I Feel Like Just Giving Up Forum

[paratactical]

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[PLATONiC]

I am so sorry to hear. I'm scared to death that going to law school would be a terrible decision for me as well simply because I know that it's very possible for me to end up not having a job by the time my 3L years comes along.... cwap...

[drdolittle]

It's all well and good for 0Ls to say "do something!" but it's really only helpful if you say what that sort of thing might be.

OP should take the patent bar and narrowly promote himself/herself as a patent attorney in his/her field of engineering. Or am I once again completely wrong?

[jmhendri]

It's all well and good for 0Ls to say "do something!" but it's really only helpful if you say what that sort of thing might be.

I guess I'd be begging my porfessors for networking contacts, seeing if the current employer might know anything helpful, and looking outside my schools stronger regional pull in less attractive cities.

I know it's all still a crap shoot, but I'm counting on my school's OCI to be useless.

[dresden doll]

On the happy side, you might be able to die young and be a pretty corpse! That's what I tell myself every night before I go to bed.

[iagolives]

On the happy side, you might be able to die young and be a pretty corpse! That's what I tell myself every night before I go to bed.

Oh how I missed you, Dres.

[mbw]

OP Here... drdolittle: The statement about loving the law, but thinking that perhaps going to law school is the worst decision that I have ever made DOES make sense. For example, this past spring I had an interview with a firm that dealt with corporate law issues only. At the time of the interview, I was desperate to just get some legal experience (no matter what it was) under my belt. The interviewer took one look at my resume and said basically that with my background that I would be basically wasting my time at the firm and suggested that I take the patent bar. Basically, before I had even set foot in the door, she had already had her mind made up about me. For me, that experience has been common. By looking at my resume, people assume that I am patent law guy. And to be honest, patent law is my first choice. But as I try to branch out to other fields, people really don't want to hear it.

As for doing the engineering for while, I could do that; however, many people have told me that it is really difficult to break back into law after having gone the non-legal route just because you don't have any substantive legal experience on your resume...

Also, I am not from Cornell...

OP, my spouse works in internet governance, so I'm relatively familiar with the area, and it seems to be a place where a fair number of people with engineering backgrounds (not just CS, but ME, EE, etc.) are able to break away from just patent-specific activities, and branch out into other areas of IP. Where their technical backgrounds are beneficial, but their legal skills are much more valued. Many attorneys are employed in corporations (Verisign, Neustar, etc.,) but organizations and communities also need attorneys, especially as everyone braces for ICANN approval of new TLDs (btw, anyone want to work on dotLaw with me? ) Anyway, just a thought. I'm planning on pursuing cultural property/heritage law (I've a PhD in anthro/arch), but am definitely setting up cyberlaw (particularly the DNS/IDN area) as my "fallback" position. Seems like a pretty wide-open frontier for techies.

(btw, I am from Cornell ...)

[09042014]

Check out http://www.intelproplaw.com/ they have a lot more info on how to start IP careers. Did you get any interviews at the loyola patent interview program?

I can't offer any advice cause I'm an ignorant 0L.

[Anonymous User]

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[Anonymous User]

I applied to Loyola this year, but I did not get any screening interviews. I also did Loyola last year, several screening interviews and call backs, but nothing.

Also with Loyola, I did 2L OCI, mass mailing, and additional interviews in the spring...

I am now looking at several career fairs (which aren't that many considering most of them want rising 2Ls and laterals)

[SteelReserve]

OP:

Generally this is the point where Matthies chimes in about the power of networking. He is of course correct, but the reality for a lot of us is that not only are the oci/clerking pipelines brutally competitive, but even strong networking cannot create a job. It can get you more opportunities, opportunities hidden from traditional routes, but no one can make up a legal job when there is next to no demand for entry-level legal services.

You can keep trying, hope things get better, try for the clerkship path.

But at some point you also need to say, OK, the economy destroyed my previous goal. The economy/and or legal hiring may never pick up again or at least not in time for you. You can either go balls to the wall and start your own firm which is generally considered to be a terrible idea (just think about if a client walked in your door and with a slip and fall...would you even know what to do?) OR you can start considering new goals.

I say this especially in light of a recent article I read on ATL about how a state level court system in CA offered an unpaid, six month 'opportunity' to do legal research for the courts...evidently the recruiter there was FLOODED with freshly minted and non-freshly minted JDs.

I had to do some serious thinking...I do like the law and I believe I am skilled but I'm not sure I would be willing to work for free that long, especially when no job is in any way guaranteed and instead I could be hunting for years and years.

The two fields that still recruit people with talent are sales and the military. There are of course other options you can look in to as well. Best of luck.

Sincerely,

Fellow 3L whose last hope is trial level clerkships.

[romothesavior]

In before Matthies tells you to quit leaning on OCI like a crutch and bitching about your job prospects and not doing anything proactive.

[Anonymous User]

Which markets did you bid on originally?

[rayiner]

Drop out and go back to engineering.

[iagolives]

Drop out and go back to engineering.

(Sorry OP, in my last post I didn't see the engineering part. Long day...)

IDK about dropping out, but I would definitely go back to engineering.

[Anonymous User]

What are you talking about? [OP here...] The problem is that I am doing everything necessary (mass mailings, career fairs, networking, 3L OCI, government, exploring other career options, studying for the patent bar, participating in professional organizations) AND I still feel like I am going nowhere fast. And the question is: what do people who are in my situation do in order to keep going?

[Anonymous User]

[OP here...] Above post was specifically directed to romo...

[traehekat]

I think once you take the patent bar your prospects will brighten.

[romothesavior]

What are you talking about? [OP here...] The problem is that I am doing everything necessary (mass mailings, career fairs, networking, 3L OCI, government, exploring other career options, studying for the patent bar, participating in professional organizations) AND I still feel like I am going nowhere fast. And the question is: what do people who are in my situation do in order to keep going?

Hey, don't tell me that. Tell matthies when he gets here lol. It just sounded like in your OP that you were relying solely on OCI.

Carry on.

[traehekat]

What are you talking about? [OP here...] The problem is that I am doing everything necessary (mass mailings, career fairs, networking, 3L OCI, government, exploring other career options, studying for the patent bar, participating in professional organizations) AND I still feel like I am going nowhere fast. And the question is: what do people who are in my situation do in order to keep going?

Hey, don't tell me that. Tell matthies when he gets here lol. It just sounded like in your OP that you were relying solely on OCI.

Carry on.

To be fair, I had the same vibe, OP. Your last posts seems to squash that assumption, though.

[TheTopBloke]

Unemployed 3L here. Completely shut out of 2L OCI, currently working at a place where it has been made abundantly clear that no offers for post-graduate employment will be made. And with all the bad news that's constantly out there, I just feel like giving up.

I just don't know what happen. I am at a T-14 law school (DGMVPN), at the median (not bad, but not good), e-board of secondary journal, engineering undergrad (w/ Honors) from T-20 school, and engineering graduate degree from T-5 school (e.g. CMU, Stanford, Cal-Tech, etc). 3L OCI at my school will be a complete joke from everything I've seen at my school and others similarly ranked (ATL post about Michigan: http://abovethelaw.com/2010/07/michigan ... counseling). What is the point of continuing to do this?

Looking back on it now, I feel like going to law school was the WORST decision I have ever made. Don't get me wrong, I love the law and would definitely want to practice if given the chance; but I just don't see anything out there for me.

Thus my question: For all the people who are in a similar situation, what keeps you going?

People like you.

[Anonymous User]

I'm still not convinced this person has a "T-5" engineering graduate degree. IP people I know last year at MVP, for example, did very well at OCI, even with less than stellar grades. But if you really do have a "T-5" degree, go back to engineering. I don't understand why you would go to law school in the first place.

[traehekat]

Unemployed 3L here. Completely shut out of 2L OCI, currently working at a place where it has been made abundantly clear that no offers for post-graduate employment will be made. And with all the bad news that's constantly out there, I just feel like giving up.

I just don't know what happen. I am at a T-14 law school (DGMVPN), at the median (not bad, but not good), e-board of secondary journal, engineering undergrad (w/ Honors) from T-20 school, and engineering graduate degree from T-5 school (e.g. CMU, Stanford, Cal-Tech, etc). 3L OCI at my school will be a complete joke from everything I've seen at my school and others similarly ranked (ATL post about Michigan: http://abovethelaw.com/2010/07/michigan ... counseling). What is the point of continuing to do this?

Looking back on it now, I feel like going to law school was the WORST decision I have ever made. Don't get me wrong, I love the law and would definitely want to practice if given the chance; but I just don't see anything out there for me.

Thus my question: For all the people who are in a similar situation, what keeps you going?

People like you.

[Anonymous User]

You're not the only one. I just want to give up and live off my husband's salary.

[romothesavior]

edited: You're a female. Probably not "faptastic." My apologies.