1 vs 2 years WE Forum

[raftlaw]

Graduated with engineering degree this past May, 3.88 173. Started working an IT job a month ago and want to apply to law school this fall, but don’t want to sabotage my application by not having enough WE. Is it significantly better to apply next year after working this job for a year? Goal is HYS or full ride at lower T-14.

[totesTheGoat]

3-4 years WE is "ideal" for patents, assuming that's the direction you want to go. 2 years is fine. 1 year isn't worth as much.

If you're looking at a different area of law, I'd say 2 years is great, 1 year is fine.

[lawschool99]

3-4 years WE is "ideal" for patents, assuming that's the direction you want to go. 2 years is fine. 1 year isn't worth as much.

If you're looking at a different area of law, I'd say 2 years is great, 1 year is fine.

Do internships also count for WE? I currently have a full time job, but wondering if past internships also count on the total amount of WE.

[totesTheGoat]

3-4 years WE is "ideal" for patents, assuming that's the direction you want to go. 2 years is fine. 1 year isn't worth as much.

If you're looking at a different area of law, I'd say 2 years is great, 1 year is fine.

Do internships also count for WE? I currently have a full time job, but wondering if past internships also count on the total amount of WE.

uhhhhhhhhh... shmaybe. I don't think a run of the mill 10-12 week internship would count for much. I had done a 5 term co-op (18 months' work experience cumulatively) and people seemed to credit me with that, which put me at ~3.5 years total work experience when I got my first legal job.

If you're looking at going the patent direction, I think that you still gain benefit until you hit 3 or 4 years of full-time experience above and beyond any internship experience. When you begin to inherently understand how engineering projects are done and how companies tend to be laid out and how the design process works, you're head and shoulders above the K-BSEng-JD kids who have never designed anything bigger than their senior capstone project. You'll be able to anticipate things that your peers don't even know about.

[lawschool99]

3-4 years WE is "ideal" for patents, assuming that's the direction you want to go. 2 years is fine. 1 year isn't worth as much.

If you're looking at a different area of law, I'd say 2 years is great, 1 year is fine.

Do internships also count for WE? I currently have a full time job, but wondering if past internships also count on the total amount of WE.

uhhhhhhhhh... shmaybe. I don't think a run of the mill 10-12 week internship would count for much. I had done a 5 term co-op (18 months' work experience cumulatively) and people seemed to credit me with that, which put me at ~3.5 years total work experience when I got my first legal job.

If you're looking at going the patent direction, I think that you still gain benefit until you hit 3 or 4 years of full-time experience above and beyond any internship experience. When you begin to inherently understand how engineering projects are done and how companies tend to be laid out and how the design process works, you're head and shoulders above the K-BSEng-JD kids who have never designed anything bigger than their senior capstone project. You'll be able to anticipate things that your peers don't even know about.

Thanks a lot for the helpful advice. I have a computer science undergrad degree (+ business degree) so am aiming to get into EE/CS patent law. I'm currently working in data analytics, which I personally really enjoy since it feels more of a hybrid role (CS/business). What would you suggest for other "good" roles to gain WE in to prepare me for the EE/CS patent route? Software engineering? Or would product management be even better?

[UVA2B]

3-4 years WE is "ideal" for patents, assuming that's the direction you want to go. 2 years is fine. 1 year isn't worth as much.

If you're looking at a different area of law, I'd say 2 years is great, 1 year is fine.

Do internships also count for WE? I currently have a full time job, but wondering if past internships also count on the total amount of WE.

uhhhhhhhhh... shmaybe. I don't think a run of the mill 10-12 week internship would count for much. I had done a 5 term co-op (18 months' work experience cumulatively) and people seemed to credit me with that, which put me at ~3.5 years total work experience when I got my first legal job.

If you're looking at going the patent direction, I think that you still gain benefit until you hit 3 or 4 years of full-time experience above and beyond any internship experience. When you begin to inherently understand how engineering projects are done and how companies tend to be laid out and how the design process works, you're head and shoulders above the K-BSEng-JD kids who have never designed anything bigger than their senior capstone project. You'll be able to anticipate things that your peers don't even know about.

Thanks a lot for the helpful advice. I have a computer science undergrad degree (+ business degree) so am aiming to get into EE/CS patent law. I'm currently working in data analytics, which I personally really enjoy since it feels more of a hybrid role (CS/business). What would you suggest for other "good" roles to gain WE in to prepare me for the EE/CS patent route? Software engineering? Or would product management be even better?

You'll likely want tech-facing WE. Baseline question: is your CS degree accredited where you're patent bar eligible? That'll be big in your job hunt. If not, you'll have to deal with Cat. B hiring, which is a bit more up hill because getting a reg. number is a bit more circuitous. From there, assuming you're patent bar eligible, you'll want as much varied software development and ideally computer engineering heavy experience for when you shift from being an engineer to being a patent attorney. That will help a ton in prosecution and it'll still be helpful, albeit less so, in patent litigation.

As a patent attorney, your value is understanding the technology you're advocating for (whether that is in getting a patent issued or arguing over the patentability of the tech and whether infringement occurred), so you need to maximize how well you understand the tech and what makes it different/unique. The bus dev portion of a CS startup will be less beneficial as a patent attorney, although it arguably helps in how well you understand the businesses you're advising in whether to take on litigation or settling patent disputes.

[totesTheGoat]

UVA2B is completely right, but I want to emphasize one thing. I work with a bunch of people who never used their technical degree, and many of them have physics degrees, not EE/CS degrees. One of the patent lit guys has a data analytics background, so there is definitely a path forward for you.

Just having work experience is going to put you ahead of 80% of entry level candidates. The specifics of your work experience aren't too likely to make or break a hiring decision. Don't throw a wrench into your current career progression just to get experience you think will help you get a patent attorney job, but if there's an easy transition into software engineering, it may be worth taking it in order to get first-hand experience in that role before jumping into a job that requires a ton of interaction with people in that role.