Is getting into entrepreneurial/tech law a "thing"? Forum

[zeglo]

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[CrossRoads]

Yes, it's very much a thing. I'm at a T14 (not Berkeley or Stanford) and am involved in the tech/startup/entrepreneurship law space. Obviously the majority of the market (and the competition w/r/t jobs) is on the west coast. But there is action on the east coast. In my experience, it's much more about the firm/practice group you decide to go to, rather than your law school.

Happy to say more and share my experience - just PM me.

[TakeItToTrial]

If you don't have T-14 opinions, take a look at Santa Clara. It has about 15% big law placement (far above most of its peer schools) because it feeds heavily into the Silicon Valley tech market. You could probably go for free with good numbers.

[bk1]

http://www.chambersandpartners.com/1278 ... torial/5/1

The majority of this work is in SV (there is some of it elsewhere). Going to schools that have an edge in CA and/or an edge in biglaw generally are going to set you up for an advantage. Having a background and showing genuine interest in that kind of work is also helpful.

[TLSModBot]

One option to consider is Private Equity M&A (which a number of the biggest firms do and not limited to west coast). You see a lot of deals where a PE firm is buying or selling smaller companies that are usually at the point of successful profitable launch but not at the point where they have their own legal team. Joining a spun-off portfolio company seems to be a decent way to go in-house to a still-young company with growth potential.

[SFSpartan]

If you don't have T-14 opinions, take a look at Santa Clara. It has about 15% big law placement (far above most of its peer schools) because it feeds heavily into the Silicon Valley tech market. You could probably go for free with good numbers.

Unless OP has an advanced technical degree, this is not great advice. Santa Clara has a large number of students (relative to other law schools) with advanced EE/CS degrees. Because of the dearth of students with these degrees, they can get biglaw more easily. I'm not so sure Santa Clara's biglaw numbers reflect reality for the average law student given these facts.

[philosoraptor]

Path of least resistance for general corporate with an emphasis on emerging growth/VC seems to be Stanford/Berkeley then a big SV/SF firm. If you want other markets, you might need to be a little more strategic. For example, Duke is in the Research Triangle, which is an exploding biotech hub. UT is in Austin, which has been a tech hub for a while, but it's almost impossible to get big firm jobs there. UVA or D.C.-area schools might help you get connections in Northern Virginia. Harvard would help you with the Boston tech scene or pretty much anywhere else. In my biglaw emerging growth practice group in a non-CA market, we have lawyers from Berkeley, Harvard, Georgetown, UVA, UT, NYU, and several other places - there's no specific pipeline.

I'd say shoot for the schools that will give you the best chance of landing a big corporate firm in your target market, then try to get some broad experience (private M&A, capital markets, company-side emerging growth, investor-side financings) before specializing too much. If you don't have a target market, you can't really go wrong with Stanford, Harvard, Berkeley if you can get them. If your law school offers relevant clinics or experiential classes, take them, but keep in mind partners' philosophies can vary wildly in this area, especially with respect to early-stage company representation. Obviously, take business organizations and securities law, but also take tax and employment/benefits law if you can.

[TakeItToTrial]

If you don't have T-14 opinions, take a look at Santa Clara. It has about 15% big law placement (far above most of its peer schools) because it feeds heavily into the Silicon Valley tech market. You could probably go for free with good numbers.

Unless OP has an advanced technical degree, this is not great advice. Santa Clara has a large number of students (relative to other law schools) with advanced EE/CS degrees. Because of the dearth of students with these degrees, they can get biglaw more easily. I'm not so sure Santa Clara's biglaw numbers reflect reality for the average law student given these facts.

This may be true, but Silicon Valley is still the tech startup capital of the country. I would say Santa Clara's Silicon Valley location, combined with the fact that someone with good numbers could probably net a full ride, makes it a legitimate option for someone without T-14 numbers who is gunning for work in tech/at startup companies.

[SFSpartan]

If you don't have T-14 opinions, take a look at Santa Clara. It has about 15% big law placement (far above most of its peer schools) because it feeds heavily into the Silicon Valley tech market. You could probably go for free with good numbers.

Unless OP has an advanced technical degree, this is not great advice. Santa Clara has a large number of students (relative to other law schools) with advanced EE/CS degrees. Because of the dearth of students with these degrees, they can get biglaw more easily. I'm not so sure Santa Clara's biglaw numbers reflect reality for the average law student given these facts.

This may be true, but Silicon Valley is still the tech startup capital of the country. I would say Santa Clara's Silicon Valley location, combined with the fact that someone with good numbers could probably net a full ride, makes it a legitimate option for someone without T-14 numbers who is gunning for work in tech/at startup companies.

I understand that SV is the tech capital of the country. I live there and my practice consists mostly of emerging companies work. However, the fact that less than 40% of Santa Clara students can get a job gives me pause. Honestly, UCLA and USC are probably better bets if you want startup work given that they have markedly higher biglaw rates (and basically all emerging companies work is in big firms). I have a hard time believing that someone could swing a full rideat SCU and not get into one of UCLA/USC.

[TakeItToTrial]

If you don't have T-14 opinions, take a look at Santa Clara. It has about 15% big law placement (far above most of its peer schools) because it feeds heavily into the Silicon Valley tech market. You could probably go for free with good numbers.

Unless OP has an advanced technical degree, this is not great advice. Santa Clara has a large number of students (relative to other law schools) with advanced EE/CS degrees. Because of the dearth of students with these degrees, they can get biglaw more easily. I'm not so sure Santa Clara's biglaw numbers reflect reality for the average law student given these facts.

This may be true, but Silicon Valley is still the tech startup capital of the country. I would say Santa Clara's Silicon Valley location, combined with the fact that someone with good numbers could probably net a full ride, makes it a legitimate option for someone without T-14 numbers who is gunning for work in tech/at startup companies.

I understand that SV is the tech capital of the country. I live there and my practice consists mostly of emerging companies work. However, the fact that less than 40% of Santa Clara students can get a job gives me pause. Honestly, UCLA and USC are probably better bets if you want startup work given that they have markedly higher biglaw rates (and basically all emerging companies work is in big firms). I have a hard time believing that someone could swing a full rideat SCU and not get into one of UCLA/USC.

I got 30k/year from SC after applying late in the cycle and without any attempt at scholarship negotiation. My numbers at the time were not even going to get me on the waitlist at USC/UCLA. USC/UCLA are better schools, all I'm saying is that if you want to work with tech startups, Santa Clara should be on your radar. If it's large/full scholarship at SC vs sticker at USC/UCLA, a person with OP's interests would be a fool not to weigh their options.

[SFSpartan]

If you don't have T-14 opinions, take a look at Santa Clara. It has about 15% big law placement (far above most of its peer schools) because it feeds heavily into the Silicon Valley tech market. You could probably go for free with good numbers.

Unless OP has an advanced technical degree, this is not great advice. Santa Clara has a large number of students (relative to other law schools) with advanced EE/CS degrees. Because of the dearth of students with these degrees, they can get biglaw more easily. I'm not so sure Santa Clara's biglaw numbers reflect reality for the average law student given these facts.

This may be true, but Silicon Valley is still the tech startup capital of the country. I would say Santa Clara's Silicon Valley location, combined with the fact that someone with good numbers could probably net a full ride, makes it a legitimate option for someone without T-14 numbers who is gunning for work in tech/at startup companies.

I understand that SV is the tech capital of the country. I live there and my practice consists mostly of emerging companies work. However, the fact that less than 40% of Santa Clara students can get a job gives me pause. Honestly, UCLA and USC are probably better bets if you want startup work given that they have markedly higher biglaw rates (and basically all emerging companies work is in big firms). I have a hard time believing that someone could swing a full rideat SCU and not get into one of UCLA/USC.

I got 30k/year from SC after applying late in the cycle and without any attempt at scholarship negotiation. My numbers at the time were not even going to get me on the waitlist at USC/UCLA. USC/UCLA are better schools, all I'm saying is that if you want to work with tech startups, Santa Clara should be on your radar. If it's large/full scholarship at SC vs sticker at USC/UCLA, a person with OP's interests would be a fool not to weigh their options.

Not saying it shouldn't be on their radar - just that there are better options, and they should go into it with a full and fair understanding that getting biglaw (and thus, getting 90+% available entry-level positions doing emerging companies work) is fairly unlikely if they choose SCU or (my alma mater) UC Hastings. Again, though, things are different if OP has a technical background.

[TakeItToTrial]

If you don't have T-14 opinions, take a look at Santa Clara. It has about 15% big law placement (far above most of its peer schools) because it feeds heavily into the Silicon Valley tech market. You could probably go for free with good numbers.

Unless OP has an advanced technical degree, this is not great advice. Santa Clara has a large number of students (relative to other law schools) with advanced EE/CS degrees. Because of the dearth of students with these degrees, they can get biglaw more easily. I'm not so sure Santa Clara's biglaw numbers reflect reality for the average law student given these facts.

This may be true, but Silicon Valley is still the tech startup capital of the country. I would say Santa Clara's Silicon Valley location, combined with the fact that someone with good numbers could probably net a full ride, makes it a legitimate option for someone without T-14 numbers who is gunning for work in tech/at startup companies.

I understand that SV is the tech capital of the country. I live there and my practice consists mostly of emerging companies work. However, the fact that less than 40% of Santa Clara students can get a job gives me pause. Honestly, UCLA and USC are probably better bets if you want startup work given that they have markedly higher biglaw rates (and basically all emerging companies work is in big firms). I have a hard time believing that someone could swing a full rideat SCU and not get into one of UCLA/USC.

I got 30k/year from SC after applying late in the cycle and without any attempt at scholarship negotiation. My numbers at the time were not even going to get me on the waitlist at USC/UCLA. USC/UCLA are better schools, all I'm saying is that if you want to work with tech startups, Santa Clara should be on your radar. If it's large/full scholarship at SC vs sticker at USC/UCLA, a person with OP's interests would be a fool not to weigh their options.

Not saying it shouldn't be on their radar - just that there are better options, and they should go into it with a full and fair understanding that getting biglaw (and thus, getting 90+% available entry-level positions doing emerging companies work) is fairly unlikely if they choose SCU or (my alma mater) UC Hastings. Again, though, things are different if OP has a technical background.

If a large portion of SCU's 15% big law grads are getting their jobs because of their advanced degrees, then you're right.

(fyi I am not at SCU)

[JusticeHarlan]

I do a lot of this kind of work (I did a little write-up here). It's a little tricky going to law school with the idea of just doing emerging company work because it's really just a (not very large) practice area of biglaw. You could aim for it, wind up at a firm that has it, but not like it, or get placed in the ligation or IP group. You could aim for it, but wind up at a biglaw firm that doesn't have that practice area. Or you could miss out out on biglaw altogether. So while it's a practice area I think is worth shooting for, I wouldn't go to law school if this is all you want to do, and you should make sure that your law school plans make sense even if it doesn't work out (e.g., good job placement/low debt).