Lisa Martens came west from Chicago in the late 1990s at a time when intellectual property law was just coming into its own. She was first exposed to it at DePaul College of Law and was so struck that it became her principal focus in her law career.

Martens, 38, a partner in Fish & Richardson’s 50-member San Diego office, established the firm’s trademark and copyright practice in 2002, which has since flourished with such clients as Intel, Apple, Callaway Golf, AMN Healthcare and Jack in the Box, among others. Before that, when she was an associate at Cooley Godward, she built its trademark practice from the ground up. An expert in the field, she has written several articles on trademark and copyright issues.

Inside the office, Martens and several other female attorneys and tech specialists formed a group that meets regularly to help them with issues that face women in the law. The group organized a significant change in the firm’s family leave policies that provide more paid and flex time for both male and female employees to deal with family-related issues. “We’re now working on a balanced hours policy,” says Martens. “It’s pretty close to being accepted.”