Should I goto Law School PT in IP Law?? Forum

[Lawhelpneeded2013]

Background on me is I'm a 34 year old electrical engineer work for one of the Big 3 in Detroit. I graduated from a local, private university well known for engineering and its affiliation with General Motors; however, little to none national appeal. I have a bachelor’s in electrical engineering and a master’s in engineering management. My GPA is sub 3.0 (according to LSAC), LSAT was 160. I have been employed as an engineer for the past several years and roughly make 120k/year including OT. I have existing student loans from my previous schooling. Problem is while I make good money I work 6-7 days/week and work a dreadful 5p-5a shift inside a manufacturing shop. I am more of a manager than an engineer. Also because of my family and student loan commitments, I will only be able to attend either T3 (at best) or T4 schools near Detroit such as Wayne State, Michigan State, and U of D Mercy. I have looked into the Patent Bar and have spoken to other patent attorneys and find the work interesting. With the new USPTO office in Detroit is now is this a good time for a career shift knowing I cannot make a T50 school? Does it matter as much in the IP field what school you attend? Are there any large law firms that specialize in IP law in the Detroit area? If it matters, I do know that all of these school choices have agreements between them as well as with the University of Windsor to attend IP classes at any of the universities for credit so attending worthwhile classes will not be an issue. Any opinions will be greatly appreciated.

[suralin]

Background on me is I'm a 34 year old electrical engineer work for one of the Big 3 in Detroit. I graduated from a local, private university well known for engineering and its affiliation with General Motors; however, little to none national appeal. I have a bachelor’s in electrical engineering and a master’s in engineering management. My GPA is sub 3.0 (according to LSAC), LSAT was 160. I have been employed as an engineer for the past several years and roughly make 120k/year including OT. I have existing student loans from my previous schooling. Problem is while I make good money I work 6-7 days/week and work a dreadful 5p-5a shift inside a manufacturing shop. I am more of a manager than an engineer. Also because of my family and student loan commitments, I will only be able to attend either T3 (at best) or T4 schools near Detroit such as Wayne State, Michigan State, and U of D Mercy. I have looked into the Patent Bar and have spoken to other patent attorneys and find the work interesting. With the new USPTO office in Detroit is now is this a good time for a career shift knowing I cannot make a T50 school? Does it matter as much in the IP field what school you attend? Are there any large law firms that specialize in IP law in the Detroit area? If it matters, I do know that all of these school choices have agreements between them as well as with the University of Windsor to attend IP classes at any of the universities for credit so attending worthwhile classes will not be an issue. Any opinions will be greatly appreciated.

JFC

[TripTrip]

OP, law is not the answer for you. Going to one of the schools you mentioned will NOT get you the job you want. Graduating from one of those schools will almost guarantee that you will be working worse hours than you are now and making less than $120k/year. In fact, you probably won't have a job that requires a legal degree afterwards; you'll just go back to what you're doing with a bunch more debt and a useless JD.

Do not go to law school.

[jlx]

OP, law is not the answer for you. Going to one of the schools you mentioned will NOT get you the job you want. Graduating from one of those schools will almost guarantee that you will be working worse hours than you are now and making less than $120k/year. In fact, you probably won't have a job that requires a legal degree afterwards; you'll just go back to what you're doing with a bunch more debt and a useless JD.

Do not go to law school.

OP wants a career change though.

OP: I don't think it would be a bad idea to go PT, but how would you go with your 5p - 5a schedule? That is a rough schedule, and most PT programs offer courses during the evenings; do the regional schools offer a daytime PT program? It's going to be a rough four years though, which I'm sure you are well aware of.

[TripTrip]

OP, law is not the answer for you. Going to one of the schools you mentioned will NOT get you the job you want. Graduating from one of those schools will almost guarantee that you will be working worse hours than you are now and making less than $120k/year. In fact, you probably won't have a job that requires a legal degree afterwards; you'll just go back to what you're doing with a bunch more debt and a useless JD.

Do not go to law school.

OP wants a career change though.

OP: I don't think it would be a bad idea to go PT, but how would you go with your 5p - 5a schedule? That is a rough schedule, and most PT programs offer courses during the evenings; do the regional schools offer a daytime PT program? It's going to be a rough four years though, which I'm sure you are well aware of.

OP thinks he will get a legal job and that when he does he won't be working 12 hour shifts six days a week.

[suralin]

OP, law is not the answer for you. Going to one of the schools you mentioned will NOT get you the job you want. Graduating from one of those schools will almost guarantee that you will be working worse hours than you are now and making less than $120k/year. In fact, you probably won't have a job that requires a legal degree afterwards; you'll just go back to what you're doing with a bunch more debt and a useless JD.

Do not go to law school.

OP wants a career change though.

OP: I don't think it would be a bad idea to go PT, but how would you go with your 5p - 5a schedule? That is a rough schedule, and most PT programs offer courses during the evenings; do the regional schools offer a daytime PT program? It's going to be a rough four years though, which I'm sure you are well aware of.

OP thinks he will get a legal job and that when he does he won't be working 12 hour shifts six days a week.

Yup. If you want to make the same amount of money while working less hours, law is not the answer, particularly if you can only go to a TTT/TTTT school.

Why don't you try finding another job? Engineering degrees are generally in demand; it doesn't seem like it'd be that hard to find a new job that has you working much less hours.

[Lawhelpneeded2013]

Thank you everyone for your responses.

My schedule now and for the near future is Wednesday - Sunday 5p-5a. I did complete a Masters on this schedule and I know the demand is not the same a law school however it does give me some insight into time management. It will be a struggle on Thursdays and Friday's (if class) with little sleep but on the weekends I do have substantial time to study while at work and of course Monday and Tuesday when I am off work. The regional schools here offer both day and night PT programs.

I live in the metro Detroit area and due to family obligations; relocation for an engineering job or law school is not an option. To answer Suralin, the only problem with finding another engineering job is in order to leave or even get experience out of the auto field whether as an OEM manufacturer or a supplier (Tier 1 or Tier 2) I would have to relocate from this area and that is not an option. I would estimate 90% of the engineering firms are tied into the auto industry.

IP law seems to me to be a more exclusive choice and from the patent attorneys I have spoken too, most of the work is challenging and both auto and non-auto related. Hence, a good fit for me and my experience. It is not about the cost of school as I can pay as I go and even the salary afterwards is not the top priority for me (even though I understand patent attorneys make a decent living in the area).

By going into IP with a regional school, does it make a difference on where you go?

[yuzu]

Of course there are firms with IP practices in Detroit but positions are very competitive across the board these days and Detroit is not exactly a growing market. It will be very hard for you to compete for positions from these schools but certainly some people do get jobs.

Even without a law degree, you could work as a patent examiner at the USPTO Detroit branch, though I don't think they're hiring at the moment. In addition, if you take the patent bar, you could apply for patent agent jobs at Detroit law firms. Taking the patent bar is vastly cheaper and faster (lower risk) than spending four years in a low-ranked law school.

Here is an example of someone who's done what you're proposing and appears to have come out of it OK. But he may have done it when the market was stronger, and his undergraduate grades are better than yours.

[LSTfan]

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