About Ann McCrackin

I'm Ann McCrackin — a patent attorney, a law professor, and the founder of AI-Enabled Attorney.

I've spent 25+ years in patent practice. These days, I help IP professionals hand the routine parts of that practice to AI so their time goes to the work that requires their judgment.

Patent practice first

My career started where my clients' problems live: office actions, claim drafting, docketing deadlines, and the constant pressure to deliver quality work within a budget. For over two decades I prosecuted patents and provided IP counseling to companies ranging from startups to Fortune 100 companies.

That experience shapes everything I teach and recommend. When we talk about automating a workflow, I've done that workflow — usually hundreds of times.

Building AI tools before they were cool

Well before the current wave of generative AI, I served as president of an AI legal-tech company, where I spent over a decade building tools to automate patent proofreading and drafting.

Two lessons from those years anchor my work now. First, rule-based automation and generative AI are good at different tasks. The right tool for the right task is a decision, and it's one most firms are never shown how to make. Second, I learned what a software sales pitch looks like from the inside. That's exactly why AI-Enabled Attorney® sells no software. My recommendations are independent and vendor neutral.

Teaching the next generation

I'm an adjunct professor at UNH Franklin Pierce School of Law, where I teach Patent Practice, claim drafting, and AI Skills for Legal Professionals.

My students learn fundamentals first, then AI. Watching new practitioners learn to evaluate AI output has convinced me of something I tell every firm I work with: AI can give you a claim. Only a practitioner can tell you whether it's a good claim.

How I work

Everything I do runs on three commitments:

- Practitioner-built. Training and consulting grounded in real IP workflows — prosecution, docketing, claim drafting — with real tools and real numbers.

- Vendor-neutral. No affiliations, no commissions. The right tool, the right environment, the right spend for your practice.

- Security and judgment at the center. The plan you're on matters, AI output gets verified, and you stay in control.

Speaking and community

I speak regularly at AIPLA, IPO, ILTA, BIO, and the National Docketing Association and I teach workshops for firms and legal departments across the country. If we've talked before, say hello on LinkedIn. I'd love to stay connected.

Let's talk

If you're figuring out where AI fits in your practice, I'd love to hear what you're working on.