With a Canadian JD, will a LLM in IP law land me a job in the US? Forum

[jrwhitedog]

I'm from Canada, I always wanted to go to a US law school but the tuition plus living expense is so atrocious(at least compared with most Canadian law schools), I also have a master of engineering degree in EE/CS.

I did a research on TLS, it seems that most people believe if you want to practice law in the states, then you'd better get a JD from the states. Many lawyers I know also told me that engineering students with JD are still in very high demand for IP law even though the general legal market is so saturated.I was just wondering with a JD from a reputable law school in Ontario, will a LLM in IP law from a top IP program(such as George Washington) help me find a job in the US? Preferably NYC or DC? Thanks.

[WestOfTheRest]

If you don't already have a JD, go to a US school. You'll save time and money in the long run.

If you have a JD/are in law school, it depends on what school you're at. If you're at U of T or Osgoode, then you may be able to land a job in the US without getting a LLM.

[jrwhitedog]

If you don't already have a JD, go to a US school. You'll save time and money in the long run.

If you have a JD/are in law school, it depends on what school you're at. If you're at U of T or Osgoode, then you may be able to land a job in the US without getting a LLM.

Thanks for the reply. What about McGill ? And would a US LLM give me a better chance ?

I scored 160 in the June test 2015 and just did the Feb 2016 test yesterday but I didn't do much better this time, maybe a 162 or 163. My dilemma is that I already passed the deadline to either York or U of T this year, but I still wouldn't be too confident for either school next year. I've heard that law graduates who practice IP law usually have a better chance finding a job especially if they have a engineering degree, even sometimes not from a top law school. But I wasn't sure paying 200k for top IP law schools such as university of Houston or Santa Clara would guarantee a job, especially in cities like New York or DC.

[84651846190]

do you have a masters in engineering or just a bachelors?

[Anonymous User]

do you have a masters in engineering or just a bachelors?

Yes I have a master of engineering degree in electrical and computer engineer from McMaster university.

[84651846190]

do you have a masters in engineering or just a bachelors?

Yes I have a master of engineering degree in electrical and computer engineer from McMaster university.

You'd probably get some looks at firms in the US, but I don't know of many attorneys like you (with Canadian degrees) doing IP in the US.

[jhett]

I'm a Canadian eng graduate who went to law school in the US and do IP. I've only ever seen US firms hire JDs from UT and McGill. I don't think the LLM helps.

My advice is to get a good LSAT/GPA combo and get a large scholarship at a good US law school. Worked for me.

[Anonymous User]

I'm a Canadian eng graduate who went to law school in the US and do IP. I've only ever seen US firms hire JDs from UT and McGill. I don't think the LLM helps.

My advice is to get a good LSAT/GPA combo and get a large scholarship at a good US law school. Worked for me.

Thanks for the reply, at this moment there's pretty much nothing I could do with either my GPA or the lsat score, would you elaborate on the definition of a good US law school? Can schools like UHLC or Santa Clara that only shine at IP law be counted as good ?

[jhett]

Santa Clara is a good feeder school to IP firms in CA - I got a full ride from them and almost took it. Don't know about the reputation of UHLC. Otherwise, good law school these days is probably around top 20. I went to BU, which was ranked top 25 at that time.

Another option is to try and get hired as a patent agent/tech specialist for a law firm now. They will train you in patent law and pay for your law school tuition, but you have to work and go to school at the same time, which can be hard. Firms like Fish & Richardson and Knobbe Marten have programs like this.

[jrwhitedog]

Santa Clara is a good feeder school to IP firms in CA - I got a full ride from them and almost took it. Don't know about the reputation of UHLC. Otherwise, good law school these days is probably around top 20. I went to BU, which was ranked top 25 at that time.

Another option is to try and get hired as a patent agent/tech specialist for a law firm now. They will train you in patent law and pay for your law school tuition, but you have to work and go to school at the same time, which can be hard. Firms like Fish & Richardson and Knobbe Marten have programs like this.

Thanks again, but would you still go to the states without any scholarship ?

[jhett]

Thanks again, but would you still go to the states without any scholarship ?

No. I would have went to law school in Canada. Tuition is so crazy high I would not go down to the US unless I got money from a school with good job prospects or had a firm pay tuition for me.

[jrwhitedog]

Thanks again, but would you still go to the states without any scholarship ?

No. I would have went to law school in Canada. Tuition is so crazy high I would not go down to the US unless I got money from a school with good job prospects or had a firm pay tuition for me.

Sorry to bother you again, what's the career prospect with a tier 1 jd and engineering degree for IP law ?

[jhett]

Sorry to bother you again, what's the career prospect with a tier 1 jd and engineering degree for IP law ?

Generally, easier than non-IP people but not easy per se. You will probably need to get good grades to get looks from the top IP firms, but on the whole the demand is still higher than the supply. There are a number of other factors that may affect your chances include your immigration status (some employers may be unwilling to invest in obtaining a work visa for you), the location of your law school versus your desired market (NY and DC should have a good number of jobs), what type of IP law you want to do (patent prosecution v. lit v. tech trans), etc.

Sorry I can't be more specific, but I can't prognosticate for you because there's still too many unknown variables. If you want more concrete advice, you should probably identify which law schools you want to/have a shot at attending, and then ask IP people who've graduated from those schools about their experience. You should generally go to school in the same market you want to practice. For example, in DC you can check out Georgetown, GW, American, and George Mason. In NY, there's NYU, Columbia, and Fordham. For CA, it'll be Stanford, Berkeley, Hastings, Davis, UCLA, USC, and Santa Clara.

Also, research various IP firms to better understand their hiring criteria and feeder schools. NALP Directory has some good information.

[jrwhitedog]

Sorry to bother you again, what's the career prospect with a tier 1 jd and engineering degree for IP law ?

Generally, easier than non-IP people but not easy per se. You will probably need to get good grades to get looks from the top IP firms, but on the whole the demand is still higher than the supply. There are a number of other factors that may affect your chances include your immigration status (some employers may be unwilling to invest in obtaining a work visa for you), the location of your law school versus your desired market (NY and DC should have a good number of jobs), what type of IP law you want to do (patent prosecution v. lit v. tech trans), etc.

Sorry I can't be more specific, but I can't prognosticate for you because there's still too many unknown variables. If you want more concrete advice, you should probably identify which law schools you want to/have a shot at attending, and then ask IP people who've graduated from those schools about their experience. You should generally go to school in the same market you want to practice. For example, in DC you can check out Georgetown, GW, American, and George Mason. In NY, there's NYU, Columbia, and Fordham. For CA, it'll be Stanford, Berkeley, Hastings, Davis, UCLA, USC, and Santa Clara.

Also, research various IP firms to better understand their hiring criteria and feeder schools. NALP Directory has some good information.

Thank you so much,I'll certainly do a research among all the top ip law firms. Is it true that more than 90% of the patent lawyers are doing patent prosecution ?

[jrwhitedog]

do you have a masters in engineering or just a bachelors?

Yes I have a master of engineering degree in electrical and computer engineer from McMaster university.

You'd probably get some looks at firms in the US, but I don't know of many attorneys like you (with Canadian degrees) doing IP in the US.

By Canadian degrees, were you referring to JD or engineering ?

[L’Étranger]

Is it true that more than 90% of the patent lawyers are doing patent prosecution ?

I'm assuming you are a 0L and not totally trolling. While much less than 3 years of full tuition, LLMs are still expensive. You know that right?