Nicole Norris J.D. ’02
Nicole Norris J.D. ’02, associate general counsel for Vendavo, is now also of counsel for Wittliff Cutter PLLC. She sat down to share her story of how she got to where she is today.
For Norris, she knew in junior year of undergrad that she wanted to pursue a professional school and considered law school the inevitable path. After growing up in Fremont, California, she decided to attend law school in Santa Clara to be with her family in the Bay Area.
Norris had her plan set out before she went to school. “When I went into law school, it was 1999 and intellectual property attorneys were honestly the ones who were being hired with such rapid frequency that I was very confident if I went into that field, particularly at Santa Clara University, which is in the heart of the Silicon Valley, that I would be successful getting a job out of law school,” remarked Norris.
Norris earned her Juris Doctor in 2002 from Santa Clara University School of Law. During law school, Norris participated in the Law Summer Abroad program, the Computer & High Tech Law Journal, and graduated with a High Tech Law Certificate. She also participated in Howrey LLP’s inaugural Trial Boot Camp.
“A trial is very much like putting on a theatrical production: You not only have to be intelligent, but you also, more importantly, have to be persuasive,” said Norris. “And that was almost like a creative outlet in me, thinking about, ‘OK, how can I wrap this very complicated, technical, boring-at-times information into a package that is going to be digestible for a judge and a jury?’”
After graduation, Norris joined Howrey LLP full-time as an intellectual property litigation attorney. After nearly 3 years with the firm, she moved to Winston & Strawn LLP.
Norris offered her advice for law students following in her path. “When I exited law school and started actually working in a law firm, civil procedure was the most important thing I needed to know,” commented Norris. “You are trying to put together document requests and other discovery, helping calendar deadlines, working with the legal secretaries to get documents filed and serving subpoenas. You need to know the proper procedure for all of those assignments typically given to new lawyers.”
Norris’ legal graphic congratulating her on winning Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC, et al. vs General Nanotechnology LLC, et al.
After law school, Norris went on to have an accomplished career. Highlights include a $500 million thermonuclear fusion case representing Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC, et al. against General Nanotechnology LLC, et al. “It was just the most fun I have had professionally and the most satisfying,” said Norris. “And that was a case that I actually, as a mid-level associate, brought into the firm because I happened to know the former general counsel at Lawrence Livermore… and we took it all the way to trial.” Norris and her team won the trial quickly after closing arguments in a unanimous jury verdict.
Norris noted how some of her most memorable and fun cases are not the multimillion-dollar cases, but those where she got to represent clients who would otherwise not have any representation. One of these cases included representing a very small company, run by a 23-year-old still in school, in an unlawful detainer. She won the case swiftly after taking it to trial.
“He gave me this [trophy]… which says ‘Above and beyond,’ you know, presented to me for ‘absolutely outstanding performance.’ And this is from a 23-year-old kid at school. We’re still friends today,” commented Norris while holding up the trophy.
Norris’ career also included an antitrust trial with Abbott Laboratories and several other cases over a hundred million dollars.
In 2021, she joined Vendavo, Inc. as a senior legal counsel before being promoted to associate general counsel in May 2023.
In addition to her role as associate general counsel for Vendavo, Norris now joins Wittliff Cutter PLLC with 20 years of legal experience, and a focus on intellectual property and complex litigation matters. Norris has worked for Colt Wallerstein LLP, Live Eyewear, Stoneridge Funding, and has her own law firm, Stoneridge Legal, as well. Her work focuses on trade secret, trademark, patent, and antitrust litigation in technology, software, pharmaceutical, and medical device fields.