USPTO or AUSA Forum

NewlyLegal · Post by **NewlyLegal** » Mon Jun 02, 2014 11:42 am

All, I have opportunities at the USPTO and at a US Attorney's Office as an AUSA. I have a few years of large firm experience and a family with a young child. Which would you choose, and why?

bulinus · Post by **bulinus** » Mon Jun 02, 2014 12:02 pm

What's the PTO job? Long-term goals?

84651846190 · Post by **84651846190** » Mon Jun 02, 2014 1:07 pm

How the hell did you get offers from both the USPTO and as an AUSA?

rpupkin · Post by **rpupkin** » Mon Jun 02, 2014 6:30 pm

Biglaw_Associate_V20 wrote:How the hell did you get offers from both the USPTO and as an AUSA?

In theory, I can imagine someone with the qualifications to get offers from the Solicitor's Office of the PTO and from one of the two USAO divisions that deals with intellectual property. But I can't imagine why anyone with those qualifications would be seeking advice from the collective ignorance of TLS.

84651846190 · Post by **84651846190** » Mon Jun 02, 2014 7:20 pm

rpupkin wrote:
Biglaw_Associate_V20 wrote:How the hell did you get offers from both the USPTO and as an AUSA?
In theory, I can imagine someone with the qualifications to get offers from the Solicitor's Office of the PTO and from one of the two USAO divisions that deals with intellectual property. But I can't imagine why anyone with those qualifications would be seeking advice from the collective ignorance of TLS.

Credited. Also, it just seems so incredibly lucky to get both of these offers. I mean, MCL HLS grads with COA clerkships have a hard time getting AUSA. I can't imagine how many patent attorneys there are with MCL HLS credentials. I guess lightning has to strike twice at least sometime, but there are probably only a half dozen or so entry-level type attorneys in the entire country with the necessary credentials to get both of these offers, and all of them are probably happy in unrelated careers in academia or private practice.

middlemarch · Post by **middlemarch** » Mon Jun 02, 2014 9:18 pm

what's MCL?

84651846190 · Post by **84651846190** » Mon Jun 02, 2014 10:19 pm

middlemarch wrote:what's MCL?

magna cum laude

Anonymous User · Post by **Anonymous User** » Tue Jun 03, 2014 1:28 am

Biglaw_Associate_V20 wrote:I mean, MCL HLS grads with COA clerkships have a hard time getting AUSA.

I think this depends where you're applying. Different USAOs value different things; if you're assuming someone's only looking in NYC/LA/SF or something, maybe you're right. But I know lots of recently hired AUSAs without stats anything like that.

anon168 · Post by **anon168** » Tue Jun 03, 2014 3:13 pm

NewlyLegal wrote:All, I have opportunities at the USPTO and at a US Attorney's Office as an AUSA. I have a few years of large firm experience and a family with a young child. Which would you choose, and why?

Really need more info here, my friend. What position/dept. at the USPTO do you have an offer from? Patents, TMs, PIA, etc? And if you're actually in the Office, are you going to be a patent examiner? Or a trademark attorney? In just about any position, you will be doing very little actual litigating. It's almost transactional -- and may be the only type of corporate law there is in federal system for a lawyer.

At the USAO, on the other hand, even in a specialized unit like CHiPs, you will be investigating and prosecuting cases.

The better question might be what you want to do as a lawyer. Pay between the two agencies will be comparable, so unless you're wife is a biglaw partner or an heiress to the Hershey's estate, your kids ain't going to private on your paycheck alone.

If you can give us a better sense of what you want out of a legal career, it'll help us help you.

MarcZero · Post by **MarcZero** » Tue Jun 03, 2014 9:48 pm

As someone who looked at both avenues, I chose the IP/USPTO/Patent route instead of the AUSA. The budgets of the AUSA offices keep getting slashed. The local office here only hires people for ZERO salary, meaning you work for them for free for 1-2 years, then you leave and get to put AUSA on your resume to get a better gig. Might work for young people, but I also have a family and couldn't afford working (and paying for parking, etc.) for years for literally no money.

The USPTO positions (at least the internships) are also not paid, but if you get a job there, you will always make decent money. Not great money like you would in firms, but pretty good money for a cushy government job. Because the USPTO always charges fees for what it does, there is no real shortage of money for employees there like there is with AUSA offices.

A. Nony Mouse · Post by **A. Nony Mouse** » Tue Jun 03, 2014 11:52 pm

Since the OP has a few years of biglaw experience, I'm pretty sure they're choosing between two paid permanent positions.

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