Patent Law - Choose by IP ranking or USN overall ranking? Forum

[mx23250]

Hi all!
I'm applying to law school to become a patent attorney. I recently completed my PhD in the hard sciences (focus on biochemistry, molecular biology, genetics, with a cancer focus). Anyhow, I'm curious what everyone's thoughts (and/or experiences) were on whether it is better to get into a highly overall ranked school (e.g., T14 school) that lacks a ranking in intellectual property law or if it is better to get into a law school that ranks high (e.g., top 10) in intellectual property law despite being a tier 2 or 3 law school overall? Specifically, would a top law firm look more highly on a grad from a strong IP program or from a T14 school with a weaker IP program?

I appreciate all comments and insights.

Thanks!

[nickb285]

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[mx23250]

Thanks!
That's what I was thinking too.

[jingosaur]

Specialty rankings: These specialty rankings are based solely on votes by legal educators, who nominated up to 15 schools in each field. Legal educators chosen were a selection of those listed in the Association of American Law Schools Directory of Law Teachers 2009-2010 as currently teaching in that field. In the case of clinical and legal writing, the nominations were made by directors or members of the clinical and legal writing programs at each law school.

Those programs that received the most top 15 nominations appear and are numerically ranked in descending order based on the number of nominations they received as long as the school/program received seven or more nominations in that specialty area. This means that schools ranked at the bottom of each law specialty ranking have received seven nominations.

That's the methodology for the specialty rankings. As someone who's studied ranking algorithms, I wouldn't trust them at all. In addition to overall rankings, I would look at some top IP firms' websites to see where they take their associates from. But keep in mind that self-selection influences those stats.

[jbagelboy]

Only relevant part of "specialty rankings" for IP is placing Cal/Stanford top 2.

FWIW, For IP: Stanford > Berkeley > HY/CLS/NYU > rest of T14 > *GWU > everyone else

*Some people on TLS claim this but I have yet to see evidence

[20141023]

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[rad lulz]

Ignore both the IP rankings AND the USNWR rankings

[09042014]

Only relevant part of "specialty rankings" for IP is placing Cal/Stanford top 2.

FWIW, For IP: Stanford > Berkeley > HY/CLS/NYU > rest of T14 > *GWU > everyone else

*Some people on TLS claim this but I have yet to see evidence

This is pretty ridiculous. For patent prosecution: they don't give a fuck about Berkeley vs. Harvard vs. Georgetown. And for patent lit, it's basically the same as normal big law hiring.

[laxbrah420]

not all schools are going to have the same clinic/externships, course offerings, or be proximately located to IP practices. speciality rankings are terribly done, but so are USNWR rankings. outside the T14 (or probably even within t14 bands), try to minimize costs and live somewhere you want to work for sure, but all else being equal, definitely try to do some independent research into differences that you feel will benefit you

[Ti Malice]

Only relevant part of "specialty rankings" for IP is placing Cal/Stanford top 2.

FWIW, For IP: Stanford > Berkeley > HY/CLS/NYU > rest of T14 > *GWU > everyone else

*Some people on TLS claim this but I have yet to see evidence

This is pretty ridiculous. For patent prosecution: they don't give a fuck about Berkeley vs. Harvard vs. Georgetown. And for patent lit, it's basically the same as normal big law hiring.

Par for the course for this poster. He's a generally clueless 0L, but he can't keep himself from adopting the voice of an authority when he attempts to answer questions here.

[jbagelboy]

Only relevant part of "specialty rankings" for IP is placing Cal/Stanford top 2.

FWIW, For IP: Stanford > Berkeley > HY/CLS/NYU > rest of T14 > *GWU > everyone else

*Some people on TLS claim this but I have yet to see evidence

This is pretty ridiculous. For patent prosecution: they don't give a fuck about Berkeley vs. Harvard vs. Georgetown. And for patent lit, it's basically the same as normal big law hiring.

Par for the course for this poster. He's a generally clueless 0L, but he can't keep himself from adopting the voice of an authority when he attempts to answer questions here.

YOLO. your pedantry and condescension don't make your first year law student ignorance any more instructive, brah. This is clearly a generalization ( for example Cal is only dominant in privacy and a few other restrictive tech based IP areas, not other areas) -- employment data and regional emphasis are more important than these masturbatory speculations on field specialization -- but this was the consensus I drew visiting many of these schools and receiving honest feedback from alumns and practicing IP attorneys. I dont speak out of my ass, I just contribute results of my own research, which admittedly has less breadth than yours as a current student

I think you are a good poster and we almost always agree so by discrediting me you are largely discrediting yourself

[froglee]

Santa Clara Law School ranks really high in IP law

[Jimbo_Jones]

That's the methodology for the specialty rankings. As someone who's studied ranking algorithms, I wouldn't trust them at all. In addition to overall rankings, I would look at some top IP firms' websites to see where they take their associates from. But keep in mind that self-selection influences those stats.

You also have to keep in mind shear class size as well. GW grads will show up a lot more when they are putting out 400-500 grads a year compared to Berk or Duke at 200.