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[acrawfo222]

I've been admitted to both schools. U of Houston is highly rated for IP law and is moderately rated overall (59). TTU Law is not even ranked, but the dual degree program is the only opportunity I will have to get an M.S. in biotech. My undergrad degree is Anthropology (biological anthro). If I go to U of H I will not be able to go back and get an M.S. because I will be 125K in debt upon graduation and will want to start earning A.S.A. P. Is the lack of prestige at TTU worth the risk?  Let's assume I graduate in the top 20% in either school; would an IP focused firm be more likely to hire a TTU grad with an Masters in Biotech or an unspecialized lawyer from a better school?

Thank you very much

[acrawfo222]

TTU=Texas Tech University if you were confused.  Thank you.

[miltonian]

Let's assume I graduate in the top 20% in either school; would an IP focused firm be more likely to hire a TTU grad with an Masters in Biotech or an unspecialized lawyer from a better school?

The likelihood of an IP firm hiring someone from either situation is the same: 0%.

Further, you assume you'll be in the top 20%.  There's an 80% chance you won't be.

[MYK]

Let's assume I graduate in the top 20% in either school; would an IP focused firm be more likely to hire a TTU grad with an Masters in Biotech or an unspecialized lawyer from a better school?

The likelihood of an IP firm hiring someone from either situation is the same: 0%.

Unkind, but credited.  With an anthropology undergrad, it's not even remotely clear that OP would be allowed to take the patent bar.

Further, you assume you'll be in the top 20%.  There's an 80% chance you won't be.

Ditto.

ETA: if the OP is talking about patent LITIGATION, there's always a chance from either school, but I would guess that UH would be a lot better than TTU.  Marrying the daughter/son of a hiring-committe partner at DLA Piper would be a good start.

[MYK]

Imagine someone who owns a mini-mansion with a huge mortgage, has dependents, car payment, and thus can show they only have $100 of discretionary income per month, then as a government worker, do I only pay 10% * $100 = $10/month for 10 years on a say 150,000 federal subsidized loan that I used to pay for school?

I may consider taking huge debt (whatever the feds are stupid enough to give me) so I can get a free law degree.

What makes you think anyone would lend you the money to buy the mini-mansion if you had that much in student loan debt when you applied for it?

Also, what does your post have to do with the OP's choice-of-schools question?

[Zing]

Acrawfo222, I'm going to give you some advice, and I want you to listen clearly as I don't give this advice to every prospective law student:

Don't go to law school.  I know you have a not-very-useful undergrad degree, and it is probably hard to find a job, so, hey, what the hell, let's just go to law school!  All that law school will amount to for you is a three year delay in entrance to the real world and a crap load of debt.

If that sounds hard, good.  I really, really (for your own benefit) don't want you to go to law school.

[stuffball]

You guys are right to discourage anyone and everyone from spending money and time on a law degree in this environment.

That said, I know someone with a UH JD who is doing at least as well as I am.  A UH JD may not get you very far as a young associate wannabe in the NE Corridor, but it's just fine in Texas.

[alittlebitofpatents]

I've been admitted to both schools. U of Houston is highly rated for IP law and is moderately rated overall (59). TTU Law is not even ranked, but the dual degree program is the only opportunity I will have to get an M.S. in biotech. My undergrad degree is Anthropology (biological anthro). If I go to U of H I will not be able to go back and get an M.S. because I will be 125K in debt upon graduation and will want to start earning A.S.A. P. Is the lack of prestige at TTU worth the risk?  Let's assume I graduate in the top 20% in either school; would an IP focused firm be more likely to hire a TTU grad with an Masters in Biotech or an unspecialized lawyer from a better school?

Thank you very much

Texas Tech has a good law school.  I know it is ranked third tier by U.S. News & World Report, but you get a quality education and have access to good professors.  If you want it to be, Lubbock can be a fun town.  Texas Tech is home to about 30,000 students so there is a pretty active bar scene throughout the town.  Lubbock really gets behind the university and its athletic teams.  The campus is beautiful.  The JD/MS Biotech option is very unique.  My concern for you would be prerequisites.  I have no firsthand knowledge, but I suspect you would need to do some levelling work before you could take several of the biotech courses.  That would definitely be worth looking into.  Another option at Tech is the JD/Master of Engineering program.  It can also be completed in three years and allows you huge latitude in course selections.  It's my understanding that students in this program essentially get to pick any engineering courses they want.  That's pretty nice and would allow you to build up some really unique technical expertise.

The drawback to Lubbock are that it is somewhat remote.  It's about a five hour drive to either Dallas/Fort Worth or Albuquerque.  Oklahoma City might be closer to six.  I think Austin and San Antonio are probably about 6-7 hour trips.  As a result, you won't find many opportunities to get IP experience locally.  This will also work against you in your search for summer clerkships.  With that said and contrary to what other posters would have you believe, people have successfully found great IP jobs out of Tech.  From there, I think your M.S. degree would be a great feather in your cap for the duration of your career and that is probably not something you would ever get if you went to UH.

In the end, both schools have their plusses.  For me, Houston's main advantage is that it is located in a major metro area.  I don't think either school has great name recognition outside of Texas.  Further, it has not been my experience that Houston is considered to be more prestigious within Texas.  Obviously, this is a small sample size, but I have worked in both east and west Texas and I have never got the impression that one is perceived to be superior to the other.

As for your assumption that you will be in the top 20%, that's not as much of a given as you might think.  The top students at any law school will be very talented and hard working.  Really, for that matter, everyone will be smart.  Law attracts talented people from every discipline.  Top 20% is far from a given.

Feel free to PM.

[Zing]

Texas Tech has a good law school only if you ignore employment prospects.  "Quality education" and "good professors" don't really mean much when you can't find a job.  I mean no disrespect to Texas Tech, but this is the reality of today's situation.

UH has been a tier 1 school (i.e., top 50 according to US News, whatever that's worth) in the past, and is currently at the top of the pack of tier 2 law schools.  In my opinion (sample size of 1), there is a very large gap between UH and Texas Tech.  Tech is and always has been a tier 3 school.  There is nothing wrong with that, but let's not beat around the bush here.  Texas Tech is lowly ranked, positioned far from any large legal market, lacks OCI activity relative to schools near large legal markets, and doesn't place well in the more prestigious Texas law firms.  For example, Baker Botts, a Texas firm with over 750 attorneys employs 6 (six) attorneys with JD's from Texas Tech, many of which are the summa cum laude types; these numbers make networking with alums very hard.  While I think UH has the clear advantage here, even UH graduates are struggling in this economy.  You really need to be top 10-25% at UH in this economy to land a quality job.

[alittlebitofpatents]

Zing makes valid points and I think that most of them stem from location.  Being far from a large legal market holds Texas Tech back.  I don't think there is any denying that.  Probably as a result of location, Tech attracts fewer IP students than Houston.  This is not surprising considering UH's ranking and industry.  That doesn't mean students won't be successful out of Tech.  It just means that the first IP job might be a little tougher to land.  I doubt it will matter much after that.  Going back to the original question, I don't know the best answer.  Only the original poster can decide that.  It looks like his choices are to go to UH and try to break into IP without a technical degree or go to Tech and try to break into IP with an M.S. in Biotech.  Personally, I'd much prefer the latter.

[alittlebitofpatents]

I suppose a better question at this point might be whether the original poster is absolutely certain he wants to do intellectual property.  If yes, I stand behind my last post.  If no, UH may be the better option.

As for law school in general, Zing may be right.  OP should be very careful.  $100,000+ worth of debt plus the opportunity cost of not working for three years is a pretty serious investment, especially with no guarantee of a job (not to mention a lucrative one).