I just got an offer from a small patent law firm (7 people) in a secondary market (e.g. Charlotte, NC) and the partner asked me how much I wanted to be paid. Being vaguely aware of negotiation strategies, I went with the "Don't name the price first" strategy and asked him what he wanted to pay me. He's currently researching what to offer. I want to know what I should be expecting so I can negotiate, if necessary.
I'm unorthodox in the sense that I am a licensed attorney (in a different state), not patent barred yet, and am currently in grad school for electrical engineering, with a background in physics.
If anybody has an idea of how much I should be expecting per hour I'd appreciate the help!
How much should a small patent law firm pay a summer associate? Forum
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Re: How much should a small patent law firm pay a summer associate?
You are a licensed attorney (patent bar or not does not matter), so you should be paid like a real attorney's hourly wage. For patent prosecution, that's a bit of an easier calculation, take the market salary rate for biglaw/patent boutique divide by the billable hours (billed for patent prosecution shops). Anecdotally, I was a patent law clerk during law school and I got between 50-60/billable hour in a secondary city (think Salt Lake City, Denver, Minneapolis, Seattle).
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Re: How much should a small patent law firm pay a summer associate?
That is not how you figure out your hourly compensation at all.take the market salary rate for biglaw/patent boutique divide by the billable hours
OP, sounds like you're just going to be clerking? Big Law summers make $3k/wk, I wouldn't expect anything near that at a small firm in Charlotte. My large firm plays clerks (including those with JDs) a straight $20/hr when they aren't in the Summer Associate wonderland. Obviously that is a large stretch.
I would try and figure out what this firm would pay an entry level associate, and base your request on that. I would approach it differently if it was (1) just a SA gig; (2) a year round clerking gig; and (3) a patent agent/technical advisor part time or full time position.
