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Topic: lawyer or agent? (Read 3233 times) |
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chekvrosky
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hello all,
I recently got an admission from a law school.
(ranked around 80th overall) (preferred not to name it)
sorry
My GPA and LSAT was not too spectacular to get into top schools, but i got a BS degree from cal tech.(which makes me feel little bit better about myself)
I've been hearing everyone talking about going to top law schools, and i am now little concerned about not going to top school. if i go to the law school ranked so low, is it waste of time or is it still worth of doing it.?
so i should go to the law school, or just forget about it and pursue the career as a patent agent ?
what do you guyz think 
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ben101
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Just a fair warning...being in the top 10-15% of your law school class is MUCH easier said than done; especially coming from a technical background. You have to remember that you are going to be competing head to head with English majors who probably wrote more papers in one semester than you did in your entire college career.
From my understating, the competition for As in lower ranked schools is incredibly fierce (law school classes are based on STRICT curves, so there is only so many As). A lot of the students in these schools are hoping to transfer to higher ranked schools..all of which require being in the top 10-15% of the class. I can personally tell you that even coming from a decently ranked school, the competition in getting a job is fierce. You ALWAYS want to go to the highest ranked school possible (unless you are in the top 10% of your class).
All of that being said...if the city that your law school is located in has a decent market for patent law.. i would go ahead and do it. There are always alumni in the city's firms that think the world of their old school (no matter how good it is) and will hire these people.
Hope this helps
BEN
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p@tent.guy
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Posts: 17
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Re: lawyer or agent?
« Reply #2 on: Apr 19th, 2006, 8:58pm » |
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First question: what was your major?
Biotech (and chemical to some extent) has very different technical expectations (PhD/MS) on their attorneys vs. someone with a Physics, EE or ME major (BS, BSEE).
It has been my understanding that excelling in your first year of law school could allow the ability to transfer to a better school later. The typical red flag with scientists is their communication skills - an obvious core competency of law.
Easing that fear may be all you need to get over the hump. Another factor in your favor is that while Law school rankings do not consider where the undergrads went to school - fundamentally it is GPA/LSAT - schools are not ranked based on their transfer students scores.
The money long term will be there in IP law as a lawyer far more than an agent - however, in terms of a corporation, a lawyer is a support staff role.
Being an agent may allow you to work with technology more, obtain patents yourself, and have a more direct contribution to profit and loss. To some extent it is less of the billable hour pressure of a law firm and may also allow you the flexibility to grow in more directions.
Hope this helps. Good luck.
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Eliz
Full Member
Posts: 107
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Re: lawyer or agent?
« Reply #3 on: Apr 26th, 2006, 8:52pm » |
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on Apr 18th, 2006, 7:05pm, ben101 wrote:Just a fair warning...being in the top 10-15% of your law school class is MUCH easier said than done; especially coming from a technical background. You have to remember that you are going to be competing head to head with English majors who probably wrote more papers in one semester than you did in your entire college career.
From my understating, the competition for As in lower ranked schools is incredibly fierce (law school classes are based on STRICT curves, so there is only so many As). A lot of the students in these schools are hoping to transfer to higher ranked schools..all of which require being in the top 10-15% of the class. I can personally tell you that even coming from a decently ranked school, the competition in getting a job is fierce. You ALWAYS want to go to the highest ranked school possible (unless you are in the top 10% of your class).
All of that being said...if the city that your law school is located in has a decent market for patent law.. i would go ahead and do it. There are always alumni in the city's firms that think the world of their old school (no matter how good it is) and will hire these people.
Hope this helps
BEN
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This is all true. At my school, the curve is such that in a 1L class, no more than 10% of the class can get As (this includes A-, A, and A+). It helps me to think of it in actual numbers--i.e. only 2 people max in a class of 20 can get As. Also, the profs must make the average work out to a B- (2.7 or so). There is pretty fierce competition for those As. If you go, be prepared to work your butt off as a 1L.
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chekcv
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my major is Electrical engineering
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