Alumni Spotlight — Adam Portnow

Adam Portnow, BSDAS 2004, is a registered Patent Attorney who has built his own practice, Law Office of Adam B. Portnow, P.L., since 2008. After graduating from the University of Florida, Adam studied law at St. Thomas University College of Law. Using his background in digital technology and law degree, he currently works with cases regarding intellectual property, civil litigation, wills, probate, and guardianship.

In what ways did your Digital Arts and Sciences experience prepare you for your career?

[Learning to] work collaboratively with others is a big one, also meeting deadlines. Obtaining an engineering degree through Digital Worlds has allowed me to do what I do today, which is work as a patent attorney. You need a science or engineering background to sit for the patent bar exam and be a patent attorney, not every lawyer can do that. Primarily what I do today is help artists, entrepreneurs, inventors secure their intellectual property rights and protect their inventions. So [my education] benefited me in a lot of ways, from giving me basic skills of learning how to collaborate and put in the hours to get started, and as well as knowledge in computer engineering, graphic design. All of it helps me in dealing with my clients.

What do you like about your current career?

I get to use both sides of the brain, you know, the right brain and the left brain. My career requires looking at things from a very analytic standpoint but I also have to be creative and find solutions to problems.

What are some of your favorite memories from when you were in the program?

Wow, there’s a lot. A lot of time spent in the computer labs. My favorite memories were being able to work together with my classmates on projects for our core classes. We did some really cool stuff. Specifically, I’d have to say my senior project with my brother in arms, Pat Pagano in the master’s program. He’s actually a professor now at a community college in Baltimore. We did a really great presentation performance piece in the black box theater. We were there for all the groundbreaking stuff…I’m sure [Digital Worlds] has changed a little bit now, but it really felt like I was a part of something new and cool when I was there.

What advice would you give to current students?

Work harder than you think you need to. You get out what you put in, so really work hard and see where it takes you.