Christa Brown-Sanford

Department Chair for Intellectual Property at Baker Botts

While many take career detours throughout their lives, Christa Brown-Sanford knew she wanted to be a lawyer from the age of 12.

“I told mom I wanted to be a lawyer, and then she told me, ‘Well, you’re really good at math and science. You should be a patent attorney,’” said Brown-Sanford, who is the department chair for intellectual property at Baker Botts.

Brown-Sanford attended Rice University and was one of few females and the only African American woman in the electrical engineering program. After graduation, she returned to Dallas to attend the SMU Dedman School of Law.

She got on board with Baker Botts when she finished law school and has been there since.

“My focus there is in the intellectual property space, specifically in patents,” Brown-Sanford said. “I work with companies to protect their inventions, ideas, and technology. I also do patent litigation and licensing. It’s a pretty full-scale practice.”

In a matter of years, Brown-Sanford was promoted to a partner position at Baker Botts. Over the years, she’s been recognized annually as one of D Magazine’s best lawyers since 2016, has been listed as one of Dallas Business Journal’s “40 Under 40,” and is an adjunct professor at SMU’s Dedman School of Law.

While not working, she looks for ways to give back to the community and has served as the Junior League of Dallas president from 2021 to 2022 and serves on the New Friends New Life board.

Brown-Sanford says her service in the community is especially important to her because when she was growing up, there were far fewer women in STEM for her to look up to. She wants to set an example for young girls across the community to emphasize self-confidence and the importance of STEM education.

“We just have to step outside our comfort zones,” Brown-Sanford said. “Sometimes I find that young women are a bit more hesitant to take risks and may not be as comfortable doing something that they don’t have the exact training to do, so I just want to encourage them to have that confidence.”

Dallas is the perfect place to build those skillsets and dream big as a young woman, Brown-Sanford said.

“I have always wanted to remain in Dallas,” Brown-Sanford said. “It’s just a vibrant, entrepreneurial city where you can be active, where you can be helpful, and be a part of something bigger than yourself.”