to 3L patent attorneys to be - A QUESTION!

[T. Durden]

heya 3Ls

i'm a bio guy by training and have just finished my first year at a T20 law school. i'm no longer top 1/3 but now 50%. i'm working 30-40 hours a week as a summer law clerk (have written various pieces of legal memorandum including an opinoin) and am studying for the USPTO patent bar examination which i plan on taking in august

i'm just now beginning my summer 2L summer associate job search

for those of you with similiar experiece (i.e. you're a patent dork like me) what was your 2L job search like? were you give the "velvet rope," so to speak, because of your ability to take the patent bar? did you encounter any difficulty landing one of these summer associate positions? how'd you describe the market for future patent attorneys looking for biglaw type positions?

any input will be appreciated

[DeltaTauKyle]

I would also like to know this.  T. Durden, are you going to the patent recruiting event in Chicago?

[T. Durden]

infortunately no i'm not - i'll be missing it

are u going?

[DeltaTauKyle]

Ya, luckily I got a few interviews too.  I know so little about law firms, its sad.  I bid them based on geography.  Turns out when I was telling my friend, some of the firm names were actually big well known ones.  I was shocked.

[T. Durden]

well good luck with the interviews

our fall interview program starts the end of next month

[florida357]

A lot of info about IP is just hype.  I haven't experience a lot of extra demand for patent eligible law students, of course I didn't take the patent bar until after my 2L job search was over, so maybe you will have a different experience.

From what I can tell, firms are willing to give patent lawyers better salaries, but they aren't willing to lower their standards any.  You would think a big firm that required top 10% might stoop down to the lowly top 20% if they really needed a patent lawyer, but I haven't seen any of that.

study hard for the patent bar.  I noticed that most of the repeats came from the October 2003 test, if that helps you any.

[longtimegest]

Welcome back, florida357!

[lawgirl21]

I have seen my fair share of "hype" regarding IP work, prosecution to be exact... I'm not sure where florida is getting his/her information from..  Suffice it to say, in IP it is not so much about law school per se, but more about undergrad/work experience.  Firms hire for IP based on client demand and where the market is regarding IP work.  Thus, it is more likely that you will be hired if you say have a degree in EE and did semiconductor work..  Of course, this is all prosecution specific.. 

I would have to strongly disagree that IP is just hype and would suggest that you get some opinions from experienced IP attorneys as opposed to students and newly hired associates…

[T. Durden]

what have you heard regarding those with bio backgrounds? still a market?

[DeltaTauKyle]

I've actually had a hiring partner at a big NY firm say "patent lawyers with good undergrand gpa's and research can sign their own tickets"