Title: Principal
Workplace: Fish & Richardson P.C.
Age: 34
In a state that is home to what’s been called the “chemical capital of the world,” a lawyer who understands the complexities of patents in industries from pharmaceuticals to software can be invaluable.
Nitika Gupta Fiorella, principal at Fish & Richardson P.C., is well versed in every level of litigation. Her sophisticated level of knowledge about the complex facts, technology, procedural intricacies and nuances of this type of legal work have led her to represent some of the top-branded pharmaceutical clients in high-stakes cases.
There’s no margin for error in Fiorella’s work. She has accepted that challenge as trailblazer, being one of the few female lawyers to argue at the Federal Circuit level (women have represented just 12.6% of such attorneys over the last decade, according to Fiorella). During the pandemic, she had the honor of arguing the first-ever virtual Federal Circuit argument. She won the case two days later.
COVID-19 has also helped Fiorella embrace an opportunity to prioritize her time and also remotely volunteer long-distance at a Detroit high school. Fiorella’s philanthropic nature also extends to Immigration Equality, through which she regularly handles pro bono cases. The Delaware native is the daughter of Indian immigrants, and pursued a chemical engineering degree while also dreaming of becoming a trial lawyer.
At New York University School of Law, Fiorella was in the top 25% of her class during her tenure, and then worked as an intern for Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), a research assistant at the University of Delaware and NYU, and as a law clerk for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and then for the federal circuit.
She also served as a summer associate and full-time associate at Fish & Richardson starting in 2011, and is a founding board member of Innocence Delaware, which aims to exonerate those who have been wrongfully convicted in the First State.
