What sort of WE should I seek? 0L Forum

[Da1andOnlyPharo]

Taking a year off between UG graduation and law school (graduating in a month, begin law school in autumn 2013). Trying to figure out what sort of employment I should seek while this time passes.

I have a degree in Finance, and consequently some interest in securities law. OTOH, I'm also somewhat interested in IP law, as I am genuinely interested in working in tech industries as a patent litigator and am open to garnering related work experience, certs, or perhaps some additional schooling prior to, during, and/or after law school.

Do you think what I do for this next year will have a substantial impact on my long term career? I'm having difficulty weighing the importance of this experience. For example, if I wanted to go the latter route with IP law in computer science, would it be greatly to my advantage to start getting foundational knowledge now (i.e. IT certs and entry level work experience) or will it be somewhat negligible in comparison to other factors such as money or location (moving to a state where I'd like to go to school to get residency)? I ask because I'm almost to the point where I'm afraid to commit to applying for jobs in a certain field for fear of the opportunity cost (i.e. I could be doing something BETTER).

On a related note, besides work experience, do you have other recommendations for what I should spend my time over this next year? Specifically, for securities law, do you think its worth my time to study and sit for the CFA level I exam, or perhaps dedicate myself to dominating the GMAT to get into a good JD/MBA program?

Sorry if this is a complex/unclear question, but any input from either a student or graduate in either field would be valuable. Feel free to answer specifically to a single part of this post, or add any insight that you think I may be neglecting.

[Tiago Splitter]

See if any brokerage firms have home offices in your area. Good professional experience, looks decent on a resume.

But if you can pass Level I of the CFA then go ahead and stick with that and skip law school.

[2014]

Whatever pays the best.

[sayornis]

Investment Banking.

I had banking experience on my resume and admission deans at 2 different law schools wrote notes about that particular experience on the acceptance letter. Bulge bracket deal experience seems to be very appealing to them.