Top Law Schools

Anyone have feelings about patent law at T3 schools? I understand Stanford is top in this field, but does it really matter if you took a few more available classes in a niche area when you are interested in studying areas of law outside IP as well(i.e. environmental, business). I know Harvard isn't known specifically for IP but I have a feeling a Harvard JD and an engineering background will give just about the same east coast IP opportunities as a Stanford JD with few more niche IP classes under your belt....

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I can't imagine much difficulty finding work in patents out of any of those schools, assuming you have the right sort of technical background going in

If I wasn't so tired from exams I would articulate an appropriate verbal smack down. Baring that, I will just say this: you are over thinking this. It doesn't matter. Go to the one you like or (more likely) go to the one you get into.

I'm sure I am overthinking it, but its hard to believe its not worth thinking about.

I come from an engineering background (undergrad and grad) and in engineering the specialty of courses you choose has a huge influence on where you can be effective as an engineer.....the degree of specialization is very high. I'm not as familiar with how this work with Law / Law School.

nicdmx wrote:I'm sure I am overthinking it, but its hard to believe its not worth thinking about.

I come from an engineering background (undergrad and grad) and in engineering the specialty of courses you choose has a huge influence on where you can be effective as an engineer.....the degree of specialization is very high. I'm not as familiar with how this work with Law / Law School.

I too am an engineer (electrical), and am currently in law school. The classes you pick in law school are no where near as relevant as they are for engineering. Everyone gets the same basic education. Heck, your entire first year of school is the same 6.5 classes no matter where you go.

nicdmx wrote:I'm sure I am overthinking it, but its hard to believe its not worth thinking about.

I come from an engineering background (undergrad and grad) and in engineering the specialty of courses you choose has a huge influence on where you can be effective as an engineer.....the degree of specialization is very high. I'm not as familiar with how this work with Law / Law School.

Patent lawyers are generalists --- an EE might handle a semiconductor patent one day and a chemical process patent (potentially for the same client --- Intel has a lot of ChemE's) the next.

Stanford would be my answer, though, given the cross-disciplinary opportunities that would present themselves from having access to a top engineering school.

Bosque wrote:

nicdmx wrote:I'm sure I am overthinking it, but its hard to believe its not worth thinking about.

I come from an engineering background (undergrad and grad) and in engineering the specialty of courses you choose has a huge influence on where you can be effective as an engineer.....the degree of specialization is very high. I'm not as familiar with how this work with Law / Law School.

I too am an engineer (electrical), and am currently in law school. The classes you pick in law school are no where near as relevant as they are for engineering. Everyone gets the same basic education. Heck, your entire first year of school is the same 6.5 classes no matter where you go.

That was my general impression but I wasn't sure. I too am an electrical engineer. How is the workload of law school relative to your experience with engineering school?

nicdmx wrote:

Bosque wrote:

nicdmx wrote:I'm sure I am overthinking it, but its hard to believe its not worth thinking about.

I come from an engineering background (undergrad and grad) and in engineering the specialty of courses you choose has a huge influence on where you can be effective as an engineer.....the degree of specialization is very high. I'm not as familiar with how this work with Law / Law School.

I too am an engineer (electrical), and am currently in law school. The classes you pick in law school are no where near as relevant as they are for engineering. Everyone gets the same basic education. Heck, your entire first year of school is the same 6.5 classes no matter where you go.

That was my general impression but I wasn't sure. I too am an electrical engineer. How is the workload of law school relative to your experience with engineering school?

Eh. Different I guess. It seems easier to me (or maybe I am just having more fun), but there is more of it. In the end I would say it is a wash.

Stanford is TCR for patent law from the top 3.

People would look at you funny if you told them you were going into patent law from Yale.

Stanford is TCR for patent law from the top 3.

Forget patent rankings and make your choice based upon whatever other criteria is important to you.

Stanford is best for this. The other two will work just fine, though.

Standford is apparently the best, but I think you'd make a big mistake taking that over Yale. You might change your mind and pick a new field of law, in which case Yale is king.

Desert Fox wrote:Standford is apparently the best, but I think you'd make a big mistake taking that over Yale. You might change your mind and pick a new field of law, in which case Yale is king.

Big mistake? I think this is tough to call. Either way you're going to have great career prospects whether or not you go into IP. If you aren't dead-set on IP though, Yale could be a better choice.

Desert Fox wrote:Standford is apparently the best, but I think you'd make a big mistake taking that over Yale. You might change your mind and pick a new field of law, in which case Yale is king.

Lols on Stanford ever being a "big mistake". You should tell that to Rehnquist (RIP), sure didn't work out for him.

Stanford > Harvard >> Yale at patent law. Yale's law and technology program is laughable... I think they might have a token class or two. There are a couple of TLSers interested in IP who ended up at Yale, and my understanding is that it's easy to pursue your interests independently there, but both Stanford and Harvard have much stronger programs with clinics, centers, a wealth of interdisciplinary options and a real community of professors and students built around the field. Anyway, I didn't even apply to Yale, in part because I want to attend a school with a strong program in law and technology. Also, my impression is that most people who chose Stanford over Yale have a science/engineering background (or want to stay in California.)

Bosque wrote:

Desert Fox wrote:Standford is apparently the best, but I think you'd make a big mistake taking that over Yale. You might change your mind and pick a new field of law, in which case Yale is king.

Lols on Stanford ever being a "big mistake". You should tell that to Rehnquist (RIP), sure didn't work out for him.

Haha yea I probably shouldn't have used big mistake. More like, not the optimal choice. Stanford is 10 times better than any school I'll be getting into.

nicdmx wrote:Anyone have feelings about patent law at T3 schools? I understand Stanford is top in this field, but does it really matter if you took a few more available classes in a niche area when you are interested in studying areas of law outside IP as well(i.e. environmental, business). I know Harvard isn't known specifically for IP but I have a feeling a Harvard JD and an engineering background will give just about the same east coast IP opportunities as a Stanford JD with few more niche IP classes under your belt....

For what it is worth, I'm a 1L at Yale who chose Yale over S and H despite having a grad degree in science. As a couple people have suggested, I really don't think the classes you take in LS will matter that much. But I think connections do. If you were sure you wanted to be a patent lawyer in California, you should definitely choose Stanford. If you are not sure what type of law you want to do, I would choose Yale, the flexibility here is amazing. If you were sure you wanted to be a patent lawyer on the East Coast, any of the top 3 are perfectly fine. Let me qualify that: if you want to work in Boston, I would choose Harvard. Keep in mine that Harvard is the most unpleasant of the three. It should not hurt you job prospects, but I think you would have a happier three years at the other two.

My honest opinion: I think Stanford trains you better to be a good corporate or IP lawyer, but I don't think it is worth giving up the intangible benefits of Yale in most circumstances.

tinman wrote:Keep in mine that Harvard is the most unpleasant of the three. It should not hurt you job prospects, but I think you would have a happier three years at the other two.

Can't tell you how happy I am to read this...

To be fair, you can't go wrong with any of the three. But from what I've heard, the fact that Stanford is #1 in IP doesn't mean that it's necessarily the correct choice. Firms look more at what you majored in as a undergraduate (i.e. EE, ME, ChemE, etc.) and what courses you took. Also, since a lot of people interested in IP choose Stanford, I would imagine that the competition there to get IP jobs is pretty fierce. As CE2JD alluded to, not many Yale students are looking for IP jobs.

Go to the one you like most, plain and simple.