2022 Intellectual Property Program
Panelist Bios

Magistrate Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley

Magistrate Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley has been on the federal bench since 2011 and has presided over nearly every type of civil action at all stages of the proceedings, from motions to dismiss through jury trial. She has also served as a settlement judge in over 1000 lawsuits. On November 1, 2021, President Biden nominated Judge Corley to serve as a United States District Judge in San Francisco. She is currently awaiting a vote by the full United States Senate.

Just prior to taking the bench, Judge Corley was a partner at Kerr & Wagstaffe, LLP in San Francisco as a civil litigator with an emphasis on federal practice. She represented individuals, government entities, and institutions as plaintiffs and defendants in a variety of matters that included trademark, copyright, patent, constitutional law, defamation, malicious prosecution, class actions, contract and probate. From 1998 through 2009 Judge Corley served as a career law clerk to the Honorable Charles R. Breyer. She also served on the Northern District of California Alternative Dispute Resolution mediation and early neutral evaluation panels from 2006 through her appointment.

Judge Corley received her undergraduate degree from U.C. Berkeley, and her J.D. from Harvard Law School, magna cum laude, where she was an editor and Articles Chair of the Harvard Law Review. Upon graduation she served as a law clerk to the Honorable Robert E. Keeton of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. She then practiced complex commercial litigation and white collar criminal defense at Goodwin, Procter LLP in Boston and was a litigation associate at Coblentz, Patch, Duffy & Bass LLP in San Francisco before joining Judge Breyer in 1998.

Professor Jeffrey A. Lefstin

Jeffrey A. Lefstin is Professor of Law at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, in San Francisco. He received his Sc.B. in Biology from Brown University, magna cum laude; his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of California, San Francisco; and his J.D. from Stanford University, where he was elected to the Order of the Coif. At UC Hastings, Professor Lefstin teaches contracts, patent law, intellectual property, and international intellectual property. His current researche focuses on the historical development of patent law and its institutions, especially patent-eligible subject matter. He also co-directs the UC Hastings – Bucerius Law School program in transnational intellectual property transactions in Hamburg, Germany.

Professor Lefstin joined the Hastings faculty after serving as a law clerk to Judge Raymond C. Clevenger, III, at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. He also practiced patent and antitrust law with the biotechnology and litigation groups at Townsend, Townsend & Crew in San Francisco. Prior to his legal career, he was a molecular biologist, studying mammalian gene regulatory mechanisms and DNA-protein interactions. His scientific papers appeared in Nature, Genes & Development, and the Journal of Molecular Biology.

Irene Yang

Irene Yang is a partner in Sidley’s San Francisco and Palo Alto offices and a member of the IP Litigation practice, focusing on patent litigation in the high tech and life sciences industries. She has represented clients in cases involving a diverse set of technologies, such as networking and telecommunications, semiconductors, medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and consumer devices, as well as cases involving FRAND obligations for standard-essential patents. Irene’s litigation experience also includes trademark and trade dress, business torts, antitrust, employment discrimination, veterans’ benefits, and asylum proceedings.

Irene is a trial lawyer who has represented clients before the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, U.S. District Courts in California, Texas, Delaware, Illinois, New York, and Florida, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), and the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). Irene also counsels clients on intellectual property issues. She has been recognized as a 2019 Rising Star for intellectual property litigation by Law360 and as a Super Lawyer (2019-2020) and a Rising Star (2016) for intellectual property litigation by Super Lawyers. She serves on the Boards of Directors for the Asian American Bar Association of the Greater Bay Area and for the Federal Circuit Bar Association. She also serves on the NDCA mediation panel and is the hiring partner for the San Francisco office.

She earned a J.D. from the University of California, Davis School of Law and a B.S. in Computer Science from Stanford University.