As a former environmental engineer, 3L Talia Offord arrived at the Earle Mack School of Law with experience developing and enforcing air quality standards that adhere to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency requirements.

Offord discovered that she had a keen interest in advocacy after giving presentations about air quality concerns to community groups in Sun City, Ariz.

"It made me feel good to give people information they needed that they did not have the resources to obtain for themselves," Offord said.

But like her classmates, she'd had minimal contact with the legal system or the practice of law before coming to the Earle Mack School of Law.

A two-year immersion in classes from torts to contracts, business organizations and intellectual property law gave Offord tremendous knowledge and insights into the law and legal practice.

So Offord was delighted in the start of her third year to start a co-op placement at Dilworth Paxson so that she could apply what she'd learned in her classes. Her very first week, Offord's supervisor asked her to help with a significant case involving a nuance in copyright law. He needed her to do extensive research to find out if a particular item traditionally covered by patent protection could in fact be copyrighted as a creative approach to obtaining protection for the client.

And then it hit Offord: that practicing lawyers never know everything that they need to know.

"You think: 'I got a decent grade in the class, so I know what I need to know.' But then you go into your co-op placement and face questions that fall into a gray area and have to make judgment calls. That's such a big part of what lawyers have to do every day."

Working with attorney John W. Goldschmidt has given Offord myriad opportunities to see the little details of effective practice in action. As the chair of Dilworth Paxson's Intellectual Property Group, Goldschmidt steers a diverse variety of clients through complex procedures related to trademarks, patents and copyright, Offord said.

"I've learned that you need to have the law floating in your head as you listen to clients," Offord said. "Mr. Goldschmidt offers his clients advice proactively, saying 'Let's think forward.'"

As a scientist, Offord enjoys working with inventors and other clients who seek help from intellectual property lawyers.

"I like innovation and helping people protect their ideas," the Arizona native said.

Toward that end, Offord began researching a note for potential publication in an upcoming edition of the Drexel Law Review in which she examines the constitutionality of the U.S. Congress' diversion of patent fees into public coffers.

"It's like you're taxing inventors," Offord said.