Want a spot on McDermott Will & Emery’s intellectual property team? You’d better bring more than a law degree to the table. Of the group’s 200-plus lawyers and patent agents, 70 percent hold technical or other advanced degrees.

"You need that combination of deep technical experience and expertise together with trial lawyers who really know how to talk to judges and juries," said Boston partner Sarah Chapin Columbia, who leads the firm’s IP litigation practice.