John Paul Kale - SMARTEST PERSON IN THE ROOM

John Paul Kale wondered for a bit why he was chosen “Smartest Person in the Room.”

“When you do patent law, you have to apply a lot of math and science,” said Kale, who goes by JP. “Maybe that’s where the perception comes from.”

Considering his background, it’s likely Kale has been the smartest person in the room for a long time.

“I don’t know why, but I always wanted to be an attorney,” Kale said. “Maybe it was because I was argumentative by nature. I have a very strict sense of what is right and wrong.”

Originally from Peoria, Kale earned his bachelor’s degree in metallurgy at the University of Illinois. As he neared graduation, he felt drawn toward patent law because it allowed him to use his aptitude in math and science and his education in engineering.

After graduating from U of I, Kale earned his law degree from DePaul University. He worked for a Chicago law firm for three years before joining Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren in August of 2015.

Kale says he spends most of his time as a patent attorney helping clients navigate the patent process: “People think that being a lawyer is pretty exciting, but really it’s a lot of paperwork.”

Still, there’s the odd patent dispute to get his argumentative juices flowing.

“I’m in the midst of one now. It’s a logistics patent, tracking packages end to end and getting updates on location,” Kale said. “I’m involved in an inter partes [Latin for ‘between the parties’] review to cancel my client’s patent.”

And yet he still wonders why he’s thought of as the smartest guy in the room.