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Most jobs are for experienced patent attorneys. How hard is it to get a job after law school or a summer associate position/internship in patent law, being from a mediocre law school with mediocre grades, but the right background? Especially at a small boutique firm.

Do you have a bachelor's in a technical field that will allow you to take the patent bar? If not, I'd give up this idea - even if you can fulfill the alternate education reqs. to become patent bar eligible, patent boutiques prefer folks with advanced technical degrees (MS or PhD).

Short answer - the better your non-law credentials are, the easier it will be.

Patent litigation isn't too hard to break into. It's an in-demand area, and if you're patent bar eligible you should be able to get your foot in the door somewhere. I only have a BS in a life sciences specialty (think genetics, microbiology, etc) and I passed the patent bar as a 3L. I'm now working as a patent litigator for one of the top firms in the country for patent lit. Most people in my group have at least a BS in a technical field. A small handful don't have science degrees but got a lot of patent experience in law school.

Patent prosecution is much, much harder. You will almost certainly need an advanced degree to break into patent prosecution.