What has better prospects: IP or Environmental? Forum

[frank brown]

1) Between Environmental Law and IP Law, which area currently has more jobs in the US:

A) Environmental Law
B) IP Law
C) Both have same numbers
D) It depends
E) None of the above or the comparison is apples to oranges

2) Between Environmental Law and IP Law, which area currently has better salaries than the other:

A) Environmental Law
B) IP Law
C) Both have same salaries
D) It depends
E) None of the above or the comparison is apples to oranges

I have my thoughts on it just wanted to gain others opinions to see if there is general consensus and agreement in the student community.

[IAFG]

Are you asking because of law school specialty rankings

[rayiner]

There are a lot more jobs in IP than Environmental.

[frank brown]

Intial question edited for clarity.

[IAFG]

I am asking in terms of which of these areas has more jobs and which of these areas pays more.

But why

How is this a comparison anyone should be making

[lhanvt13]

I am asking in terms of which of these areas has more jobs and which of these areas pays more. One part of the question has been kindly answered by rayiner.

What are you interested in? Hard IP? Soft IP? Biglaw? Boutique? Geography?
the somewhat harsh response is because of your vague question. That's like asking if an apple is sweeter or a peach is sweeter. It depends on a lot of things.
Try to edit your question to make it more specific and you'll get a more legit response

[rpupkin]

Just wanted to gain some thoughts.

This is like asking whether a public defender has better prospects than a trade lawyer. You're asking us to compare apples and oranges without any context.

Share your interests/goals and you might get some useful advice.

[FSK]

.

[A. Nony Mouse]

I'm pretty sure salary isn't going to be determined by practice area but by employer - working for biglaw will have a different salary than working for mid/smalllaw which will be different from working for the feds which will be different from working for a state or local government which will be different from working for a non-profit etc. To the extent there are more IP jobs in biglaw than environmental (note: I don't know this is true, just assuming based on rayiner's earlier comment), then IP jobs will have higher salaries on average. Environmental jobs at a non-profit are going to pay much less than environmental jobs at a big firm. So it doesn't really seem like you can say one has higher salaries than the other.

Of course, which one has higher salaries/more jobs is kind of irrelevant if you aren't in a position to apply for either of them. IP generally requires qualifications that not all law students have. Which one has higher salaries/more jobs is also less relevant than where you're going to law school - if you go to a school that struggles to place its graduates in jobs, period, it's not going to matter much whether there are more IP jobs or more environmental jobs. The question sort of seems to put the cart before the horse, honestly.

[09042014]

Patent Litigation/Prosecution for those with an M.S. Electrical Engineering/Computer Science is easier to get into than other legal practices. Even still, you'll need good grades, and for prosecution you'll likely need strong work experience, and good M.S/B.S. grades to be a strong candidate.

I wouldn't say good, I'd say not bad.

[Total Litigator]

Defining IP law is pretty straight forward: patent law and copyright law for the most part. The transactional aspects are all relatively similar, and the trial aspects are all relatively similar.

Environmental law is kind of a stupid category. Most lawyers practicing 'environmental law' are plaintiff's attorney trying toxic tort cases, which boils down to a complicated form of personal injury law. However, when a lay person thinks of 'environmental lawyers' they usually think of the handful of attorneys who work at the EPA, and the handful of big law attorneys who defend toxic tort claims and EPA regulatory enforcement actions, and the handful of Public Interest Lawyers who work at extremely selective public interest organizations such as the Sierra Club.

[A. Nony Mouse]

The ratio of IP lawyers to environmental lawyers (whatever the hell that is) is about 1,000,000:1.

Depends a little on how you define environmental lawyer. If you include oil and gas the ratio may not quite so stark (I think there may be more environmental law in the west, because I do think of it as a real thing, but even so I'm sure there's way more IP).

[Total Litigator]

The ratio of IP lawyers to environmental lawyers (whatever the hell that is) is about 1,000,000:1.

Depends a little on how you define environmental lawyer. If you include oil and gas the ratio may not quite so stark (I think there may be more environmental law in the west, because I do think of it as a real thing, but even so I'm sure there's way more IP).

Sorry, I since edited my post, since I realized my statement was a bit extreme lol.

However, my intended point was that if OP wants the more stable career aspiration (which appears to be the case since he was asking about numbers and salary) IP law is the clear winner here. And I think we are on the same page there.

[Jchance]

IP wins by like 1,000 miles.

[YankeesFan]

I hope this question isn't a disguised way of asking whether the OP should attend New Hampshire or Vermont. Both of those schools claim that IP (UNH) and environmental law (VT) are their "specialties"...

[lhanvt13]

I hope this question isn't a disguised way of asking whether the OP should attend New Hampshire or Vermont. Both of those schools claim that IP (UNH) and environmental law (VT) are their "specialties"...

Maybe gw (IP) vs umd (environment)?

[DELG]

I hope this question isn't a disguised way of asking whether the OP should attend New Hampshire or Vermont. Both of those schools claim that IP (UNH) and environmental law (VT) are their "specialties"...

Maybe gw (IP) vs umd (environment)?

This is literally the second post in the thread, my fellow scholars

[lhanvt13]

I hope this question isn't a disguised way of asking whether the OP should attend New Hampshire or Vermont. Both of those schools claim that IP (UNH) and environmental law (VT) are their "specialties"...

Maybe gw (IP) vs umd (environment)?

This is literally the second post in the thread, my fellow scholars

??

[DELG]

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