Re: Future Patent Law Studnet in need of experienced advice

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Try looking into George Mason University School of Law in
Arlington, VA. It is a first tier law school & a top ranked
school for patent law (competitive with Franklin Pierce (4th
tier) and GW (1st tier) for top 3 IP law schools). Several
patent examiners attend the school as part-time evening
students since almost all patent and ip courses are given
from 6-10 pm. Most of the courses are taught by actual
patent attorneys. The night/part-time program is run at the
same pace as the day courses and is taught by the same
professors. It is very typical for GW students to transfer
for the third year to GMU to save money. GW & GMU share
several of the same IP professors.

On 11/15/03, David wrote:
> I am preparing to apply to law schools and have a few
> questions that I was hoping I could have answered.
>
> My first question is in regards to patent law firms. I
> have looked and looked and cannot find a decent breakout
> as to the patent law firm locations in the U.S. I
> understand that the major concentration of firms are
> located in New York, California, D.C., Texas, and
> Chicago. Based upon what you have experienced, what rough
> percentage would you give to each of these areas in terms
> of patent law firm presence. If you know of a place that
> I can go to gain this information, I would greatly
> appreciate that.
>
> My second question pertains to Law school. I am looking
> at many law schools including American University (D.C.),
> Catholic University (D.C), Santa Clara (Cali), and a few
> others. What I am curious to know is how important it is
> to go to a school with a decent patent law program. I
> mention this as I may decide to go to a school like
> Catholic University. While this school has a good general
> legal program, they offer few patent law courses. I was
> thinking that I could, as a visiting student, make up for
> this deficiency by taking a few patent law courses at
> georgetown, george washington, or another school with a
> selection of patent law courses. Does it hurt to go to a
> school like catholic if my goal is patent law? Does
> taking patent courses elsewhere as a visiting student
> help/hurt? Perhaps in going to a school that does not
> have a strong patent law offering, I could overcome that
> with a better rank and better grades? Also, I did want to
> mention that I was considering going to law school part
> time. This is because I want to take a job to help my
> sister out financially as she is going to college as
> well. I was just curious to hear your thoughts about a
> part-time program. I know it is more difficult in terms
> of time management, but will doing this hurt me in anyway?
>
> My final question is in regards to a career in patent
> law. I am currently attending a well known electrical
> engineering program and will be graduating with honors.
> Although my graduation from law school is years away, I
> was wondering what I could do now to help make myself
> appear more attractive to law firms. I am planning on
> studying for and taking the patent bar exam early in my
> law school days, and I am even considering a Masters
> degree in either Electrical, Computer Science, or
> Biomedical engineering to help. Would you recommend any
> of this? If so, is it better to get my M.S. in
> electrical, computer sci, or biomedical? I am trying to
> make myself as verstile as possible. Finally, how
> competitive is patent law right now in these areas (is the
> market saturated?), and what type of salary range can one
> expect based upon these fields?
>
> I know I have wrote a question book here, and I greatly
> appreciate your assistance. As I am embarking on my
> journey into the legal world, I can use all the guidance
> available. With your wisdom, I hope to make as informed a
> decision as possible. Thank you.

Re: Future Patent Law Studnet in need of experienced advice, 12/06/03, by lmnpdq.

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