Fish & Richardson Announces Jason Zucchi and Judy Wasilkus Selected for Minnesota Lawyer's 2016 Legal Awards

Fish & Richardson announced that principal Jason Zucchi has been named a 2016 "Up & Coming Attorney" and paralegal Judy Wasilkus has been named an "Unsung Legal Hero" by Minnesota Lawyer. Zucchi and Wasilkus will be honored at an event in the Twin Cities on September 8, 2016.

The "Up & Coming Lawyer" award is given to a small group of attorneys who have practiced for 10 years or less and have distinguished themselves through professional accomplishment, leadership, and service to the community or profession. Zucchi, who is a principal in Fish's Intellectual Property (IP) Litigation Group, focuses his practice in the technology areas mobile app technologies, GPS, telecommunications, micro-electronics, telematics, mobile payments, VoIP, and medical devices. He also advises clients concerning the licensing of their intellectual property and patenting strategies, and counsels emerging businesses seeking to commercialize and protect their innovations.

Outside the office, Zucchi is actively involved in the Minnesota High Tech Association, where he conducts quarterly programs on various IP topics for some of the 300-plus local and national high-tech companies located in the Twin Cities. He also serves on the Association for Corporate Growth, Minnesota Chapter, which connects inventors and startups that need funding to the hedge funds and investment firms that are interested in funding promising high-tech startups.

Zucchi received his J.D., magna cum laude, Order of the Coif, from the University of Minnesota Law School in 2007, and his B.S. from the University of Wisconsin in 2002.

Wasilkus was one of only 22 legal support professionals selected for the "Unsung Legal Hero" award, which recognizes the state's most talented and dedicated legal support professionals. She joined Fish in 1997, where she served as a secretary and then as a patent prosecution administrative trainer for new hires across the firm's 11 U.S. offices. She received the Fish & Richardson Achievement Award in 2011, and became a U.S. patent paralegal at the firm in 2012. Before joining Fish, Wasilkus worked in the patent and licensing department of a major corporation. She is a graduate of the University of Minnesota and completed additional coursework on the Patent Cooperation Treaty at the John Marshall Law School.