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Plan to do Patent Law in Chicago... What School???? HELP

Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 4:49 pm
by corvettekid
I keep reading everyone stating that law school ranking is of utmost importance. Is this really also true for patent law?

1. I plan to be a patent attorney
2. I would really like to work in Chicago (my entire family is from the area, and I can't see myself living anywhere else, I love the city)
3. I have a BSME and an MSME

I applied to Chicago-Kent, DePaul, and LUC. Got in to all three

C-K $$, posibility for $$$ + 10k stipend depending on interview
DePaul $$
LUC $$

U of Illinois $$
U of Iowa ??
Notre Dame ??
IU Bloominton ??

I feel like living in the city would give me more exposure and opportunities to the patent law firms in the area. I have also read that if your engineering degrees are from top schools (which mine are) then the law school doesn't matter as much. So if anyone has any input or experience about the patent law market or how school affects things please let me know.

Re: Plan to do Patent Law in Chicago... What School???? HELP

Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 4:57 pm
by fatduck
honest answer? retake and get into chicago or northwestern next year.

based on what you've got i would probably take illinois with $$, assuming you don't have a bunch of debt already. do you have work experience or are you going BS->MS->JD straight through?

Re: Plan to do Patent Law in Chicago... What School???? HELP

Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 4:57 pm
by jpSartre
Maybe honors scholar at kent or illinois, none of the others

Re: Plan to do Patent Law in Chicago... What School???? HELP

Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 5:08 pm
by corvettekid
2 years work experience as a Design Engineer.

I don't have any school dept... only my car which isn't too bad. $ is a big factor for me, and I could retake, but that doesn't ensure I'll do better. I have a ., I could probably get a 170 or very low 170's but anything above that would just be luck.

I don't really want to wait another year, unless it will greatly improve my job prospects... I've looked at profiles of people that have recently gotten jobs at the big patent firms in the city and it seems like a lot of them are from Kent, Depaul, and even some from JM... so those places are still hiring from Chicago schools.

So it is a hard decision to make, why pay sticker for a better school and end up with the same job if I can go to a lower ranked school for much less money? Of course I will never know this information as I can't do both :(

Also, I plan on passing the Patent Bar before I attend law school, so I was thinking if I was in the city I could work part time in the city during my 2L and 3L to help me get my foot in the door after graduation, this is something I can't really do at a school not in Chicago

Re: Plan to do Patent Law in Chicago... What School???? HELP

Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 5:13 pm
by fatduck
corvettekid wrote:2 years work experience as a Design Engineer.

I don't have any school dept... only my car which isn't too bad. $ is a big factor for me, and I could retake, but that doesn't ensure I'll do better. I have a 167, I could probably get a 170 or very low 170's but anything above that would just be luck.

I don't really want to wait another year, unless it will greatly improve my job prospects... I've looked at profiles of people that have recently gotten jobs at the big patent firms in the city and it seems like a lot of them are from Kent, Depaul, and even some from JM... so those places are still hiring from Chicago schools.

So it is a hard decision to make, why pay sticker for a better school and end up with the same job if I can go to a lower ranked school for much less money? Of course I will never know this information as I can't do both :(

Also, I plan on passing the Patent Bar before I attend law school, so I was thinking if I was in the city I could work part time in the city during my 2L and 3L to help me get my foot in the door after graduation, this is something I can't really do at a school not in Chicago
also, did you apply to wustl? some people have got almost full rides there with numbers like 168/3.74, 167/3.8, etc. if you applied early you might get significant $ there even without increasing your lsat score.

there's no doubt that big firms hire from lower-ranked schools, but they're by and large hiring the very top students there (or students with firm connections). at a school like northwestern or chicago you can get those jobs with a much lower class rank, which might make it a safer option.

i wouldn't count on working part-time while attending LS full-time. i really don't think that's all that common.

Re: Plan to do Patent Law in Chicago... What School???? HELP

Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 5:17 pm
by Drake014
fatduck wrote:
corvettekid wrote:2 years work experience as a Design Engineer.

I don't have any school dept... only my car which isn't too bad. $ is a big factor for me, and I could retake, but that doesn't ensure I'll do better. I have a 167, I could probably get a 170 or very low 170's but anything above that would just be luck.

I don't really want to wait another year, unless it will greatly improve my job prospects... I've looked at profiles of people that have recently gotten jobs at the big patent firms in the city and it seems like a lot of them are from Kent, Depaul, and even some from JM... so those places are still hiring from Chicago schools.

So it is a hard decision to make, why pay sticker for a better school and end up with the same job if I can go to a lower ranked school for much less money? Of course I will never know this information as I can't do both :(

Also, I plan on passing the Patent Bar before I attend law school, so I was thinking if I was in the city I could work part time in the city during my 2L and 3L to help me get my foot in the door after graduation, this is something I can't really do at a school not in Chicago
also, did you apply to wustl? some people have got almost full rides there with numbers like 168/3.74, 167/3.8, etc. if you applied early you might get significant $ there even without increasing your lsat score.

there's no doubt that big firms hire from lower-ranked schools, but they're by and large hiring the very top students there (or students with firm connections). at a school like northwestern or chicago you can get those jobs with a much lower class rank, which might make it a safer option.

i wouldn't count on working part-time while attending LS full-time. i really don't think that's all that common.
I have a friend at Berk who works part time in patents, but he had the job before he started law school. His employer simply agreed to cut down on the hours. I don't know how easy it is to get hired part time in this job market otherwise. What's the OP's GPA?

Re: Plan to do Patent Law in Chicago... What School???? HELP

Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 5:18 pm
by fatduck
Drake014 wrote:I have a friend at Berk who works part time in patents, but he had the job before he started law school. His employer simply agreed to cut down on the hours. I don't know how easy it is to get hired part time in this job market otherwise. What's the OP's GPA?
yea i suppose it's possible, but getting hired as a patent agent period is pretty damn hard right now.

167/3.78 from another thread

Re: Plan to do Patent Law in Chicago... What School???? HELP

Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 5:24 pm
by Drake014
fatduck wrote:
Drake014 wrote:I have a friend at Berk who works part time in patents, but he had the job before he started law school. His employer simply agreed to cut down on the hours. I don't know how easy it is to get hired part time in this job market otherwise. What's the OP's GPA?
yea i suppose it's possible, but getting hired as a patent agent period is pretty damn hard right now.

167/3.78 from another thread
Decent numbers. Honestly, its a gamble. Go to a low ranked school and graduate anywhere but the top quarter, your chances of getting into a law firm are probably not good (quarter's probably generous but who knows). Go to a top ranked school, pay sticker or close, and then don't get at least around median, and you're screwed with a shit ton of debt.

Re: Plan to do Patent Law in Chicago... What School???? HELP

Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 5:26 pm
by corvettekid
.

Re: Plan to do Patent Law in Chicago... What School???? HELP

Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 5:30 pm
by fatduck
corvettekid wrote:Sadly, no I did not apply to WUSTL. Working full time and trying to finish up my thesis made the application process lag a bit. I didn't get apps in until mid January which hurt me a bit I think.

3.75 (3.78 LSDAS) Undergrad
3.93 (4.0 LSDAS) Graduate
well, if you're looking for a low-cost option that will still give you a decent shot at a major patent firm in chicago, i think illinois or wustl with big $$ is your best bet. if you really want to go this year, illinois with $$ isn't a bad option. if you re-apply in september for next cycle (esp. if you improve your lsat a couple points, but even if you don't) i think you have a shot at like $120k+ from wustl which could be really attractive.

Re: Plan to do Patent Law in Chicago... What School???? HELP

Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 6:10 pm
by tome
I think Illinois is a pretty good school, and with $$s (particularly if you can get instate tuition) you are on to a pretty good thing. Illinois places way better than Kent, Loyola, and DePaul in Chicago--so unless you are aware of some reason that patent law is different, I don't see any reason to go to these schools for similar cost.

As far as living in Chicago is concerned, I only know of one patent law student that is working for a firm. I really think it probably makes very little difference. But definitely take the patent exam before going to law school.

Re: Plan to do Patent Law in Chicago... What School???? HELP

Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 9:13 pm
by helloperson
Also keep in mind that having the hard science background means it matters less what school you go to than it does for 99% of everyone else on these forums and law students in general.

Re: Plan to do Patent Law in Chicago... What School???? HELP

Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 9:29 pm
by corvettekid
helloperson wrote:Also keep in mind that having the hard science background means it matters less what school you go to than it does for 99% of everyone else on these forums and law students in general.
Yeah, I hear that, but then I hear that even with the hard science it will still be an uphill battle looking for jobs in Chicago coming out of a Chicago school other than Northwestern or U of Chicago.

Does anyone know if scholarship money can change year to year based on performance? It seems kinda stupid to me that you are locked into a scholarship amount which can greatly be affected by how early in the cycle you apply... which was my fault, but still kind of annoying to see people with worse stats than me pulling large scholarship numbers. Not saying that they may not have other factors that helped them out, but still. I feel I had very strong soft factors as I was extremely involved as an Undergrad.

Re: Plan to do Patent Law in Chicago... What School???? HELP

Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 9:31 pm
by helloperson
corvettekid wrote:
helloperson wrote:Also keep in mind that having the hard science background means it matters less what school you go to than it does for 99% of everyone else on these forums and law students in general.
Yeah, I hear that, but then I hear that even with the hard science it will still be an uphill battle looking for jobs in Chicago coming out of a Chicago school other than Northwestern or U of Chicago.

Does anyone know if scholarship money can change year to year based on performance? It seems kinda stupid to me that you are locked into a scholarship amount which can greatly be affected by how early in the cycle you apply... which was my fault, but still kind of annoying to see people with worse stats than me pulling large scholarship numbers. Not saying that they may not have other factors that helped them out, but still. I feel I had very strong soft factors as I was extremely involved as an Undergrad.

Yes, schools generally offer retention scholarships to the top x number of students, but you have to ask for them. Do not count on this, though.

Re: Plan to do Patent Law in Chicago... What School???? HELP

Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2011 5:27 pm
by corvettekid
Well I was browsing and got some more concrete numbers. From the 125 attorney profiles at Brinks Hofer Gilson & Lione there are:

12 from DePaul
10 from John Marshall (13 if you include getting LLM at JM)
7 from U of I-Champaign
7 from Northwestern
5 Indiana University
4 Loyola Chicago
4 Chicago-Kent
1 Notre Dame

I know John Marshall is a good school for IP, but I'm kinda surprised of the 10 compared to the 4 from Loyola and the 4 from Kent (especially since Kent seems to have a good IP reputation). I was also kinda surprised about the only 1 from ND.