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I understand that many of the larger law firms have GPA cut-offs during OCI. Are IP candidates subject to the same cut-off? Or are IP candidates subject to a different/lower cut-off? For reference: I have a background in CS and am patent bar eligible.

At my firm, yes. IP lit folks are subject to the same cutoff. However, there seem to be "unofficial" cutoffs for people interested in certain practice groups (like appellate) that are much higher than the official cutoff.

Biglaw_Associate_V20 wrote:At my firm, yes. IP lit folks are subject to the same cutoff. However, there seem to be "unofficial" cutoffs for people interested in certain practice groups (like appellate) that are much higher than the official cutoff.

Interesting, and what about the patent prosecution candidates?

Bump

skri65 wrote:

Biglaw_Associate_V20 wrote:At my firm, yes. IP lit folks are subject to the same cutoff. However, there seem to be "unofficial" cutoffs for people interested in certain practice groups (like appellate) that are much higher than the official cutoff.

Interesting, and what about the patent prosecution candidates?

Have you considered attending the Loyola Patent Law Interview Program (PLIP)? Most of the people from my T2 did pretty well there, and there are a lot of prosecution positions at the fair.

Bedsole wrote:

skri65 wrote:

Biglaw_Associate_V20 wrote:At my firm, yes. IP lit folks are subject to the same cutoff. However, there seem to be "unofficial" cutoffs for people interested in certain practice groups (like appellate) that are much higher than the official cutoff.

Interesting, and what about the patent prosecution candidates?

Have you considered attending the Loyola Patent Law Interview Program (PLIP)? Most of the people from my T2 did pretty well there, and there are a lot of prosecution positions at the fair.

Yes, I plan on attending that...seems like a beneficial event. My question is more related to OCI, and whether people with an IP background are still subject to the same GPA cutoffs as everyone else.

skri65 wrote:

Bedsole wrote:

skri65 wrote:

Biglaw_Associate_V20 wrote:At my firm, yes. IP lit folks are subject to the same cutoff. However, there seem to be "unofficial" cutoffs for people interested in certain practice groups (like appellate) that are much higher than the official cutoff.

Interesting, and what about the patent prosecution candidates?

Have you considered attending the Loyola Patent Law Interview Program (PLIP)? Most of the people from my T2 did pretty well there, and there are a lot of prosecution positions at the fair.

Yes, I plan on attending that...seems like a beneficial event. My question is more related to OCI, and whether people with an IP background are still subject to the same GPA cutoffs as everyone else.

I doubt you will get a consensus on this question as this varies from firm to firm. The cutoffs listed for PLIP are going to be the most representative. I know my firm does not have a lower cut off for IP for either pros or lit

gk101 wrote:
I doubt you will get a consensus on this question as this varies from firm to firm. The cutoffs listed for PLIP are going to be the most representative. I know my firm does not have a lower cut off for IP for either pros or lit

Fair enough. You said the cutoffs "listed for PLIP"...where would I find these?

skri65 wrote:

gk101 wrote:
I doubt you will get a consensus on this question as this varies from firm to firm. The cutoffs listed for PLIP are going to be the most representative. I know my firm does not have a lower cut off for IP for either pros or lit

Fair enough. You said the cutoffs "listed for PLIP"...where would I find these?

Many firms will list the cutoffs outright on their symplicity listing during the bid phase of PLIP.

It definitely varies firm to firm. A lot of it may have to do with how the firm is organized. For the firms I interviewed with, it seemed like those who had patent groups that did both lit and pros (verses having the IP lit as one group and more "core" IP as two groups) seemed to have their own standards different than the rest of the firm. If they were split into groups, it may just be the pros group that has a different cutoffs. As the above posters said, firms often will list what the cutoffs are for their IP group if they're different than for other groups.

In any case, don't let it dissuade you from bidding places where you feel your gpa might be lower than their stated cutoff. Firms may not officially have a lower cutoff or may not state one for their patent groups even if they do, but in general they seem somewhat more willing to dip deeper into a class in order to find an applicant with the desired technical background and/or work experience.

I just interviewed for a patent pros position a V50 firm and they flat out told me that they have a much lower gpa cut off for prosecution. My gpa is only 3.1 and they told me that 3.0 was the cut off. However, it also depends on your tech background. I have an EE degree and it appears to be in demand these days. If you have bio/civil etc, it may not apply.

prnirave wrote:I just interviewed for a patent pros position a V50 firm and they flat out told me that they have a much lower gpa cut off for prosecution. My gpa is only 3.1 and they told me that 3.0 was the cut off. However, it also depends on your tech background. I have an EE degree and it appears to be in demand these days. If you have bio/civil etc, it may not apply.

Interesting. To give context to those numbers, do you mind messaging or posting the median at your school and the rank range of your school?

I think you should ignore the listed cut-offs because I don't think they really apply a hard line for IP people (at least in my experience). I've generally fell below whatever was listed and I still applied and received interviews because of other reasons. Unless you're super boring on paper, just apply reasonably and broadly.

All recruiting patterns vary heavily firm to firm.

The cut off is probably a very poor way to think about OCI recruiting. Firms do not just give callbacks to everyone above one gpa level, and then none below it. If firms have a gpa cutoff--and I don't think most do--it's a pretty low number compared to their normal hiring range.

The Northwestern data has some extremely low "minimum" GPA for callbacks. Several V10's with below 3.0 (Which is bottom of the barrel there).

So I wouldn't bother with cut offs.

But IP hiring is typically a lower bar.

PS: Any GPA cut off in a job posting is 100% bullshit. They are so inaccurate it's not even funny. Some are too high, some are too low. It's just stupid.

+1

Desert Fox wrote:All recruiting patterns vary heavily firm to firm.

The cut off is probably a very poor way to think about OCI recruiting. Firms do not just give callbacks to everyone above one gpa level, and then none below it. If firms have a gpa cutoff--and I don't think most do--it's a pretty low number compared to their normal hiring range.

....

So I wouldn't bother with cut offs.

But IP hiring is typically a lower bar.

PS: Any GPA cut off in a job posting is 100% bullshit. They are so inaccurate it's not even funny. Some are too high, some are too low. It's just stupid.

A