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[LabRat36]

I work at a Biotech company that is willing to pay for law school.  That does not guarantee a job at the biotech company, but the chances are good.  i have a BS in Biology and a MS in Biology with a thesis and a prestigious publication.  I currently make about $60k a year and will not be able to make more than $80k a year in my field without a PhD.  My supervisors even told me to try patent law.  Is it a no brainer to attend law school?  I plan to pass the patent bar exam before even applying to law school so that I have the opportunity to transition to a patent agent as I am in school.  Any thoughts?  Also, what are can I expect to for pay at a large biotech corporation?  I will still have to pay 25% in taxes of the law school fees, but I will still make my current salary.

[Oh, Crud]

I work at a Biotech company that is willing to pay for law school.  That does not guarantee a job at the biotech company, but the chances are good.  i have a BS in Biology and a MS in Biology with a thesis and a prestigious publication.  I currently make about $60k a year and will not be able to make more than $80k a year in my field without a PhD.  My supervisors even told me to try patent law.  Is it a no brainer to attend law school?  I plan to pass the patent bar exam before even applying to law school so that I have the opportunity to transition to a patent agent as I am in school.  Any thoughts?  Also, what are can I expect to for pay at a large biotech corporation?  I will still have to pay 25% in taxes of the law school fees, but I will still make my current salary.

If they are willing to pay for your LS, what's the downside?  How is the program arranged, anyway?  Continue full time work and go to LS part time (assuming your local LS has an evening section)?  Or some other arrangement?

I would be very surprised at a company willing to pay for an employee's LS, which did also not expect some sort of "payoff" afterwards.  I.e., some expectation that you'd join the law dept as an active attorney on graduation (or even join as an agent during LS) and work for at least a few years.  There are often politics involved in this sort of thing, and for them to pay for expensive schooling, but in the end not have a job for you, casts doubt on the wisdom of those who approved the program in the first place.

I'm just guessing, but would be surprised if pay would be less than about $125.  It may be difficult for a corporate law dept to figure out how much to pay a new grad, though, since they rarely hire attorneys with less than 6-8 years experience.

On the taxes - if they require withholding of 25% of the LS payout (which is typical), I think you may find at the end of the year that a significant amount comes back on your return.  You may want to sit down with the tax tables and calculate out whether you should fiddle with your W4 withholding amount to avoid loaning Uncle Sam so much of your money.  NB I say this in ignorance of anything other than your current salary, so I could be way off base. 

[2ndcareer]

Is it a no brainer to attend law school?  Short answer, NO, NO, NO!  Don't go into law school assuming that it's a "no brainer".

I can honestly say, my law school certainly required a lot of my brain cells.  (Well, if you are smart enough, you might feel like you can pass or ace law classes without using much brain power, but you would not have learned any thing useful for your future career as an attorney.  Hence, the difference between passing law classes and becoming a good attorney).

My old company had a similar arrangement like yours.  (many old companies had similar arrangement like yours, Motorola, Apple, Intel, all had some type of Engineer to Patent Attorney program, where they paid for the law school tuition and books).  I got 1/2 of my law school paid for, before they cancelled the program.  (Hence, the downside, no guarantees.)

I'm not suggesting that your company might do the same to you.  But you should be prepared for the possibility.  Once you go into law school, you will feel committed after about 2 years.  Then, it will be difficult for you to consider turning back to your old job.  (Worse part, your supervisors will expect that you will be leaving their team.  Trust me, near the end of your law school, it might even feel a little like they couldn't wait to get rid of you.  It might just be me).

For pay expectation, I assume you are talking about a corporate patent counsel position?  Generally, if you are starting in your company right after law school, with ZERO experiences, you might get $100K per year.  After 2-5 years, you might get $120K.  Depending on the company.  That might sound a little low, considering that 1st year patent attorneys are getting around $140K per year, but corporate patent counsels generally work 9-5 schedules and don't have much of a billing system to deal with.

That said, Corporate counsels are technically on call 24x7, with no over time, and you will have to deal with annoying "performance reviews". 

[Oh, Crud]

Is it a no brainer to attend law school?  Short answer, NO, NO, NO!  Don't go into law school assuming that it's a "no brainer".

   I honestly don't think the OP meant it in that fashion; rather, is the decision itself to take the free (almost free) ride a no-brainer.  Still, while I really enjoyed LS, there's nothing conceptually difficult about it.  Compared to, say, quantum physics, PDEs, etc.  Just takes up a bunch of bandwidth, especially that first year....

  My old company had a similar arrangement... ...I got 1/2 of my law school paid for, before they cancelled the program.  (Hence, the downside, no guarantees.)

Holy Cow OUCH.  Truly sorry to hear about that happening.  Almost wonder if you wouldn't have had some sort of reasonable reliance argument there, unless they were explicit up front that it was a semester-to-semester decision that could be yanked from you at any time/for no reason. 

For pay expectation, I assume you are talking about a corporate patent counsel position?  Generally, if you are starting in your company right after law school, with ZERO experiences, you might get $100K per year.  After 2-5 years, you might get $120K.  Depending on the company.  That might sound a little low, considering that 1st year patent attorneys are getting around $140K per year, but corporate patent counsels generally work 9-5 schedules and don't have much of a billing system to deal with.  That said, Corporate counsels are technically on call 24x7, with no over time, and you will have to deal with annoying "performance reviews". 

Hmm.  I know a some guys at a few corps, and none work a 40 hour 9-5.  More like 50-60 hpw.  But still, point taken, nothing like the insane grind you can get in biglaw.   I'd also be very surprised if any 5-year guy at a big corp (based on the OP's comment, "large biotech") would still be as low as $120K.  But I don't have any actual data points at 5 years because everyone I know is a lot older than that... 

[2ndcareer]

"Holy Cow OUCH.  Truly sorry to hear about that happening.  Almost wonder if you wouldn't have had some sort of reasonable reliance argument there, unless they were explicit up front that it was a semester-to-semester decision that could be yanked from you at any time/for no reason."


I was approved by a divisional Manager for the cost of the entire law school program.  But again, that's not a 100% guarantee, because for most companies, these would be considered "education reimbursement" benefit, and can be cancelled at any time.  There is no "reliance argument", in these kind of "pay as you go" benefit programs.

I was also told that there would be no guarantees of any jobs at the company after graduation.  (same boat as Labrat)  which meant, no reciprocity commitment from me, since they have no guarantees of any jobs.

The tuition was just "benefit" in lieu of my day job as engineer (supposed to reward employees who are excellent at their work), and also I had to meet a minimum GPA for my school to qualify for tuition cost reimbursements.

[LabRat36]

2ndCareer - Thanks, you sound like you had the exact same circumstance in a different field.  How did it turn out? 

I would attend a part time LS program while working full time.  Generally, my company has grandfathered in old benefits such as this when they change policy so i do not foresee a policy change.  I still am aware that this may change at any moment.  Our policy states that they will fully reimburse for any graduate program that is consistent with any future job opportunity within the company so there is no promise of a job and no requirements that I stay there for any number of years.  I already work 50+ hours a week and will drop to near 40 while in school.

I meant a no brainer, as I am switching out of my field no matter what because I refuse to get a Ph.D. and am, therefore, stuck without any chances for real advancement in my field, as well as it being almost free.