mentor law students and young lawyers, I am mindful of wanting to make sure they feel comfortable in asking all their questions and trying to figure out where they belong,” she says. “In part because I am a person of colour who is also female – there are not a huge number of us in IP – I try to make time to encourage young people who are interested in IP and the law, and hopefully in so doing, lead by example.” 

The Soberman Award is an indicator to Singh that she’s not only doing her best at her practice, but also as a Queen’s Law graduate. “When I go out into the world, I’m always proud to say that I went to Queen’s Law,” she says, “And this award is a little bit like Queen’s saying, ‘We’re proud to say you went to Queen’s Law, too!’”

By Geena Mortfield