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Topic: Going from JD to Engineering to Patent (Read 4593 times) |
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lawyertopatent
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Posts: 6
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Going from JD to Engineering to Patent
« on: Jun 7th, 2007, 7:57pm » |
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Hello all,
I am new to this forum and it has been very informative. I went to a top Ivy League undergraduate institution and had a typical prelaw triple major in Econ and Political Science type stuff, took 3 years off working for various large "brand name" law firms in their prelaw assistance programs, and then went to a respectable Tier 2 lawschool and obtained average grades. I have just graduated and am now considering taking a BS in EE in my area and then immediately taking the patent bar. This is obviously the reverse of the way it is usually done (first engineering school then law school). Does anyone on here have any idea how the average patent law firm would look at this situation? I will basically end up with three degrees, Ivy League BA, Engineering BS, and a JD. The engineering degree will not be from your "top" USNews engineering program. Would this make a difference? I presume ranking matters less for engineering programs than for law programs.
Thank you!
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| « Last Edit: Jun 7th, 2007, 8:11pm by lawyertopatent » |
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dsnutter
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Posts: 18
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Re: Going from JD to Engineering to Patent
« Reply #1 on: Jun 8th, 2007, 4:21pm » |
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First, I would find out if you can even get a BS. Most programs that I have heard of will not allow you to get another bachelors degree, you may be required to do a masters.
Were you not able to find a job out of law school? It seems like that would be the only reason to take this route.
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lawyertopatent
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Posts: 6
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Re: Going from JD to Engineering to Patent
« Reply #2 on: Jun 9th, 2007, 6:50am » |
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Unless I am miscalculating something- it makes perfect financial sense to keep getting educated. A patent lawyer makes 1.5-2x more over the first 10 years than a regular lawyer. This seems to more than outweigh the additional loans needed to be spent on a low price BS engineering degree from a state school, which takes about 2 years if it's your second bachelors. Am I missing something with this calculation?
That wasn't really my main concern. My main concern was how firms look at getting your engineering degree after your law degree.
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| « Last Edit: Jun 9th, 2007, 6:51am by lawyertopatent » |
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aa
Newbie
Posts: 8
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Re: Going from JD to Engineering to Patent
« Reply #3 on: Jun 9th, 2007, 7:16am » |
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on Jun 8th, 2007, 4:21pm, dsnutter wrote:First, I would find out if you can even get a BS. Most programs that I have heard of will not allow you to get another bachelors degree, you may be required to do a masters.
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This makes no sense, of course you can get another bachelors. I know people who have gone that route.
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aa
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Posts: 8
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Re: Going from JD to Engineering to Patent
« Reply #4 on: Jun 9th, 2007, 7:32am » |
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on Jun 9th, 2007, 6:50am, lawyertopatent wrote:Unless I am miscalculating something- it makes perfect financial sense to keep getting educated. A patent lawyer makes 1.5-2x more over the first 10 years than a regular lawyer. This seems to more than outweigh the additional loans needed to be spent on a low price BS engineering degree from a state school, which takes about 2 years if it's your second bachelors. Am I missing something with this calculation?
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Have you taken any engineering track math or science? These classes have a chain of prereqs which may mean more than 2 years to complete the bachelors. For example, you need calculus to take physics, and they are both 1 years tracks. Then you have to consider the EE courses which have even longer chains, and maybe certain courses are only offered certain semesters (spring or fall). That was how it worked at my school, albiet a small school.
The problem is that a BA and BS degree have such different requirements that your assumption that a large amount of coursework from your BA will help you fill the requirements of a BS, but this is probably not true. I'm thinking more like 3 years, but you would really have to look at a particular schools requirements.
Just something to think about and plan for. At a certain point the opportunity cost is not worth it.
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