Take the engineering job, or pursue Patent Law? Forum

[Anonymous User]

So I'm coming up on graduation, and am faced with the following situation:

- A job offer of $65,000+ as a practicing engineer
- Acceptance to a strong regional law school (T50), with a near full ride

Is it worth it to pass up this engineering opportunity to pursue law school, and eventually patent law? I know the job market for lawyers isn't great right now, but is it just as dismal for Patent Lawyers as well?

Note: the regional school is located in the area in which I would like to practice upon graduation from law school

[L’Étranger]

1) Are you thinking about patent prosecution or patent litigation?

2) What school is it?

[Anonymous User]

1) Are you thinking about patent prosecution or patent litigation?

2) What school is it?

Indiana University.

Haven't fully decided. Which would you recommended?

[jbagelboy]

Are you EE?

Work as an engineer for 2-3 years. Then retake the LSAT and reapply. It's fine to ultimately attend a PT program for free, but make sure it's the track you want first. You have to understand that you will be a far more attractive candidate with some actual WE in the field under your belt. Your bachelors is not useless, but it doesn't make you totally IP secure from some mid-tier law school unless it's a top electrical engineering program.

I'm summering in a biglaw office that is IP heavy, and we have a lot of very talented ex-engineer, current patent attorneys. Some of them went to T14's, some went to strong regionals and just had a good background. All of them worked in the industry prior to going to law school; it makes them more palateable to the client, and overall better hires. You'll also be able to save some money.

[L’Étranger]

Indiana University.

Haven't fully decided. Which would you recommended?

Patent Prosecution:

1) People here may disagree with me, but it is my opinion that patent prosecution work is very regional with the greatest focus of employment in the Bay Area, then some in Southern California, some in Texas, and some in DC. I think you'll be hard pressed to find work in patent prosecution in your school's home region.

2) If you have the right kind of engineering background and experience, you may have the opportunity to get employment outside of IU's home region, in one of the regions I listed above.

Patent litigation:

1) Again, people may disagree with me, but it is my opinion that litigation will not value your engineering degree quite as much as patent prosecution likely would. Thus, for patent litigation, I don't know how well the IU degree will travel outside of your home region. You'll have to really take a look at IU's overall employment stats to get a sense of whether landing a job in patent litigation is realistic coming from there.

tldr

If you are leaning towards patent prosecution, you probably have a better chance of landing full time employment coming out of IU than if you were leaning towards patent lit coming out of IU.

[nygrrrl]

Hey there, OP: This looks like a decent thread (congrats on your graduation!) but it's in the wrong place:

If you're a 0L wanting advice from current law students, we've set up a new forum just for you, which you can find here: http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=4

It's called "Ask a Law Student", and it's a place for 0Ls to ask current law students questions without disturbing the "Students and Graduates" forums. Post all your questions there, including about things like classes, grades, transferring, employment, etc. Please do not continue posting your questions here in the Students and Graduates forums, as doing so might get you banned and/or your thread locked.

Thank you for your understanding.

I'm going to move this over to Ask a Law Student - OP, hope you get all the advice you need.
Best of luck!

[Emu Flu]

What type of engineering undergrad do you have? Also, what type of engineering position is it? Normally, I would recommend someone get industry experience. It helps to be a little bit older in patent law (at least prosecution) and to have some industry experience if it's in a useful field.

1) People here may disagree with me, but it is my opinion that patent prosecution work is very regional with the greatest focus of employment in the Bay Area, then some in Southern California, some in Texas, and some in DC. I think you'll be hard pressed to find work in patent prosecution in your school's home region.

I guess I'm one of those who disagrees with you! Patent prosecution work is distributed all over the country. The nature of the work lends itself to easy distribution, with DC probably being the greatest focus for law firm employment. I think that the Bay Area is probably the greatest focus for in-house employment though. I find Bay Area prosecution to be a lot more fractured with smaller practice groups and firms than other regions, so companies needing a lot of bandwidth will send work to larger practice groups elsewhere.

[L’Étranger]

I guess I'm one of those who disagrees with you! Patent prosecution work is distributed all over the country. The nature of the work lends itself to easy distribution, with DC probably being the greatest focus for law firm employment. I think that the Bay Area is probably the greatest focus for in-house employment though. I find Bay Area prosecution to be a lot more fractured with smaller practice groups and firms than other regions, so companies needing a lot of bandwidth will send work to larger practice groups elsewhere.

Fine to disagree with me, but I think you're giving misleading information with regards to OP's situation.

Sure, there may be small firms and solo practitioners doing patent prosecution in every state, including Indiana, but in terms of employment opportunities for law school grads, one's best bet is a region where they hire patent prosecutors in large numbers such as the Bay Area, Southern California, Texas, and DC.

[Emu Flu]

I guess I'm one of those who disagrees with you! Patent prosecution work is distributed all over the country. The nature of the work lends itself to easy distribution, with DC probably being the greatest focus for law firm employment. I think that the Bay Area is probably the greatest focus for in-house employment though. I find Bay Area prosecution to be a lot more fractured with smaller practice groups and firms than other regions, so companies needing a lot of bandwidth will send work to larger practice groups elsewhere.

Fine to disagree with me, but I think you're giving misleading information with regards to OP's situation.

Sure, there may be small firms and solo practitioners doing patent prosecution in every state, including Indiana, but in terms of employment opportunities for law school grads, one's best bet is a region where they hire patent prosecutors in large numbers such as the Bay Area, Southern California, Texas, and DC.

I would add Chicago, Boston, and NYC/NJ to that list. In my opinion, DC is by far the easiest place to get a prosecution job straight out of law school. Bay Area prosecution is dominated by small firms and small practice groups, leading to less opportunities for law students and fresh grads than most realize. It's still a good place though and obviously better than Indiana.

[BarrySanders]

I have an engineering degree (ME) and I went to IU on a full ride (though ultimately I hated IP and focused on a different field). Work a few years first. I did and I think that it makes a positive difference all other things being equal. Most of my IP-focused friends with really good outcomes (big law or IP boutique) worked for a while, even decades, before law school. Working will also let you save up money for living expenses and let you explore whatever other options you might have. It will also help you to figure out what you like and don't like in a workplace, which will affect what work environments you are looking for as a law school graduate.

If you can get a full ride now, you will probably be able to get one in a few years, so there is no harm in waiting.

[oblitigate]

OP, I work almost exclusively in patent litigation. Feel free to pm me any addt'l questions if you want specifics on that practice, my advice, etc.

I've never prosecuted a patent in my life though, fyi

[Hooch]

I don't really know the answer to your question... But have you considered applying to work as a patent prosecutor? I don't know very much about how to go about doing that, but I do know that I've met people who are patent litigators at decent places who seem to have entirely mediocre pedigree other than the fact they worked in the PTO. Not sure if it's feasible (or even if the PTO is hiring right now) but if you want to gain some familiarity with patent law and increase your chances of working as a patent litigator down the road, working as a patent examiner in the PTO might be something worth looking into.

[kcdc1]

I would definitely take the engineering job and work for at least 2 years. If you do decide to go to law school down the road, you'll likely have much better options--likely in terms of schools, scholarships, and job opportunity. You learn a lot about the world by working, and you make some money too.

FWIW, I'll be doing patent law. It's easier to find a job in IP than in other fields, but the employers also care more about work experience and UG grades.