Patent agent salary starting and later advancement? Forum
Forum rules
Anonymous Posting
Anonymous posting is only appropriate when you are revealing sensitive employment related information about a firm, job, etc. You may anonymously respond on topic to these threads. Unacceptable uses include: harassing another user, joking around, testing the feature, or other things that are more appropriate in the lounge.
Failure to follow these rules will get you outed, warned, or banned.
Anonymous Posting
Anonymous posting is only appropriate when you are revealing sensitive employment related information about a firm, job, etc. You may anonymously respond on topic to these threads. Unacceptable uses include: harassing another user, joking around, testing the feature, or other things that are more appropriate in the lounge.
Failure to follow these rules will get you outed, warned, or banned.
-
Anonymous User
- Posts: 432822
- Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am
Patent agent salary starting and later advancement?
Trying to understand whether law school is worth it. Anyone can provide any insights on salary, bonus, work life balance for both big law and boutiques. Thanks!
-
Anonymous User
- Posts: 432822
- Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am
Re: Patent agent salary starting and later advancement?
Varies *wildly* by firm. An experienced agent at the firms I have worked at can make in to the six figures pretty easily, but will have nearly the same billable requirements as the attorneys, and have far less career opportunity and lower overall earning potential. Most places I have worked it has also been much lower stress though. You're also going to be much more limited in the type of work that you can do.
Really depends on what you want out of the career, what you want to earn, and what you want to invest.
There are many life-time agents who love it and would never consider going to LS. Most, I think, treat it as a stepping stone and either intend up front to go to LS or do down the road.
Really depends on what you want out of the career, what you want to earn, and what you want to invest.
There are many life-time agents who love it and would never consider going to LS. Most, I think, treat it as a stepping stone and either intend up front to go to LS or do down the road.
-
Anonymous User
- Posts: 432822
- Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am
Re: Patent agent salary starting and later advancement?
Agreed with the above. It's not hard to earn six figures after some years, and it's usually easier to make hours as a PA than as an associate (due to lower billing rates), so if you're looking for less stress, generally PA is the way to go. However, some PAs at some firms have a higher billing rate than associates at other firms, so it's all relative and highly depends on the firm you're interested in. You're also not getting associate-level bonuses or salaries (relative to years worked), by any means. Starting salary depends on the firm, but can also depend on what degree you have.
It's also hard to transition from a PA to anything else; five years in, you'll lose a lot of the skills that would have been great in the industry, and you'll lack the credentials to try to get into other areas of law. Some PAs get a law degree just to have the ability to try out different work at their firm/to switch to something different; some do training in their scientific field and go (back) into industry.
You can always start as a PA, and choose later to go to law school; most big-name firms will help pay for it.
It's also hard to transition from a PA to anything else; five years in, you'll lose a lot of the skills that would have been great in the industry, and you'll lack the credentials to try to get into other areas of law. Some PAs get a law degree just to have the ability to try out different work at their firm/to switch to something different; some do training in their scientific field and go (back) into industry.
You can always start as a PA, and choose later to go to law school; most big-name firms will help pay for it.
