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[guysmiley]

Hi,
I recently got an offer from a small firm that I interviewed for but the offer is way lower than I expected.  Since I left my old midsize firm where I was making 150k I was able to find similar salary in my old field (software) though not quite as much. 

 Meanwhile I was able to get contract overflow work from another ip firm who may or may not give me an offer.  Now this new small firm gave me an offer foralmost half of what I make now.  I know I need full time experience but the salary is almost laughable for a patent attorney.

should I just bite the bullet or talk to the guy I contract with, or just wait around for another offer?

Any advice appreciated!

[UVAgal4]

How much time did you spend at the midsize firm? Do you know what you are doing as far as drafting/responding to Office Actions, etc?
If yes, I would say maybe wait.
If no and you want to be at 100% when the market picks up, I would say take the smaller firm.
And I am making about a 1/4 of that, so no complaints about how half of 150K is laughable please.

[petethebody]

What are your long-term goals?  Why do you want to be a patent lawyer?  Why not just stay as an software engineer? 

Also, what are you doing for this other ip firm and how have they shown their interest in you?  How much longer can you hold out doing this moonlighting?

more information please. 

[guysmiley]

My career goal is to be a patent lawyer. I worked at the mid sized firm for a year. I will be doing drafting and oa responses etc... Prosecution work.

Why not stay as a software engineer? Because I got a law degree and I want to use it!

The other firm i also do revisions, drafting and oa responses.they've down interest by saying they will be setting attorney time soon and went abroad to go get more work.

[petethebody]

Sounds to me like you are in the unique position of being able to wait this out.  If you are making more money and doing the same work, keep on it.  But, be prepared for it to be a while until the next offer comes along. 

But always leave the offer on good terms.  Tell them that you really want to work there, but that the salary is too low.  Maybe they will bump it up.  You never know until you ask. 

[guysmiley]

I am only doing part time - like 10 hours or less work a week for the other firm, and I do full time software consulting most of the time. So I am not exactly doing the same work, I am doing some patent work though.

Thanks for the advice - I may try to negotiate and see if they can offer more, and talk to the firm giving me contract work about a solid offer.

Take care!

[plex]

Are the billable requirements low?  Something like 1600 or lower?

Otherwise, in your position, if they are not willing to offer any more than that, I would stick to your current job and contract patent work until a better offer comes along.  You are keeping your skills current and I do not see much of a monetary incentive to jump for a very lowball offer.

[guysmiley]

The billable is actually high! If it was 1600 then I would say, hey, I understand. But it's around what I was billing before (close to 1900) and there I was getting paid double. I will try to negotiate with them, but they are kind of being aggressive about this, it's an employer's market right now. They really can dictate whatever they want, or at least they seem to think so.

[petethebody]

In that event, forget the offer.  They are hiring you to put the screws to you.  No reason to take a pay cut and work more than you are as a moonlighter.  Agree with plex that you are still keeping your skills current.