Justin Oakland focuses his legal practice on patent litigation, trademark, copyrights, and licensing agreements. He capitalizes on his background and education in genetics engineering and biochemistry to assist clients in meeting their goals.

Justin has an expansive background in the biological sciences covering human, plant, and microbial genomics. After earning his undergraduate degree from the University of Minnesota, Justin worked as a researcher studying how to utilize genetics to fortify staple crops such as corn, barley, and wheat against climate change. He then worked at Cargill as a scientist harnessing microbial fermentation pathways to help customers create new products and improve processing efficiencies. Justin also worked at the University of Minnesota as a biochemist purifying, crystallizing, and researching COVID-19, HIV, and cancer proteins and their interactions with the human body.

While in law school at the University of Minnesota, Justin stayed busy despite starting amidst the pandemic. He was the Membership and Recruitment Editor for the Volume 108 Minnesota Law Review and was the proud director of the 20th Anniversary Theater of the Relatively Talentless’s Production of Tortanic. Justin was also a student attorney for the Community Legal Partnership for Health Legal Clinic assisting residents of Saint Paul’s Westside with legal issues concerning immigration, housing, and child custody. Justin received a concentration honor in law school for Intellectual Property and Technology Law.

Justin’s interests include video games, rollercoasters, baking for his colleagues, and playing with his dog Lucy.

University of Minnesota Law School
J.D., magna cum laude
Order of the Coif
Minnesota Law Review, Vol. 108 Membership and Recruitment Editor

University of Minnesota College of Biological Sciences
BS Genetics, Cell Biology, and Development, with highest distinction

U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota

Legal Strategies for Identifying Promising Patents and Monetizing your IP Portfolio, 4th Annual Association of Corporate Counsel, Minnesota Chapter, Oktoberfest CLE, Hot Topics in IP Law, October 2023 (co-presenter).

Ke Shi, Justin Oakland, et al., Structural Basis of Superinfection Exclusion by Bacteriophage T4 Spackle, 3, 691 Nature: Communications Biology (2020).

Tara Enders, Susan St. Dennis, Justin Oakland, et al., Classifying Cold-Stress Responses of Inbred Maize Seedlings Using RGB Imaging, 3 Plant Direct (2019).

Justin Oakland, Cryptosporidiosis on the Rise, 28 South Dakota Health Journal (2016).