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If I know I'll be doing IP or Business, is it okay to put that on my resume under education? I guess another question is if you're actually able to do an actual distinction like "Business Law Track" or "IP Law Certificate," etc, are those okay to put on the resume?

r@dical wrote:If I know I'll be doing IP or Business, is it okay to put that on my resume under education? I guess another question is if you're actually able to do an actual distinction like "Business Law Track" or "IP Law Certificate," etc, are those okay to put on the resume?

Please explain what you mean by "business law" and "business law track."

when schools have certificates/concentrations/tracks that are distinctions recognized by the school upon successful completion of the specific requirements for those distinctions.

I think the answer to this is no (emphasis on think because I'm not certain). I think it would be more appropriate to discuss this on your cover letter.

AVBucks4239 wrote:I think it would be more appropriate to discuss this on your cover letter.

TITCR, distinctions and scholarly tracks make excellent cover letter grist to distinguish you from the stack.

r@dical wrote:when schools have certificates/concentrations/tracks that are distinctions recognized by the school upon successful completion of the specific requirements for those distinctions.

Part of the point I was trying make was saying something like "I'm interested in business law" is meaningless. What does that even mean? I mean, anyone who wants to do biglaw better like "business law" somewhat. Do you mean finance? Do you mean complex commercial litigation? M&A? (And for the love of god please do not mention in a cover letter or in a screener interview that you really are interested in "business law"--that's like telling your interviewer "I don't really know much about the legal market. At all.")

Curious what law schools offer a "business law track." All 1Ls pretty much take all the same classes (maybe summer starters can fit in more electives?) and even if you are able to take corporations as a 1L, I'm not sure why firms should be impressed by that. The majority of people in law school are interested in doing biglaw and biglaw involves a lot of big business-related stuff. And if the business law track is for second and third year, then it's not going to be very helpful come 2L OCI, since that's before 2L even starts (though, if you are accepted into it before hand, then you could put it on your resume).

IP is a bit different. You can show interest in it from the start in law school by joining IP specific clubs and journals. Not sure what value an "IP Law certificate" is though. (Does that mean you just took an IP class or you did something more?)

Saying you're interested in "business law" is like saying you're interested in "art." It truely does sound like you don't know what you're talking about. A layperson might not catch it, but any lawyer knows there is no such thing as "business law" as a developed legal concept, like Richie said. Instead, there are many fields of law that touch on business, and no one practices in them all at once.

So no, never say you're interested in just "business law." Instead, say "I want to be a corporate transactional attorney," or "I want to be a commercial litigator," or even "I want to go into employment law," or "I want to work in IP."

What are some examples of such "distinctions and scholarly tracks"?

I would generally avoid (unless you are pursuing a specific track). That's usually what a cover letter is for. Law firms usually want to see that you're open. If you're interested in IP, can't they just see you're interested based on, say, your undergrad major (hard science), for example?