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Can you get into law school w/ ~2.5GPA?

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I've become very interested in IP law, but i've heard that you need a B.S. in egineering. Does that only apply to those who want to venture into the patents field or for any field under Intellectual property (i.e copyrights, trademark, etc) Or are copyright, trademark all under patents. i dunno, maybe some of your law buffs can help me out.
 
IP will probably fall under Patent Law. If you have a science undergrad and have been accepted into an ABA law school you can take the patent bar before you graduate.
 
As a young attorney, I have a piece of friendly advice: think in a SERIOUS way why you are going to law school, and consider whether it is a good idea.
Click to expand...

Don_Vito is a few years ahead of me and I've never met him, but I can tell you that we both have undergone very similar experiences and if we were to meet, we'd have so many stories in common. Law school is a miserable experience simply because law school is designed to stratify students according to a curve, which then allows firms to pick the best. Therefore, unless you are at the top schools, law school IS NOT A TICKET TO RICHES OR TO EVEN A HIGH SALARY! READ THAT AGAIN!

The whole lawschool "industry" is built on the misconception that lawschool is like medschool, where entrance means that you will be a wealth lawyer at some point, given time. This is not true. If you are not at a top school and end up in the middle of your class, your chances of earning a six figure salary are ZERO, unless of course, you start your own firm and strike it rich, but that carries the same probabilities as winning the lottery.

At my school, students outside the top 10% of the class are either jobless at graduation or have offers for jobs that will make them 40k-60k a year, and I'm in the NorthEast, so that's not alot of money!!
 
Originally posted by: BlipBlop
As a young attorney, I have a piece of friendly advice: think in a SERIOUS way why you are going to law school, and consider whether it is a good idea.
Click to expand...


The whole lawschool "industry" is built on the misconception that lawschool is like medschool, where entrance means that you will be a wealth lawyer at some point, given time. This is not true. If you are not at a top school and end up in the middle of your class, your chances of earning a six figure salary are ZERO, unless of course, you start your own firm and strike it rich, but that carries the same probabilities as winning the lottery.

At my school, students outside the top 10% of the class are either jobless at graduation or have offers for jobs that will make them 40k-60k a year, and I'm in the NorthEast, so that's not alot of money!!
Click to expand...

This is one of my problems. Currently I'm getting my MSEE and seriously thinking about patent law. However, let's say that I don't get into a top 20 school - instead I go to something ranked around 25-50 or even possibly out of the top tier. Would it be financially 'smart' or even worth it to rack up more debt in school loans and upon graduation, end up with signficantly more debt and a salary that may very well be lower than what I would be earning as a competent MSEE graduate with 3-4 years (replacing the 3 years in law school) in the industry?

I don't want to financially 'screw' myself for the future, but I'd also love to work with patent law. Decisions, decisions...

 
i've decided 100% that i wanna goto law school. i have a BS in sociology/law. but from what i know is that you can't take the patent bar test unless you have a engineering/science background. correct? what im asking is if I could you still venture into the IP field or is it only limited to those with an egineering background.. confused
 
Originally posted by: illmustard
i've decided 100% that i wanna goto law school. i have a BS in sociology/law. but from what i know is that you can't take the patent bar test unless you have a engineering/science background. correct? what im asking is if I could you still venture into the IP field or is it only limited to those with an egineering background.. confused
Click to expand...

I don't think you can be a patent lawyer without a science or engineering degree. You would probably not be able to understand the technical aspects of the invention! From what I've been told by other patent lawyers, you usually choose a specific field to specialize in, too. I'm not a lawyer or anything, just interested in possibly going to law school.

You can probably still go into the other forms of IP though... not sure if they have certain requirements.
 
BS in Econ, JD, then CPA license. I'll do finance somewhere. Then I'll get my CMA license and my LL.M. after a few years and see how far I can go.
 
Originally posted by: illmustard
I've become very interested in IP law, but i've heard that you need a B.S. in egineering. Does that only apply to those who want to venture into the patents field or for any field under Intellectual property (i.e copyrights, trademark, etc) Or are copyright, trademark all under patents. i dunno, maybe some of your law buffs can help me out.
Click to expand...
Right now I'm pursuing an IP certificate (2nd year at UF). It's generally true that in order to practice patent law, you need a technical (i.e., hard science) background (not necessarily engineering, but EE's are the most sought-after). All other fields of IP (copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets) do not require a technical background. I think they are more integrated with general litigation. From the IP firms I've looked at, most specialize in patent law and for the other fields, they bring in lawyers who are good litigators but not necessarily specializing in IP.

Also, just to echo BlipBlop, the job market for lawyers is pretty saturated. Every employer I've looked at wants at least top 1/3, or law journal/moot court, or a few years experience. I'm lucky enough that I'll only have $50K of total student loan debts when I graduate, but optimistically I'm only looking at a $50K job.
 
Originally posted by: yellowperil
Originally posted by: illmustard
I've become very interested in IP law, but i've heard that you need a B.S. in egineering. Does that only apply to those who want to venture into the patents field or for any field under Intellectual property (i.e copyrights, trademark, etc) Or are copyright, trademark all under patents. i dunno, maybe some of your law buffs can help me out.
Click to expand...
Right now I'm pursuing an IP certificate (2nd year at UF). It's generally true that in order to practice patent law, you need a technical (i.e., hard science) background (not necessarily engineering, but EE's are the most sought-after). All other fields of IP (copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets) do not require a technical background. I think they are more integrated with general litigation. From the IP firms I've looked at, most specialize in patent law and for the other fields, they bring in lawyers who are good litigators but not necessarily specializing in IP.

Also, just to echo BlipBlop, the job market for lawyers is pretty saturated. Every employer I've looked at wants at least top 1/3, or law journal/moot court, or a few years experience. I'm lucky enough that I'll only have $50K of total student loan debts when I graduate, but optimistically I'm only looking at a $50K job.
Click to expand...

yellowperil, are you going into patent law? Is patent law a saturated market?
 
Wow, this is quite an interesting thread. I have long considered going to law school, but have not had the time or finances to do so, but I think that I may be ready in about 1-2 years. I am interested in corporate law, but have really been thinking about health law recently. My background is a BS in Finance, and I actually have quite a promising career at the large financial institution I am with right now.

For me, I think that I may try to go into a part time law program at my local school (I think its a tier 2 school). Of course this depends on how well I do on the LSATs.

Do the LSATs give you a good idea as to the type of skills you need in law school? Of course no test is going to give you any idea of what law school is like, but for me it's about whether I have the right skill set that lends itself to a law career.
 
Originally posted by: BlipBlop
As a young attorney, I have a piece of friendly advice: think in a SERIOUS way why you are going to law school, and consider whether it is a good idea.
Click to expand...

Don_Vito is a few years ahead of me and I've never met him, but I can tell you that we both have undergone very similar experiences and if we were to meet, we'd have so many stories in common. Law school is a miserable experience simply because law school is designed to stratify students according to a curve, which then allows firms to pick the best. Therefore, unless you are at the top schools, law school IS NOT A TICKET TO RICHES OR TO EVEN A HIGH SALARY! READ THAT AGAIN!

The whole lawschool "industry" is built on the misconception that lawschool is like medschool, where entrance means that you will be a wealth lawyer at some point, given time. This is not true. If you are not at a top school and end up in the middle of your class, your chances of earning a six figure salary are ZERO, unless of course, you start your own firm and strike it rich, but that carries the same probabilities as winning the lottery.

At my school, students outside the top 10% of the class are either jobless at graduation or have offers for jobs that will make them 40k-60k a year, and I'm in the NorthEast, so that's not alot of money!!
Click to expand...


I dunno seems those ambulance chasers sucking off 33% from everyone who has a fender bender do pretty well. All you need is a nice smile and a convinceing voice for television.😛 Do they even ever go to court? Doubt it.
 
go to LSAC.org
on their site, you can punch in your figures and see where you fit in all the aba law schools
 
Great thread, I am also considering going into law and as Canoworms asked, is pantent law or more generally ip law saturated?
 
I got into Yale LAW with a 1.9 gpa from Western North Dakota State. I got in b/c I was the President of my Fraternity. I showed true leadership potential with the quality parties we hosted.







j/k 🙂
 
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