Law school

[GremlinLFE]

Anyone attend law school here? Any good advice for the 1L year?

 

[axelfox]

say goodbye to your social life .

Make sure you're up to the dedication, b/c first year can be a real biotch.

 

[DigDug]

Unless you are in a Top Ten School. Work your ASS off - your first year grades mean everything. If you do well, you land a job offer based on first year grades, and then the next two years will be about doing whatever you want.

 

[RabidMongoose]

So BlipBlop: Is it worth it to go to a law school ranked around 25-30 or lower in your opinion?

I've been considering pursuing patent law as an option once I finish up my MSEE in a year. I'm wondering if it would be financially worth it to pursue a law degree at a lesser school if my options come to that.

 

[axelfox]

Put it this way: if you want to work for a big firm and make lots and lots of money while working lots and lots of hours, you'll need at least a Tier 1 school.

If not, pretty much any ABA approved school will do.

The guy I work for has his degree in Mechanical Engineering and now has his own practice doing IP and business law. He is a patent attorney.

 

[RabidMongoose]

Well I was wondering if it's even worth it to go to a school that wasn't a Tier 1 school...would it be financial 'stupid' to go to one full-time instead of working on a job once I've graduated again? I've seen the average salaries of law school students in the private sector, but I was wondering if anyone had any real experience with it. I would imagine that going to law school would increase someone's student loans significantly...since I already have some undergraduate/graduate student loans, I was wondering if it would even be worth it to go to a non-Tier 1 school since the pay for a law student (as reported by usnews) at a non-tier 1 school is fairly lower than a tier1. Please note that I'm not saying that going to a non-tier 1 school isn't worth it for anyone - I'm just wondering if it would be financially worth it for me. EE is fine with me, but I've been interested in patent law lately.

Can you attend law school part-time?

Are you in patent law? What school did your boss graduate from? Thanks.

 

[cchen]

All again, it depends. If you want to work for corporate, big firms, you'll need to go to a tier 1 school. Smaller firms, the school doesn't matter as much. Working in industry, it'll depend on the size of the company as well.

 

[axelfox]

Most, if not all, will allow you to go part time. Some schools, however, don't have night classes, so if you work during the day, then you may be SOL.

My boss went to UCLA for undergrad then to Loyola for his JD.