Should I get a Masters in EE?

Started by bobthemoose, 11-01-18 at 04:54 AM

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bobthemoose

So I'm on the burnout train... I have worked three years at big law doing "software" patents that are rarely very innovative (lots of UX and data structure stuff). I want to do more patents that I have faith in - most of the time I'm asking myself "why in the world was this filed?!". I am especially interested in patents that are more tactile and technologically advanced. Right now I have minors and CS and physics but my major is non-science. I feel fully competent in EE tech (I grew up with circuits and love learning about it all). I am thinking that getting a EE degree will help expose me to more interesting material, either by lateraling or by helping my team bring in more interesting work.

Questions:
Would a EE degree help me get more interesting work?
Does it matter what tier of school I go to?
Does the type of program matter? Masters or BS/online or in person/thesis or course based...
Is there an alternative way to check that box on my resume? (e.g., FE exam)

ClaimMaster

My 2 cents... No simple answer in my opinion.  If your firm/partners don't have EE clients, then getting a EE degree won't help in your current position. Will getting a EE degree help you bring in clients in the future in your current firm or somewhere else? Maybe, but bear in mind that clients are typically brought in through personal connections, not because you have a generic EE Masters.  EE field is vast/varied and Masters is typically quite focused on a particular area. Perhaps if you had a PhD or industry experience in a the specific field of the client it would be a determining factor, but just a paper degree wouldn't be worth much as far as distinguishing yourself from other attorneys.   That said, because your undergrad is no-science, getting a EE Masters might help to lateral to other places that do more EE work and have stricter requirements for having this checkbox on your resume.  Is it worth the money/effort to get the Masters in your situation?  For you to decide. 

Also, drafting/prosecution in some of the harder EE fields could be pretty tedious with lots of math/details, so unless you are truly loving and understand it well, you'll burn out even faster and would quickly long for the simpler days when you only had to deal with vaporware/UX stuff, especially if you are doing capped/fixed-fee work where more complicated disclosures don't bring you more money.
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bobthemoose


blakesq

I agree with claimmaster.  Good news is, you already have a job a biglaw.  Can you ask your partners for more EE work if they have it?  If they do not, another options is you probably have enough experience to send your resume out to patent boutiques where you would have more opportunity for EE work, especially if you make that a requirement before changing jobs.  Good luck!
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UVAgal4

If you are already working in a firm, try to gradually transition over to more EE cases. I have BS and MS in EE, and that doesn't stop me from doing software, mechanical, etc. Maybe a smaller firm would have less technical field specialized attorneys/agents? I don't think an MS in EE is going to help now. Unless I bring up my degrees when introducing myself to a client, they don't ask. I've never had one say "you don't have an MS in Computer Science, I want someone else to do my patent".



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