Chicago-Kent v. DePaul and the Chicago market

[rene_descartes]

Hi everyone, thanks for your help so far on this board.
I'm trying to decide between CK and DePaul. My goal is to practice patent law. I
have been hearing that those who don't have a T-14 degree in the Chicago area
are basically screwed. That's for the patent law market. It's making me very
depressed. I was wondering if you guys have any advice for me. I have never
thought about applying upwards for Northewestern or Univ of Chicago as I am very
happy with the programs offered at CK and DePaul.
Can I get some different perspectives?

[big - fat - box]

Are you trying to transfer to either of these schools?

Coming out of either of them is going to be tough right now if what you desire is patent law at a large firm or high powered boutique. The reason the Chicago market is so tough in general is that there are a TON of schools feeding into it, not just the schools located in IL.

Have you spoke with patent attorneys in the Chicago area? What about in the area where you are now?  That might be a good place to start. I think you're going to have a very tough time getting great advice on this board for patent law.

[vansondon]

I think your chances for patent law are stronger at Chicago-Kent, given the technological scope of the law school and the institute (Illinois Institute of Technology) it belongs to. 

[LawMan21]

I may be completely wrong, but isn't IP or patent law Depaul's best strength?

[cpierce11]

I believe from what I read DePaul biggest stregth is Health Law. I hear its been on the top ten list for health law programs for the past few years.

[vansondon]

Yeah, according to US News, Depaul is rated 13th in Health Law.  The only other Chicago school listed is Loyola, and its rated higher than Depaul at 9th.  When we look at Intellectual Property Law however, which is the question at hand, Chicago Kent is rated 4th in a tie with Columbia.  Depaul is on this list, coming in at 13th. So, in terms of comparing the two, I stand by my post above; Chicago-Kent may be the better option.

Here is the Intellectual Property Law link:
http://premium.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-law-schools/intellectual-property-law

Here is the Healthcare Law Link:
http://premium.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-law-schools/clinical-healthcare-law

[big - fat - box]

The specialty rankings don't mean anything. Employers, for the most part, are going hire from the traditional top schools before they hire from some school that was ranked highly in a specialty ranking. That's even for specialties like IP or Health Law or whatever.

[vansondon]

The specialty rankings don't mean anything. Employers, for the most part, are going hire from the traditional top schools before they hire from some school that was ranked highly in a specialty ranking. That's even for specialties like IP or Health Law or whatever.

No. I wouldn't say that specialty rankings don't mean anything just because employers may or may not consider the "traditional" rankings first.  We don't even know if the original poster is concerned about rankings, I was just trying to give some support to my reasoning.  In terms of regional powerhouses like Chicago-Kent and Depaul, specialty and regional reputation (or what each school is especially known for in their respective region) matters much more than the traditional rankings; especially since both schools are pretty much on an even spectrum in terms of being top 100 schools. The differences between the Chicago "Tier 2" schools (Chicago-Kent, Loyola, and Depaul) is highly nuanced and comes down to specialty.  Employers in the midwest region are still going to hire from these schools as they've always done regardless of ranking because of the regional and long-term related nature that these schools have had since their inception.

The interesting thing here is even if one were to go with your "traditional" rankings argument, Chicago-Kent would still be the top choice.

As an aside, it's always interesting to me when people want to hold just one part of the US News rankings in high regard, yet disregard all the other parts just because it doesn't fit into their narrow elitist views.  If the specialty data doesn't continue to give "certain" schools the ranking advantage, or gives other schools a higher ranking, all of a sudden the data doesn't matter. That's nothing short of being ridiculous.

[big - fat - box]

By "traditional" top schools, I mean rough internal rankings employers have in their minds about what schools stand where. NOT USNews.

If I were the OP, I would visit the two schools and look at their course catalogs and try to speak with students there who are focused on patent law. I also suggested that he talk with practicing patent attorneys in Chicago or in his area, if you read my previous post. Blindly clinging to USNews rankings (which are crap), and their even more dubious specialty rankings is a mistake.

Also, if you've been watching the OP's posts, you'd know that he already decided to go to Maryland and not either of these schools.

Vansondon, you aren't even in law school yet, are you? You really have no business giving advice here.

[oscar1]

Kent by far has the better rep in Chicago after NU and UChi, and is far ahead of Loyola and DePaul (and John Marshall) regardless of what the rankings say.