Rothwell, Figg, Ernst & Manbeck, P.C.
Mark Rawls is a partner at Rothwell, Figg, Ernst & Manbeck, an intellectual property and technology law firm in Washington, D.C. His practice centers on patent prosecution and litigation, along with a wide range of technology-focused work, including preparing opinions, advising on licensing, and handling post-grant proceedings. Before entering the legal field, Mark worked as a computer scientist at Raytheon BBN Technologies, where he applied artificial intelligence and machine learning to speech recognition and machine translation systems. His work frequently involved developing and refining large language models to improve model accuracy. This industry experience gives him deep familiarity with technologies involving AI and machine learning. From early-stage startups to global enterprises, clients value Mark’s technical depth, legal acumen, and strategic approach to protecting innovative technologies.
Mark regularly works with clients across industries that incorporate power electronics, including software, telecommunications, energy, and medical devices. He has also drafted and prosecuted numerous patent applications involving AI and machine learning. These include applications involving different types of machine learning (e.g., deep learning, unsupervised/supervised learning, reinforcement learning, federated learning, split learning, transfer learning, ensemble learning, distributed learning) and neural networks (e.g., artificial neural networks (ANN), convolutional neural networks (CNN), recurrent neural networks (RNN)).
Mark holds a B.S. in computer science and mathematics (magna cum laude) and an M.S. in mathematics from the University of Virginia, as well as a J.D. from William & Mary Law School (magna cum laude).
Wednesday, March 25, 2026
2:45 PM - 3:10 PM CT