Scientists and Engineers: Why Law? Forum

[ScottRiqui]

I'm kind of a weird case, because I got my engineering B.S. right before joining the military, and an M.S. in physics while I was on active duty. So although I have a "background" in engineering & science, I've never really worked directly in either field. Now that I'm retiring from the service after twenty years, I'm looking for a second career. I have some legal-ish experience from my military career, and I'm attracted to the order/structure of the law. So I'm hoping to go IP, assuming that I can spin at least some of my military assignments as being related to engineering & science when it comes time to interview.

[ymmv]

But if you went from science or engineering to law, I'd be really interested to know why. Was it just a desire for more job stability and greater pay? Or were there other reasons too?

Med school takes an extra year of school and therefore loans, is three times as brutal as law school (1L = joke by comparison with years 1-3 of med school), and internship/residency is essentially 4-6 years of biglaw hours and lifestyle (much worse, if you're crazy enough to do OB/GYN) all at a pathetic fraction of the pay ($40-60k) until you're finally finished your 15 years of postsecondary training and are able to be an independently practicing doctor, only to be crushed under the weight of a lifetime's worth of debt if you wanted to be a PCP/prediatrician or otherwise did not score well enough on the Boards to get into a lucrative field like dermatology or cardiac surgery.

Also, I didn't want to be a doctor. So there's that.

[Abbie Doobie]

Switched to patent law after 7 years in aerospace. Still haven't decided if I made the right decision.

[Leo]

Switched to patent law after 7 years in aerospace. Still haven't decided if I made the right decision.

Care to elaborate? I'm switching to patent law after 4 years in power generation. Really hope I'm making the right decision.

[yost]

Engineers with bachelors degrees do whatever they can handle. You are not stuck doing bitchwork just because you got a BS. MS's are a reward for failing your PhD. Even PhD isn't necessary for much, though it's a great credential.

I mean, I'm not just speculating. I work in industry. At least in electrical engineering, it is very difficult to break into "true" engineering (I'm thinking R&D and design work) without a PhD or years and years of experience in an extremely narrow specialization. You can still do technically challenging work with a BS, but you'll also do a lot of grunt work, especially your first several years out of school.

[09042014]

Engineers with bachelors degrees do whatever they can handle. You are not stuck doing bitchwork just because you got a BS. MS's are a reward for failing your PhD. Even PhD isn't necessary for much, though it's a great credential.

I mean, I'm not just speculating. I work in industry. At least in electrical engineering, it is very difficult to break into "true" engineering (I'm thinking R&D and design work) without a PhD or years and years of experience in an extremely narrow specialization. You can still do technically challenging work with a BS, but you'll also do a lot of grunt work.

Well, you aren't going to be doing cutting edge stuff right out of college, but if you are good, you can do it just as fast as a PhD would take. PhD involves grunt work too.

The idea that you aren't going true EE work without a phd is laughable. What industry do you work in.

[yost]

You can certainly do true EE work without a PhD, but my point, like you said, is that it probably won't be cutting-edge or all that mentally stimulating (at least until several years in).

[09042014]

You can certainly do true EE work without a PhD, but my point, like you said, is that it probably won't be cutting-edge or all that mentally stimulating (at least until several years in).

If you going into law because of this you are going to be terribly disappointed.

PhD's are just another form of work experience. IMO for industry, it's not really worth it. A year of Phd is probalby worth more than a year of Work Experience but the pay you pass up is huge. You pass up over 300k in salary, only to come out a year or two ahead of what you'd be if you just worked the whole time.

[Abbie Doobie]

Switched to patent law after 7 years in aerospace. Still haven't decided if I made the right decision.

Care to elaborate? I'm switching to patent law after 4 years in power generation. Really hope I'm making the right decision.

It's one big trade off. I traded in a decent enough salary (was at $75-$80k at the 5 year mark), matching 401k, (quasi) pension, and an incredibly laid-back, easy, and flexible job. In return, I doubled my salary and exponentially increased my near-term earning potential, but lost most of the flexibility and laid-back-ness.

If I had stayed an engineer and got an MBA from State University near by like most of the other executives, I could have continued to enjoy a pretty good run up the seniority ladder. I hired in at the prefect time: my company was almost entirely populated by boomers that would retire in 10 years, and right after they hired me the economy crashed and they stopped hiring full-time graduates. They rarely if ever hired executives from outside the company.

I think in a few years I'll start to look more positively on my decision. I worked through law school full-time as a patent agent, so that pretty much ruined my perspective. Probably the worst 3.5 years of my life.

[Abbie Doobie]

The idea that you aren't going true EE work without a phd is laughable. What industry do you work in.

Truth. I know d00ds 1-3 years out of undergrad at my company that were doing meaningful design work on the company's major product development programs.

[alkaseltzer]

Abbie Doobie, I'm looking for the part-time program you were mentioning about. I have a PhD in one of EE or CS. Can you tell me about your experience and what salary range I should expect? And which area of the country you were in roughly? Thanks.