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I've got a grad degree in a hard science, and left my field hoping to become an ADA, but given the hiring situation in CA and my desire to live there, I'm trying to come up with a viable backup plan. Anyway, it looks like patent law is one of the most popular careers for lawyers with a scientific education, but are there other options? For example, someone I spoke to mentioned a field called "emerging technologies law" and said it was an extremely interesting area. I can't seem to find out much about it though. Anyway, if there are any scientists on here that know about career options other than IP law, it would be awesome if you could post your thoughts. Thanks in advance for any responses!

Khasekhemwy wrote:I've got a grad degree in a hard science, and left my field hoping to become an ADA, but given the hiring situation in CA and my desire to live there, I'm trying to come up with a viable backup plan. Anyway, it looks like patent law is one of the most popular careers for lawyers with a scientific education, but are there other options? For example, someone I spoke to mentioned a field called "emerging technologies law" and said it was an extremely interesting area. I can't seem to find out much about it though. Anyway, if there are any scientists on here that know about career options other than IP law, it would be awesome if you could post your thoughts. Thanks in advance for any responses!

There's transactional law that involves technology firms (often with an IP component in the deals). It can be helpful to have a technical background for that kind of work in the sense of understanding what the transactions are about -- but it isn't like IP where they are actively looking for technical backgrounds as a general rule.

Outside of IP, science and engineering degrees do become rapidly less of a direct contributor to employment, though it never becomes an actual obstacle -- so people with engineering backgrounds end up doing lots of things in law. Also, a lot of people get hired with the intention to do IP but end up doing something else.

Just remember to use positive language to express preferences in interviews instead of negative language, and don't be overly self-deprecating about your background even if it doesn't seem really related to what you're trying to do. It's part of who you are and what you're going to bring to any kind of legal work.

Yes, I've also heard of tech-trans and seems its a growing practice in lots of top firms.

I have also talked to some employment law attorneys who said that having a science degree can be beneficial-since they were representing foreign scientific researchers working in bio-labs, and they think knowing the specific field can really help you build the case.