Manuela Cabal Carmona,
Associate
McAndrews, Held & Malloy
Coalition Chicago Member
Why did you join the Coalition?
I was looking for a community of strong, successful female attorneys who could help me understand, prepare for, and overcome the challenges women face in the legal profession. I wanted to be part of a group where I could ask questions and exchange advice without judgment, and enhance my professional network, all while having some fun.
What committees are you active on?
I am the Co-Chair of the Associates Committee and McAndrews’ associate representative to that same committee.
Give us your elevator speech … or “Call me if you have …”
As an intellectual property attorney at McAndrews, I get to help scientists, doctors, and engineers protect and leverage their ideas, innovations, and inventions. More specifically, we provide expertise and counseling in all matters relating to intellectual property (“IP”). That means for some clients, we provide guidance about the process for protecting those innovations. For other clients, it means we help them enforce their IP rights against accused infringers, while for other clients it means we help them understand how to avoid others’ existing IP rights, while still achieving their business goals. Most often, it means we help identify a solution to a business problem by providing innovative solutions tailored to the clients’ IP strategies, priorities, and needs.
Tell us something interesting about you that many people don’t know.
I was born and raised in Cali, Colombia. I moved to the U.S. after I graduated from high school to play soccer in college.
Favorite book or podcast?
My favorite book is One Hundred Years of Solitude by Colombian author Gabriel García Márquez. It is a rich cultural and historical soap opera; it is magical realism. It is the only book I have liked so much that I started re-reading it in a different language. The author is said to have preferred the English version to the original, Spanish version. Interestingly, the English version has not carried the same depth of experience for me thus far.
My favorite podcast is Revisionist History by Malcolm Gladwell. While I do not necessarily agree with all his ideas and theories, I find them interesting and they challenge my assumptions. I also enjoy his suspenseful, accessible style.
