2020 speakers

Leslie McKnew is Vice President, Litigation at Cisco. In that role, Leslie leads Cisco’s litigation team, which is responsible for all Cisco litigation matters worldwide and is comprised of both in-house lawyers and a network of outside counsel.

Joining Cisco in 2008 as Senior IP Counsel, Leslie was hired as Cisco’s first in-house trademark and copyright counsel. In that role, she built Cisco’s trademark and copyright function, including establishing internal and external policies and processes, hiring the internal team, and creating a global counsel network, while adopting and enabling supporting tools. 

Leslie has held several other leadership roles at Cisco. She led the legal teams focused on Cisco’s data center and collaboration businesses, managing a broad spectrum of activities from licensing and offer development to intellectual property issues, disputes, and channel partner and competitor strategies. Leslie also spent a year rotation in a business role focused on developing and launching Cisco’s software buying programs, and leading a cross-functional team comprised of finance, operations, sales, channels, engineering, services, and legal.

Leslie has been recognized as a key leader in supporting Cisco’s transformational journey, managing strong team performance, driving key transformational capabilities, and establishing herself as trusted advisor to her business partners.  

Prior to Cisco, she was an associate at a law firm focused on IP and commercial litigation. She has a BA degree in Political Science from the University of California, Davis, and graduated from the University of San Francisco School of Law.