{"id":105198,"date":"2023-10-31T12:09:40","date_gmt":"2023-10-31T16:09:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/?post_type=bu-article&#038;p=105198"},"modified":"2023-11-13T12:22:57","modified_gmt":"2023-11-13T17:22:57","slug":"forging-his-own-path","status":"publish","type":"bu-article","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/record\/articles\/2023\/forging-his-own-path\/","title":{"rendered":"Forging His Own Path"},"content":{"rendered":"\t<div class=\"wp-block-editorial-leadin record-block-editorial-leadin is-style-text-over-image has-media has-box has-media-focus-center-middle has-text-position-x-right has-text-position-y-bottom has-primary-theme\">\n\t\t<div class=\"container-lockup\">\n\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-leadin-media\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<img width=\"1500\" height=\"1100\" src=\"\/law\/files\/2023\/10\/jeremy-brunner-and-brother.jpg\" class=\"\" alt=\"Jeremy Brunner (&#039;24) with his brother with a lake in the background\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/10\/jeremy-brunner-and-brother.jpg 1500w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/10\/jeremy-brunner-and-brother-636x466.jpg 636w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/10\/jeremy-brunner-and-brother-1024x751.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/10\/jeremy-brunner-and-brother-768x563.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/10\/jeremy-brunner-and-brother-1126x826.jpg 1126w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/10\/jeremy-brunner-and-brother-930x682.jpg 930w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/10\/jeremy-brunner-and-brother-1407x1032.jpg 1407w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/10\/jeremy-brunner-and-brother-469x344.jpg 469w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/10\/jeremy-brunner-and-brother-721x529.jpg 721w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/10\/jeremy-brunner-and-brother-938x688.jpg 938w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/10\/jeremy-brunner-and-brother-1443x1058.jpg 1443w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/10\/jeremy-brunner-and-brother-1364x1000.jpg 1364w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"container-words-outer\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"container-words-inner\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"wp-prepress-tag\">Giving<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"head\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tForging His Own Path\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"deck\">Robert T. Butler scholarship allows an engineer to pursue IP law career.<\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar js-block-editorial-metabar record-prepress-layout-metabar\">\n\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-date\">October 31, 2023<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-credits\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul data-credit-type=\"By\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/record\/authors\/laura-ernde\/\">Laura Ernde<\/a><\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-share js-bu-prepress-share-tools\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-twitter\"><span>Twitter<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-facebook\"><span>Facebook<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-action\"><\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\t\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-editorial-introparagraph record-block-editorial-introparagraph is-style-dropcap-outlined has-dropcap has-dropcap-color-primary\"><div class=\"wp-block-editorial-introparagraph-content\"><p>With a comfortable job as a consultant sales engineer, <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/jeremy-brunner-790227100\/\" target=\"_blank\">Jeremy Brunner<\/a> (\u201924) approached his decision to attend law school as any respectable engineer would: from a practical, return-on-investment standpoint. Could he parlay his bachelor\u2019s degree in engineering into a career in intellectual property law without jeopardizing his future livelihood?<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>The answer, thanks to the Robert T. Butler Scholarship Fund, was yes.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI know for a fact that it would not have been possible without the scholarship,\u201d Brunner says. \u201cI needed it to make financial sense.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now entering his third year at BU Law, Brunner recently finished a summer associate program at WilmerHale in Boston, where he plans to begin practicing IP litigation next fall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The career shift is a dream that\u2019s been a long time coming for the Milwaukee-area native.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since graduating from high school, Brunner has followed in the footsteps of his older brother, Matt. He entered the University of Wisconsin-Madison\u2019s engineering program a year behind his brother, even moving into his brother\u2019s former apartment for his final year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When Brunner graduated from UW, a promising job opened up in Boston, at his brother&#8217;s company. Yet Jeremy wondered whether he should once again go along behind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI kept doing the same things he was doing, but that last one was a bridge too far,\u201d he says. \u201cI didn\u2019t want to be doing the same thing as my brother. I wanted to forge my own path.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube alignwide wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"law-oembed-prepress-wrapper\"><div class=\"responsive-video responsive-youtube\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Transforming Tomorrows: Scholarships in Action - Jeremy Brunner\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/0PGUAJcTrQA?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Still, he was drawn to Boston. He decided to follow his brother to Johnson Controls, an international company that produces fire, HVAC, and security equipment for buildings. Now, he is glad he did. He fell in love with the city and met his future wife.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While working at Johnson Controls, and with everyone working at home at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Brunner plotted how to strike out in a new direction. On a whim, he says, he decided to take the LSAT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After doing well on the test, he decided to take the next step and apply to law school, intending to leverage his engineering background by studying IP law. BU Law\u2014known for having one of the top IP law programs in the country\u2014was the only option he considered.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt was always going to be BU Law,\u201d he says. \u201cAt the time, it felt like a life-and-death risk, but I haven\u2019t regretted it for a second. It worked out just about as good as it could have.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He credits Senior Lecturer <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/profile\/marni-goldstein-caputo\/\" target=\"_blank\">Marni Goldstein Caputo<\/a>\u2019s 1L <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/academics\/find-degrees-and-programs\/jd-program\/lawyering-program\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Lawyering Program<\/a> class with helping him brush up his rusty writing skills and begin thinking and drafting like a lawyer. Just as all engineers have a certain mindset, lawyers have certain ways of thinking that are specific to their profession. \u201cIt was definitely an adjustment for me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He enjoyed the class so much that in his second year, he became a lawyering fellow for Caputo, acting as a mentor and teacher for the next crop of law students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thanks to the scholarship, Brunner could also take advantage of BU Law&#8217;s many experiential learning opportunities. Especially rewarding was the clinical experience at the BU\/MIT Startup Law Clinic [now the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/experiential-learning\/clinics\/bu-mit-student-innovations-law-clinic\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Student Innovations Law Clinic<\/a>], which helps student entrepreneurs complete the legal work needed to form their companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s not the area of law that I\u2019m going to practice, but still, that client counseling, client interface, all those types of opportunities are great,\u201d he says. \u201cI encourage anybody who\u2019s coming to law school to take as much of those experiential opportunities as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He started law school thinking he would pursue a career in patent prosecution since that\u2019s where his engineering background would be most valuable. However, as he gained more exposure to the law, completing his first summer associate program at Foley and Lardner in Milwaukee, he realized he preferred patent litigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Although he won\u2019t draw as much on his engineering background as a patent litigator, Brunner anticipates that his science base and prior workforce experience will be an asset to his future career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Scholarship founder Robert T. Butler (\u201955) had a varied career himself before he passed away last year. Butler practiced law and then went into the automobile business, later buying a Subaru distributorship and becoming chairman of Subaru Distributors Corporation. Like Brunner, Butler, too, came to Boston at the urging of his older brother.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Looking ahead at the new path he has forged in the legal profession and the life he has built with his soon-to-be wife, Brunner has nothing but gratitude. He is only steps away from a new career, which, thanks to the scholarship, he can enter with the financial freedom to think about other milestones, like buying a house.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-end-of-article\">\u201cNone of it would be possible without the scholarship,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<aside class=\"wp-block-editorial-aside record-block-editorial-aside has-light-background\">\n<h4 id=\"headline-0\" class=\"wp-block-editorial-headline record-block-editorial-headline\">Support students like Jeremy with a gift to the Robert T. Butler Scholarship Fund<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p><a class=\"wp-block-button wp-block-bu-button record-block-button has-primary-theme icon-navigateright align-icon-left is-style-accent\" href=\"https:\/\/trusted.bu.edu\/s\/1759\/22\/form.aspx?sid=1759&amp;gid=2&amp;pgid=420&amp;cid=1057&amp;appealcode=WEBLAW\">give here<\/a><\/p>\n<\/aside>\n\n\n\t<section class=\"wp-block-editorial-collection-billboard record-block-editorial-collection-billboard\">\n\n\t\t<h3 class=\"collection-billboard-intro-title\">This Series<\/h3>\n\t\t<article class=\"collection-billboard-article\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"collection-billboard-media\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figure class=\"collection-navigation-image\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img width=\"900\" height=\"505\" src=\"\/law\/files\/2023\/09\/jimena-mohedas-project-citizenship.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-post-image\" alt=\"Jimena Mohedas in the Project Citizenship Offices holds manilla envelopes and points to the sky\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/09\/jimena-mohedas-project-citizenship.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/09\/jimena-mohedas-project-citizenship-636x357.jpg 636w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/09\/jimena-mohedas-project-citizenship-768x431.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/09\/jimena-mohedas-project-citizenship-500x281.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2023\/09\/jimena-mohedas-project-citizenship-854x480.jpg 854w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"collection-billboard-media-title\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\thref=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/record\/articles\/2023\/jimena-mohedas-scholarship\/\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"collection-billboard-media-title-link\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t>Opportunity Knocks<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/h3>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<div class=\"collection-billboard-content\">\n\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"collection-billboard-small-title\">Also in<\/h4>\n\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"collection-billboard-title\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\t\t\t\thref=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/record\/collections\/impact\/\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"collection-billboard-title-link\"\n\t\t\t\t\t>Impact<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/h3>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul class=\"collection-billboard-list\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li class=\"collection-billboard-list-item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<article class=\"collection-billboard-list-item-article\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"collection-billboard-list-item-article-date\">December 4, 2025<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"collection-billboard-list-item-article-title\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\thref=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/record\/articles\/2025\/living-the-dream\/\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"collection-card-article-title-link\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t>Living the Dream: Professor Sapna Khatri\u2019s Vision for Reproductive Justice<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li class=\"collection-billboard-list-item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<article class=\"collection-billboard-list-item-article\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"collection-billboard-list-item-article-date\">November 17, 2025<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"collection-billboard-list-item-article-title\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\thref=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/record\/articles\/2025\/a-principled-pioneer-of-corporate-law\/\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"collection-card-article-title-link\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t>A Principled Pioneer of Corporate Law<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li class=\"collection-billboard-list-item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<article class=\"collection-billboard-list-item-article\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"collection-billboard-list-item-article-date\">November 12, 2025<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"collection-billboard-list-item-article-title\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\thref=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/record\/articles\/2025\/comrades-in-law-school\/\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"collection-card-article-title-link\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t>Comrades in Law School<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\t\t\t\thref=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/record\/collections\/impact\/\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"collection-billboard-link\"\n\t\t\t\t\t>Series home<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t<\/article>\n\n\t<\/section>\n\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With a comfortable job as a consultant sales engineer, Jeremy Brunner (\u201924) approached his decision to attend law school as any respectable engineer would: from a practical, return-on-investment standpoint. Could he parlay his bachelor\u2019s degree in engineering into a career in intellectual property law without jeopardizing his future livelihood?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11260,"featured_media":105233,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"bu_prepress_billboard":"","_bu_prepress_primary_term":"Giving","_bu_prepress_primary_term_manual":""},"tags":[4256],"bu-publication":[3742],"record-article-category":[3749,3753,3774,4135,3786,3758],"record-topic":[3914,4283],"bu_edition":[],"media_type":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/105198"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/bu-article"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11260"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105198"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/105198\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":105358,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/105198\/revisions\/105358"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/105233"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105198"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105198"},{"taxonomy":"bu-publication","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-publication?post=105198"},{"taxonomy":"record-article-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/record-article-category?post=105198"},{"taxonomy":"record-topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/record-topic?post=105198"},{"taxonomy":"bu_edition","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu_edition?post=105198"},{"taxonomy":"media_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media_type?post=105198"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}