Suzanne Kiefer | President and Principal Consultant
Professional Background
Suzanne “Suzie” Kiefer is the “K” in KIP Connections, LLC and brings with her twenty years of legal and management experience to address any IP or legal department challenge. Suzie’s strength is working with clients to identify challenges within their internal IP or legal departments. More specifically, these activities include assessing workflow processes, docketing systems or non-lawyer staffing needs and then recommending strategies and implementing solutions. Suzie believes her problem-solving capabilities were fostered in her first paralegal job at an IP boutique firm where in her first week at work she was issued the responsibility of getting a tractor driven through a busy downtown to the courthouse where a patent infringement trial was in progress.
Since that time, Suzie has moved through her career juggling many roles and responsibilities. While handling traditional paralegal responsibilities in both intellectual property prosecution and litigation, Suzie moved into management roles that provided her the opportunity to manage people and projects, develop and implement processes and procedures, develop and manage databases, develop documentation, and provide non-attorney training.
Suzie’s professional experience has included working in Kansas City, Tulsa and Dallas with an IP boutique law firm and several large general practice law firms. In addition to her IP prosecution and IP litigation experience, she’s worked many years of litigation in oil-field groundwater contamination and labor and employment issues.
Putting Business Skills to Work in the Community
In September 2000, Suzie co-founded a nonprofit organization called Heart House Dallas that provides free afterschool programs for children in low-income neighborhoods. She served as the volunteer Executive Director for five years developing and managing operations and fundraising. For her work, Suzie received an award in 2005 called “Excellence in Nonprofit Leadership” from the Center for Nonprofit Management in Dallas, Texas. She currently serves as Board Chairman.
Under Suzie’s leadership, another nonprofit organization called the Dallas Afterschool Network emerged in April 2006 after leading an extensive county-wide needs assessment on the state of afterschool care in Dallas County, Texas. The Dallas Afterschool Network is a collaboration of afterschool programs within Dallas County to raise awareness and provides many opportunities for afterschool programs to network and obtain training for afterschool care staff. Suzie currently serves on that organization’s Board of Directors.
A full resume is available upon request.
[See articles written by Suzie]
Suzie can be contacted at [skiefer@kipconnections.com]
Our Advisors
KIP Connections collaborates and consults with attorneys and professionals within the IP legal and business community to ensure the best quality of service for their clients.
