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[bobbysox]

Here's my background. I practiced for just over two years as an M&A/securities lawyer in a largish firm in a medium-sized city. Last fall, I was laid off for economic reasons. My J.D. is from Georgetown, cum laude, and my undergrad is a B.A. (ahh, foolish youth ) from Yale. My first choice is another corporate job, but obviously that's challenging in the current environment.  What I'd like feedback on is my backup plan. If I can't find a job by this summer, I'm thinking of starting an M.S. program at Ohio State in biochemistry, finishing in spring '12. The program is tiny, so I think I should be able to customize it by throwing in a couple law classes and perhaps a little engineering. There's also the option of doing an internship at a biotech company instead of doing a dissertation.

Is this a good plan for making myself employable as a patent lawyer in 2012?

[ChiefJRoberts]

i would imagine you need a PhD in a life science like Biochemistry to be a viable patent attorney. So no, you should not do it.  Also, it's not a great market for entry level attorneys, which you would be once you finish.  why don't you start your own practice in corporate, M&A?

[whokebe]

Is this a good plan for making myself employable as a patent lawyer in 2012?

That's not a good plan for making yourself employable as anything.

[newb]

why are you getting a MS in biochem when the biggest demand is for electrical enigneers?

[MYK]

What was your B.A. in?  If you had a bio-oriented undergrad and are just trying to get a less frog-dissection-oriented more-chem-oriented degree, it might help a little.  If your B.A. was in art history, you'd probably get nowhere.

[bobbysox]

Thanks for all the responses.

What was your B.A. in?  If you had a bio-oriented undergrad and are just trying to get a less frog-dissection-oriented more-chem-oriented degree, it might help a little.  If your B.A. was in art history, you'd probably get nowhere.

My undergrad was history. I was actually more focused on chemistry (orgo, inorganic, and half of p-chem) than bio.

Not considering EE because I have no foundation in it and I don't think I have an affinity for the material.

Is the problem just that employers will be looking for Ph.D. level experience in biochemistry patent lawyers? I'm also considering an M.S. in straight Chemistry. Would that be an improvement, or is it just not feasible to pack enough science education into an M.S. to make this possible?

[stuffball]

Disclaimer:  I have a PhD in physical, not biological, sciences... so take what I have to say with several grains.

Anecdotally, it seems like straight-up biochem and hardcore bio all but require a PhD.  I know some who have managed without such a degree, but they're not the norm, at least in my universe.  My sense is that, in the economic downturn, it might be getting harder and harder to pull it off w/out a PhD.

My $0.02:  Why not an MS in "biotechnology" from Hopkins?  I don't know too many who have done this, but everybody I know who did had a BA.  I poked around for about 10 ms and couldn't find a list of the chemistry/bio prereqs, but I'm sure you can find them if you hunt.  My impression is that this is a program for professional people without much scientific background.  Something tells me that somebody with a Yale undergrad and Georgetown JD won't have much trouble meeting the academic requirements provided they don't call for too much chemistry and biology.

The best thing about this is that it's an online program so you could do it from anywhere. 

http://advanced.jhu.edu/academic/biotechnology/

It's just that it seems to me that an MS from Johns Hopkins in "biotechnology" will give you more street cred than an MS from OSU in chemistry or biochemistry and might be easier to complete.  If I were going to spend my money and time on something like this, I'd spend it on that instead.  Don't get me wrong, OSU is a fine school and this "biotechnology" degree sounds a little softish to me.  Yet, I think that's kind of what you are going for.  You don't need hardcore laboratory training... you're not going to be the next Craig Ventner or Linus Pauling whatever.  You just need some resume candy to make people think you can do some biotech stuff.  Short of getting a PhD, seems to me that this is your best option.

[blackyVertigo]

For what its worth, I graduated last year from the Hopkin's program that Stuffball referenced.  I already had a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering and I really enjoyed the program.  However, I think that someone with a limited background in science would have some difficult in keeping up with the discussions in some of the courses (note: the classes required more knowledge of biology and biochemistry than straight chemistry).  However, anything is possible if one is determined.  I shelled out the change for the advanced degree while working full-time in the medical device industry because I wanted to diversify my engineering background and I knew that I wanted to go to law school rather than commit five years towards a PhD program.  With that said, maybe I'll be screwed in the patent market when I graduate because I didn't go with the PhD... but like I said, for what it's worth, I did enjoy the program a great deal.

[Summerville]

why are you getting a MS in biochem when the biggest demand is for electrical enigneers?

Certainly there are more EE and ME's than there are Chem/Biotech attorneys, but is there still a "demand"?

If so, where is the demand, in-house or at firms?