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[chem]

Dear all,

I have been reading this forum with great interest. Currently I am seriously considering a career as a patent attorney. I am targeting Fordham (part time) and major NYC law firms (day time patent agent).

Regarding my background I am a PhD chemist with postdoc in the US. Currently I am working as a med chem team leader in a major pharmaceutical company in Europe(since 2 years after postdoc). I have some experience with patents (1 inventorship, several others to be published). Clearly after reading almost all of the postings, some questions still remain. My current position is quite good and there are also a lot of opportunities in the R&D area, so there is no need to change careers because there is a lack of possibilities. I am considering this because I am very fascinated by the idea and this kind of work. To make a more informed decision, I thought to throw in a couple of additional points I am interested in.

- What's the typical ( = typical student, not the top 1% - super brain student) workload one would have to expect (working hours in the firm + classes + preparation time (writing assignments, research courses...))?

- Are there classes every night during the week?

- Is it likely to be hired by the same firm as an attorney after completion of law school?

- Is it very likely to be abused as a "research machine" after graduation by the partner you are working with?

- what would a typical day look like during law school? What kind of work would one mostly be expected to do in the firm?

- what would a typical day look like after law school, as a recent graduate (% administrative work, counseling, application preparation, ect...)?

- Many firm have a certain number of billable hours in their NALP forms... What's a typical ratio of working time:billable hours (clearly >1, but is it 1.5?)

- How many hours does the typical person (typical in terms of efficiency and talent) work?

- What is the typical career path in a law firm? Are there a certain minimum number of years you have to work to be in theory considered for a partnership? I remember one law firm that stated that the years during law school would be considered as years towards partnership. Is that the rule, or the exception?

Maybe some of you could comment on one or the other point. This would be very appreciated!

Thank you all so far for your help. Bye, Chem.

[IPLVR]

Doing the law clerk route is the hard but rewarding way to get into patent law.

As a law clerk you will be used mainly for patent prosecution.  This is very profitable for the firm as they will bill you out very high upon graduation.  The billables are somewhere around 1600 or so.  Decent firms will also pay for your law school.  If you are really lucky, they will also credit your time there towards partnership.  At Pennie & Edmonds (RIP), law clerks were considered 4th year associates upon graduation.