mgoofy24
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« on: 10-13-09 at 12:32 am » |
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New poster here, I just remembered looking through these forums when I was considering going to law school. Now, 3 years later, here I am, freshly graduated from a top 40 school w/ an IP Concentration, background in physics, a summer at a well-known IP/AT firm, another summer spent w/ the DOJ getting great litigation experience, and no job prospects, can't even find contract work! With so many of my friends getting laid off, offers canceled, its no wonder, but at the same time, I can't keep working for $10/hr at a website.
Anyone have any ideas of where I could renew a job search? I just sent off my Pat. Bar materials to the PTO, so I should be able to sit the exam before the end of the year and the rumored changes to the test (right? I'm hoping to sit it in December, is my mental math correct on this one?) and I'm attending as many MCLE events for IP people that I can to try to network. But, at the same time, anyone w/ a job right now has no clue how they still have their job and no advice for what I can do to even get a job. It's getting quite depressing seeing that doc review work wants 2-5 years of experience. Class of 2009 = the lost class..
Any ideas? Thanks!
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Jim_W
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« Reply #1 on: 10-13-09 at 02:35 am » |
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I'm the same boat. 8 years of CS, a tier 1 JD with a patent concentration and all the right internships and extracurriculars. I've even passed the patent bar and my state bar. My job plans fell through (same reason as for everyone else) and I can't even get rejection letters 90 percent of of the time. Even weird niche jobs now get thousands of resumes, probably 99 percent of which are just desperate people who match like 1/4 of the criteria- and we're talking thousands of resumes within an hour of the job being posted online.
At this point I'm seriously looking at just turning around and going back to coding, since people are actually hiring in that field and *lol* it pays better. I know that, long term, patent law is gonna be money, but this is an excruciating year to be looking. I've talked to a lot of companies that have patent portfolios over the past couple of months and most of them seem to have cut a ton of ballast and stopped renewing parts of their portfolios. As far as I can tell, they've cut way back on their prosecution as well.
Oh and good luck with getting past the PTO exam qualification hazing in 2 months. I applied to take it before I applied to the state bar back in (I think) April. I didn't get to take it until the week before I got my state bar results back in September. You could get lucky though. Some people get through it in like 2 weeks, some take forever. It totally depends on who gets your app.
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cheezwhiz
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« Reply #2 on: 10-13-09 at 06:23 am » |
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Jim W I am a practicing attorney and I too am considering going back to writing software. All things considered, it's not a bad gig. I like patent work but long-term I sometimes wonder if I wouldn't be better off getting a few Java/.NET certifications and heading back to the software world. This economy is genuinely scary.
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bleedingpen
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« Reply #3 on: 10-13-09 at 08:59 am » |
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New poster here, I just remembered looking through these forums when I was considering going to law school. Now, 3 years later, here I am, freshly graduated from a top 40 school w/ an IP Concentration, background in physics, a summer at a well-known IP/AT firm, another summer spent w/ the DOJ getting great litigation experience, and no job prospects, can't even find contract work! With so many of my friends getting laid off, offers canceled, its no wonder, but at the same time, I can't keep working for $10/hr at a website.
Anyone have any ideas of where I could renew a job search? I just sent off my Pat. Bar materials to the PTO, so I should be able to sit the exam before the end of the year and the rumored changes to the test (right? I'm hoping to sit it in December, is my mental math correct on this one?) and I'm attending as many MCLE events for IP people that I can to try to network. But, at the same time, anyone w/ a job right now has no clue how they still have their job and no advice for what I can do to even get a job. It's getting quite depressing seeing that doc review work wants 2-5 years of experience. Class of 2009 = the lost class..
Any ideas? Thanks!
Are you restrained to a specific location or are you willing to move? Your credentials are fantastic, though most firms are going to go with the experienced hand right now and not run the risk of losing money on associates. Those doc review jobs call for 2-5 years, but I have seen many fresh grads land on them. |
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bald & chained
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« Reply #4 on: 10-13-09 at 09:07 am » |
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Jim W I am a practicing attorney and I too am considering going back to writing software. All things considered, it's not a bad gig. I like patent work but long-term I sometimes wonder if I wouldn't be better off getting a few Java/.NET certifications and heading back to the software world. This economy is genuinely scary.
cheezwiz, have you considered writing code on a side, while still working as an attorney? Like a small interesting project or a concept? You get to feed your tech bug while not having to go back to the days of engineering. And if it picks up, well, more power to you. Then you can quit your lawyer job. |
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Forrest Gump
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« Reply #5 on: 10-13-09 at 11:17 am » |
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You may also keep an eye toward the future, and thus contact your local representatives and ask them to oppose the job-killing and anti-prosperity legislative agendas of the far left such as cap-and-trade. Most of the businesses which used to file patents are now more busy trying figure out if they will still be in business after Obama & co. force more regulations, more taxes, more statutory causes of action to sue your employer, and more 'Hope and Change' through Congress.
Elections and legislation have consequences. You can look into the idealistic and niave efforts of the left which caused our current mess, such as the Community Reinvestment Act for starters, if you'd like a greater understanding of the downturn which currently frustrates your endeavors. However, I am sad to say that you may have no further recourse until November 2010.
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« Last Edit: 10-13-09 at 11:28 am by Forrest Gump »
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petethebody
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« Reply #6 on: 10-13-09 at 11:48 am » |
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You could try doing some money making work and some pro bono work. You're not likely to find anyone who will give you IP or patent experience, but there are a million other types of work you can do. You could do anything from elder law to landlord tenant work for a non-for profit. It will be 80% phone calls and 20% legal, but at least you won't have a big gap for legal employment on your resume. But, if you're lucky, maybe you'll write a few memos, demand letters, a complaint, an answer, interrogatories. Maybe handle 2 cases at a time - that would probably be about 20 hrs a week on average, but definitely broken up into chunks. However, If patent prosecution is your only desire, than this would probably be a waste of time. In that event, maybe you are better off writing a technical article to show proficiency in an area that is pertinent to patent law.
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mgoofy24
Newbie
Posts: 4
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« Reply #7 on: 11-02-09 at 03:05 pm » |
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Thanks for the replies, sorry for the absence. Currently, I've been employed as a legal blogger, great fun and all. I'm waiting to hear back from the PTO (they just processed my payment, so hopefully they will get through my application fast).
Had heart-break last week - had a Doc Review placement company call me, talk to me for 20 minutes about two positions that the person on the other end of the line thought I would be "perfect for," and she was sure I was bound to get one of them, but then she actually read my resume and found "oh, you're not licensed yet, sorry for taking up your time." Sigh.
I'll keep on plugging away. I've taken to trolling through employment ads, alternatively looking for legal work and physics teaching positions...
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mgoofy24
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Posts: 4
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« Reply #8 on: 11-02-09 at 03:08 pm » |
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Are you restrained to a specific location or are you willing to move? Your credentials are fantastic, though most firms are going to go with the experienced hand right now and not run the risk of losing money on associates.
Those doc review jobs call for 2-5 years, but I have seen many fresh grads land on them.
I'd really like to stay in the Bay Area but at this point am pretty willing to travel if need be. |
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Esquire
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« Reply #9 on: 11-02-09 at 05:43 pm » |
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Had heart-break last week - had a Doc Review placement company call me, talk to me for 20 minutes about two positions that the person on the other end of the line thought I would be "perfect for," and she was sure I was bound to get one of them, but then she actually read my resume and found "oh, you're not licensed yet, sorry for taking up your time." Sigh.
Times like this make me wish I'd gone through with the bartending school... imagine all the out-of-work, six-figures-in-debt lawyers lining up for cheap liquor and a bartender pretending to give a shit. |
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ParadiseIP
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« Reply #10 on: 11-02-09 at 07:39 pm » |
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My advice is keep at it and consider the job search/PTO exam as your current full-time job. Make sure you are doing old PTO exams every day and researching every answer using the current MPEP. Register for a prep class if one is available in your area (very likely in the Bay Area). You want to pass this thing this first time if at all possible and get it out of your life and onto your resume. Then spend a few hours every day networking..even if that means making cold calls or sending emails to strangers. If you have any reservations about networking, try my old favorite: What Color is Your Parachute.
And of course, eat well, get enough sleep, and exercise.
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Scotto
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« Reply #11 on: 11-03-09 at 12:29 pm » |
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My advice is keep at it and consider the job search/PTO exam as your current full-time job. Make sure you are doing old PTO exams every day and researching every answer using the current MPEP. Register for a prep class if one is available in your area (very likely in the Bay Area). You want to pass this thing this first time if at all possible and get it out of your life and onto your resume. Then spend a few hours every day networking..even if that means making cold calls or sending emails to strangers. If you have any reservations about networking, try my old favorite: What Color is Your Parachute.
And of course, eat well, get enough sleep, and exercise.
Parachute? |
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…but hopefully you only get a month's supply of letterhead, etc. printed up at a time. Once they become wastepaper, there's only so many versions of paper airplanes even an engineer can come up with.
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MYK
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« Reply #12 on: 11-03-09 at 12:35 pm » |
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If you have any reservations about networking, try my old favorite: What Color is Your Parachute.
Parachute? It's a book. It's arguably the most famous jobhunting how-to in the U.S. |
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Disclaimer: not only am I not a lawyer, I'm not your lawyer. Therefore, this does not constitute legal advice.
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Jim_W
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« Reply #13 on: 11-03-09 at 03:23 pm » |
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My advice is keep at it and consider the job search/PTO exam as your current full-time job. And then what? I did the above, I'm a patent attorney and I still can't find work. I'm networking my ass off but I'm seeing nothing but patent prosecution famine everywhere I look. The only guys I've met that aren't hurting for work have been in the industry for 10+ years. At this point it's looking like I've been frozen out of the legal industry. Most people from my year who had a job lined up got frozen out and it looks like firms aren't going to be reaching back for last years candidates so much as just hiring this years interns. |
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petethebody
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« Reply #14 on: 11-03-09 at 04:23 pm » |
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Class of 2009 = the lost class..
We went before our time. Get out of law, at least for now. I'm doing the same. Come back in 2 years and see what the economy is like. |
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